Adam Mickiewicz Monument

Adam Bernard Mickiewicz was a multifaceted Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator, and political activist. He was born on December 24, 1798, and is considered the national poet of Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus. Mickiewicz was a key figure in Polish Romanticism and is one of Poland's "Three Bards". He is widely regarded as Poland's greatest poet and is also considered one of the greatest Slavic and European poets, earning him the nickname "Slavic bard". His works have been compared to those of Byron and Goethe, and he is known for his poetic drama Dziady and national epic poem Pan Tadeusz, as well as influential works like Konrad Wallenrod and Grażyna.

Mickiewicz was born in the Russian-partitioned territories of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and fought for the independence of his home region. As a result, he was exiled to central Russia for five years. In 1829, he successfully left the Russian Empire and spent the rest of his life abroad like many of his compatriots. He settled first in Rome, then in Paris, where he lectured on Slavic literature at the Collège de France for just over three years. He died, most likely due to cholera, in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, where he had gone to help organize Polish forces in the Crimean War.

Mickiewicz's works played a significant role in uprisings against the three imperial powers that had partitioned the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth out of existence. In 1890, his remains were repatriated from Montmorency, Val-d'Oise, in France, to Wawel Cathedral in Poland. Overall, Adam Mickiewicz was a celebrated poet and political activist who remains an important figure in Polish, Lithuanian, and Belarusian culture.

The pedestal, made of Italian granite, depicts Adam Mickiewicz dressed in a frock coat, in a relaxed pose with a slightly raised head. The left hand, lowered, supports a cloak thrown over the shoulder, while the right hand is placed on the heart. At the top of the pedestal is a cartouche with the poet's birth and death dates, and at the bottom are allegorical decorations in the form of Apollo's head with thin rays emanating from it. Above the head of the ancient Greek god are palm branches, a lyre, and scrolls of paper, and below is a plaque inscribed with "Adamowi Mickiewiczowi — Rodacy 1898" (To Adam Mickiewicz — Fellow Countrymen 1898).

On February 13, 1897, an article promoting the idea of building a monument for Adam Mickiewicz was published in Głos magazine. This idea gained support from other newspapers and writer Henryk Sienkiewicz helped to raise awareness among the Warsaw intelligentsia. A public committee was founded by Sienkiewicz, Count Michał Radziwiłł, and Zygmunt Wasilewski to ask for financial contributions for the monument's construction. The financial support was quickly raised, and the work was assigned to sculptor Cyprian Godebski.

The monument was built on the site where several buildings had been demolished in 1865. From 1897, it was sculpted by Godebski in Italy. The 4.2 m tall bronze statue was cast in Pistoia, Italy, while the red granite column and foundations were produced by an Italian company in Baveno near Milan. The statue depicts Mickiewicz standing tall, with his head slightly raised and his right hand laid upon his heart. The monument was ceremonially unveiled on December 24, 1898, on the 100th anniversary of the poet's birth. The unveiling ceremony was planned to be larger, but the Tsarist authorities banned all marches and speeches due to their fear of a patriotic manifestation. As a result, the monument was unveiled in silence in front of 12,000 people.

During the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, the monument was deliberately destroyed by Nazi Germans. Remaining parts of the demolished monument were eventually transported to Germany. After the war, Polish soldiers found the head and several parts of the statue in Hamburg. Sculptor Jan Szczepkowski produced a copy of the original statue, and the environs around the monument were also restored. It was unveiled again on January 28, 1950. The last parts of the monument were returned to Poland in the 1980s.