08/23/2023
Helena Modrzejewska, professionally known as Helena Modjeska was a Polish and Polish-American actress best known for her Shakespearean and tragic roles. She was born in 1840 in Kraków on October 12th.
She began her education in theater first at a boarding school. After completing her education, she began her acting career on stages in Bochnia, Nowy Sącz, and other small stages. By 1862 she performed in Lviv in her first romantic drama: Słowacki's Balladyna. From there she went to play roles in several other works by Słowacki as well as performing in Krakow and Warsaw.
In 1876 Modjeska emigrated to California. During her time in the United States and after an intensive study of the English Modjeska adopted her pseudonym and made her debut as an actor in the United States. From then on, she continued to act although now mostly in English with a particular emphasis on Shakespearean roles. In 1883 she became a Citizen of the United States. During 1893 in Chicago she gave a lecture to the World’s Fair Axillary Congress about the situation of Women living in the Russian and Prussian partitions of Poland. Her negative remark towards the Russian Imperialist authorities caused the Tzar to temporarily ban her from entering Russian territory.
She continued to act and remained heavily connected to Poland. On May 2, 1905, she gave a jubilee performance in New York City. Afterwards, she completed a two-year tour and ended her acting career. Following this she only performed occasionally to support charity. Over the course of her career she played around 260 roles. She died in California on April 8, 1909. Her funeral took place in Los Angeles , but following this her remains were transferred to Kraków, where a funeral was held. Interestingly the funeral oration was delivered by Polish Nobel Laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz.
