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A Note on Eliza Orzeszkowa

Eliza Orzeszkowa (1841–1910) is one of the most prolific and esteemed Polish prose writers of the nineteenth century. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 together with Leo Tolstoy and Henryk Sienkiewicz, who became the recipient of the prestigious award. Orzeszkowa began her writing career with her short story “Obrazek z lat głodnych” (A picture from the hungry years), published by the literary magazine Tygodnik ilustrowany (The illustrated weekly) in 1866. She wrote novels, short stories, and a series of articles and commentaries on education, class discrimination, anti-Semitism, and women’s emancipation, all within the frame of Polish literary Positivism.

Orzeszkowa achieved widespread fame at home and abroad with her famous roman-fleuve Nad Niemnem (On the banks of the Niemen, 1888), which dealt with traditional values of the Polish gentry, issues centering around marriage between members of different classes, and the effects of the January Uprising in Russian-occupied Poland. Throughout her lifetime Orzeszkowa fought for her personal independence by working as a writer; as a teacher at her house in Grodno, which she made available for girls who wanted to pursue their studies under her guidance; and as manager of her own bookstore, which was transformed into a publishing house in Wilno. Her novel Marta (1873) presents a widowed heroine facing a grim battle to earn a living in a time when employment opportunities for women were severely restricted; the book is representative of Orzeszkowa’s depiction of women and her skill at creating moving and powerful scenes in her fiction. Marta explores matters that were vital and close to its author’s heart, namely women’s education and women’s emancipation, which she also discussed in her earlier article “Kilka słów o kobietach” (A few words about women, 1870) and her later novella Panna Antonina (Miss Antonina, 1891). Orzeszkowa’s writings deal with crucial topics that are still at the centers of controversies in many corners of the world today.