General Zamoyska and Helena Modrzejewska Secondary School

Helena Modrzejewska studied English for just four months before making her American debut in 1877. She was thirty-six, spoke with a Polish accent, and went on to become one of the most celebrated Shakespearean actresses in the United States, performing nearly 300 roles in more than 6,000 productions across 300 cities worldwide.

At the turn of the 20th century, her fame extended far beyond the stage. Women wore hats à la Modjeska, restaurant dishes bore her name, and when she visited Louisville in 1889, a local confectioner invented a caramel-covered marshmallow candy in her honor. The treat still carries her name today. A mountain and waterfall in the United States do too.

Modrzejewska died in California in 1909 but was buried, according to her wishes, in Kraków. The girls’ secondary school that opened in Poznań a decade later adopted her as its patron in 1966, ensuring generations of students would pass through doors bearing the name of one of Poland’s most celebrated actresses.