Tomb of the Pol family at the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków

The photograph shows the grave of the Wincenty Pol family located in Krakow at the Rakowicki Cemetery established in 1803. The tomb was one of the first in this necropolis. It is located in the cemetery plot near the entrance gate on the main avenue, he in the east row. It is a brick tomb. It was originally covered with a slab, removed at the beginning of the 21st century, due to it being damaged, and replaced with stone pebbles. It is crowned with a tombstone with the names of the people buried there, as well as a stone cross and a medallion with the image of the head of Jesus Christ, probably made according to the design of the sculptor Paris Filippi, who worked in Krakow until 1866. In 2006, during the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Wincenty Pol’s birth at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management of Jagiellonian University, the Wincenty Pol Museum in Lublin made efforts with Professor Franciszek Ziejka, then President of the Social Committee for the Restoration of Krakow's Monuments, to cover the costs of restoration of the grave. Unfortunately, for legal reasons, the request could not be processed.

Kornelia Polowa née Olszewska, the poet’s wife, who died on August 24, 1855, and two years later his mother, Eleonora née Longchamps de Beriér Pollowa (1775-1857), were the first to be buried in the tomb. In the 20th century, three grandsons of the author of the Song of our Land, children of his youngest son, Marek Stanisław – Juliusz Pol (May 22, 1878 –19 October, 1921), Jerzy Pol (1888-1935) a painter and an officer of the Polish army in the interwar period, and their sister Idalia Polówna (1882-1971), a nurse by profession – were all buried there. The author of the photo is the poet’s great-great-granddaughter living in Lublin – the legal guardian of the grave. At present, efforts are made to pass these on to younger generation of the poet’s descendants.

Grażyna Połuszejko