| dc.description.abstract | At the end of the nineteenth century, the main source of information about the city of Łódź were not local periodicals (as there were no such publications), but correspondence
Printed in Warsaw papers. Apart from regular reports, m years 1898 and 1899, in one of
leading Warsaw daily papers, Kurier Warszawski, there appeared a series of articles under the
title “Znasz-li ten kraj?” signed by Antoni Sygietyński. I t was the aftermath of the writer’s
visit in Łódź (as it was noticed in Goniec Łódzki, Sygietyński arrived in the city on 3rd of December 1889). The reports concerning the life of the textile city appeared in six issues of
Kurier Warszawski, dated from 5“, 6“ , 15th and 17th of December 1989 and from 6th- and 8th of January in the next year.
The author of Na skalach Calvados underlined that the title of the series is not
unintentional, because Łódź, according to him, was a fully developed city, which had vast
contacts with other regions of the world (Russia, Far East, South and North America) rather
than with the rest of Polish cities. The writer compares Łodź to a mushroom, which develops
rapidly in favourable conditions, whereas in unfavourable circumstances it becomes a latent
form of life. Sygietyński underlines also that the city’s growth and organization reminds an
American model. The writer attempts to change a stereotypical opinions about the city, mainly
concerning its rapid development of industry, huge number of inhabitants or a triplenational
character of the textile metropolis. The author aims at acknowledging a true Lodzermensch,
he scrutinizes the cultural life of the city.
During his visit in Łodź Sygietyński took part in the opening night of Hauptman’s Dwór
zatopiony, and in Christmas party in a catholic shelter for children. The meeting with the
youngest citizens gave an opportunity for a closer examination of the conditions they lived
in as well as of the financial straits their caretaker, Father Szmidel, was facing. The experience
triggered an idea of a charity concert, which Sygietyński decided to organize in Łódź The
income was donated for modernization of the shelter. The concert was organized on 25th of
March 1899 with the participation of the most famous Warsaw artists (Kruszelnik Borcewicz,
Michałowski, Wierzbilowicz, Trenkiel). Such was the social and cultural scale of the event
that it was reported in a number of newspapers. Głos underlined Sygietyński’s input into
organization by describing him as „a moral impresario of the show” . The author of
Wysadzony z siodla while organizing the concert had two main aims: first - to collect money
for the shelter, and the second - to arouse a passion for art among the citizens of Łódź. | pl_PL |
