What I Received From God and From People: A Story of Helena Modrzejewska by Joanna Sokolowska-Gwizdka translated by Bozena U. Zaremba and Ewa Chwojko-Srawley, with a foreword by Kazimierz Braun BoRey Publishing, August 2009
One of
the most famous actresses of her time, and inspiration for Susan Sontag’s last
novel, In America, Helena Modjeska
(Helena Modrzejewska, 1840-1909), enjoyed an unprecedented career in Poland
before moving to the United States at age 36 to launch an equally remarkable
career in this country. This book, which contains both
the Polish original story and the English translation, presents Modjeska’s
personal life and her professional triumphs and failures, as well as some
difficult choices she had to face and tough decisions she had to make. It shows
how the two sides of her life – the real and the stage life – interlaced. Even
though the book is brief, it leaves a lasting impression of an exceptional
person and an outstanding American actress-immigrant, a portrait of an artist
in her epoch.