In Proof of Memory. Unknown letters of Eliza Orzeszkowa to Amelia Jeleńska

Abstract

The author of the article, based on the methodology of biographical research, analyzes two unknown letters from Eliza Orzeszkowa addressed to Amelia Jeleńska. They are part of a small collection of correspondence held in the archives of Vilnius writer Emma Jeleńska-Dmochowska, privately the daughter of Amelia Jeleńska. The analysis of the letters allows to deepen the knowledge of Eliza Orzeszkowa’s social life and private affairs, and to bring closer the little-known figure of Amelia Jeleńska. And the article also emphasizes the editorial value of the found correspondence. This is because Eliza Orzeszkowa’s archive does not record any letter to Amelia. Until now they were considered lost. Letters to her thus introduce yet another addressee to the group of one hundred and several dozen appearing in the editions of Eliza Orzeszkowa’s correspondence published to date.

T‍he discovered letters from Eliza Orzeszkowa to Amelia Jeleńska to some extent nuance our knowledge about Orzeszkowa’s biography, especially in relation to her personal life. They show the writer at the end of her life, just three years before her death, as a person, on the one hand, suffering greatly from the diseases that plagued her, and, on the other hand, looking for a cordial and close relationship. She had many things in common with Amelia Jeleńska: age, origin, economic status, involvement in charity activities and life experiences, such as the need to sell property or widowhood. The bond that has developed between them seems to be mutual, although the history did not give Amelia a say in this matter.