KONOPNICKA, MARIA

born May 12, 1842, Suwalki, Pol. died Oct. 8, 1910, Lemberg, Austria-Hungary original name Marja WasiLowska, pseudonym Jan Sawa author of short stories and one of the important representative Positivist poets in Polish literature. In exile from Russian-dominated Poland for much of her life, Konopnicka developed strong patriotic convictions, which are apparent in her work. Her sympathy with the oppressed peasantry, however, often led her into sentimentality. Pan Balcer w Brazylji (18921909; Mr. Balcer in Brazil), one of her most ambitious works, is a near-epic description of a Polish peasant emigrant's disillusionment with the New World. The poem cycle Italia (1901; Italy) contains some of her most beautiful verses. In her short stories, considered among the best in Polish literature, she achieves great concentration; Niemczaki (The German Children) and Nasza Szkapa (Our Old Mare) are among the best known.