When going on tour to Warsaw, the Swedish prima donna Elna Gistedt, planned to stay in Poland for a fortnight, and her stay was extended to 22 years. She was remembered not only as an artist, but also as a friend of the Poles.

Elna Gistedt was born in Stockholm on 26 January 1895. "[...] already at the age of five I shook the family land from my sandals, following my parents to the United States. No particular impressions remain of the seven years I spent there, but I am sure that it was then that my curiosity about the world and hunger for new experiences in foreign lands was aroused in me." Already after her return to Sweden, she began to show an interest in theatre, which was actually not surprising as her parents Ernst Gistedt (1863-1907) and Maria Gistedt née Welcher (1870-1943) were also actors. At the age of 14, she began combining her studies with performances at Stockholm's Djurgårdsteatern. In her memoirs she points out that it was not easy, as studying was never her passion.

In 1916 she found her way to a garden theatre in Helsinki, where, as she jokingly recalled, she served as director; this adventure did not last long, however, and in the autumn of the same year she returned to her native Stockholm. By this time she was triumphing as a singer in The Princess of Czardas. In 1917 she went to perform in St Petersburg and Moscow, but less than two years later she returned to Sweden. "However, the lust for travel demanded satisfaction again and again and insistently, so in November [1919] I was again in Helsinki, where I performed until 1920", and she then spent several months in Berlin. Her stay in this city proved crucial, as it was there that she decided to travel to Warsaw for two weeks to play the title role in the comedy-opera Nitouche.

Initially, Warsaw did not make a good impression on Elna. Primadonna arrived in the city by train on 2 February 1922, when "the weather [was] rainy, capable of dampening the most radiant enthusiasm". Primadonna was scheduled to appear in The Princess of Chardas, but following a change of plans due to protests from another primadonna, she was cast again as Denise in Nitouche. Although she had a cold on the day of the premiere, she still made a great impression with her dancing and acting. She soon met Witold Kiltynowicz, the owner of a carpet factory, whom she married. "I was married at twelve o'clock, in a white dress and hat, in the presence of two witnesses [...] After the wedding we were at a dinner at the Hotel Europejski in the company of my husband's friends. None of my acquaintances attended this party, because at that time I had not yet managed to become really sincere friends with anyone". The couple soon settled in a villa designed by Helena and Szymon Syrkus on Katowicka Street in Saska Kępa.

Elna Gistedt did not make a huge career in Warsaw, but staying here gave her pleasure. She performed in operettas and also gave guest performances outside Poland. When the Second World War broke out, she decided to stay in Poland and opened a café in Warsaw. In this way, she helped actors and singers who did not want to perform in front of the Germans; thanks to her work in the café, they had work cards, exempting them from forced labour. The "U Elny Gistedt" premises operated from February 1940 at 18 Nowy Świat Street until the building was damaged during the Warsaw Uprising. In addition, the Swede was involved in helping Poles - she donated food to the ghetto, organised care for sick children in the Zamojszczyzna region or provided warm clothes for those in need.

After the death of her husband, she left Warsaw at the end of 1944 and went to Stockholm, where she publicised German war crimes in the media, but also continued to perform. After the end of the Second World War, she returned to Poland several more times. She died on 26 October 1982 in Stockholm and was buried in the Catholic section of the Solna cemetery.