The ancients used to speak of figures such as Władysława Śliwińska of the Kostaks as kalos kagathos , or the beautiful and the good. The first Miss Polonia turned her popularity into helping those in need, for which she was commemorated with a tombstone in the Montmorency cemetery.

The largest Polish cemetery in France

As a result of historical events, the necropolis in Montmorency near Paris became the site of nearly 280 Polish burials, making it the largest Polish cemetery in France. One of the first was the grave of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz in 1841, and from then on the cemetery began to enjoy recognition among emigrants. However, time has not been indifferent to the graves and many of them still needed urgent renovation in the 20th century. To this day, the Society for the Care of Polish Historical Monuments and Graves in France takes care of the Polish graves. It has been active since 1838, when it was set up to raise funds for the burial of General Antoni Wroniecki. Over the years, the need grew and the society, now chaired by Barbara Klosowicz-Krzywicka, was supported by the Polonica Institute. For the past five years, the entities have been jointly carrying out conservation work. As a result, the tombstones of Bronisław Piłsudski, Helena and Alfred Paderewski, the Jaroszyński chapel, the tombs of Jadwiga Ostrożyńska, Irena Stokowska, the Makowski family and Olga Boznańska, among others, have been restored. In the last two years, work has also been carried out on the symbolic graves of Cyprian Kamil Norwid and Adam Mickiewicz.

Tombstone of the first Miss Polonia - Władysława Śliwińska

At the beginning of March it was 21 years since the death of Władysława Śliwińska of Kostak. Her grave is located in plot B, close to the Polish graves of the writer of Jewish origin Olga Scherer (1924-2001), the painters Ludwik (1879-1934) and Aniela (1896-1953) Lewandowski and directly, row by row, adjacent to the grave of Kazimiera Odetta Galle née Michałowska-Skarbek (1902-1964).

Sliwinska was laid to rest in a family grave made of polished granite, consisting of two lying blocks. The lower one is a cuboid which serves as a base on which the main slab rests. The latter, which is extended and has higher inner edges (from the head), fulfils a practical function - inscriptions are placed on the sides - as well as an aesthetic one - due to its massive structure, this de facto slab tomb is associated with a sarcophagus. The shorter, vertical surfaces of the main slab are pentagons in which the upper sides join like the edges of a gabled roof. On the resulting ridge, a large cross is placed on top of the slab.

All the elements of the tombstone are made of the same material and are in a uniform graphite colour scheme, which blends in with the gilded inscriptions. These, in turn, are located on the vertical surfaces and two are exclusively in French. The one placed on the front proclaims: "RIP / Władysława Śliwińska / 1908 Varsovie-2001 Aix en Provence". The long right side contains an inscription stating that the deceased was a member of the French exposition of the Polish government in London from 1940 to 1945 and held the rank of second lieutenant. She received the Legion of Honour for her activities in the resistance movement, as well as other decorations from the British authorities and the government of the Republic of Poland in exile. In addition, she became known as a "generous defender of animals". The third inscription, on the second of the longer sides, is dedicated to yet another person buried there, and the inscription itself is in Polish: "Michal Klobukowski / 1911-2004 / he was and is no more / he was alive only dust remains". Everything forms an aesthetically attractive whole and works on the imagination. Who was the Pole buried there? Who was he who, like Kohelet, proclaimed the fragility of our existence?

The wandering fate of Władysława Śliwińska

There are four milestones in her story. The first was the First World War. Born on 20 December 1908 into the family of Maria Antonina and the sculptor Stanisław, she experienced the turmoil and left her Warsaw home on Piękna Street with her mother, seeking refuge on the Crimean Peninsula. This was to respond to the occupation of their family flat by the Germans, who entered the capital in August 1915. However, when Russian exile turned into Soviet exile, the two decided to return home. It was 1920 and in Warsaw their former dwelling already had another owner. So mother and daughter decided to go to France. There, Władysława stayed in a convent in Saint-Georges-d'Aurac in the Upper Loire department. After three years, the girl returned to Warsaw and found employment with the Municipal Savings Bank.

First Miss Polonia

The second milestone was the first Miss Polonia contest, held on 27 January 1929. It should be added that Polish women had competed for the title of the most beautiful before, but these events turned out to be one-offs and did not make their mark. It was only when the literary writer and arbiter elegantiarum , Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, came up with the name of the Miss Polonia contest and the administrative and media side of the event was taken care of, that it became a regular event.

Władysława Śliwińska from Kostak, then aged 22, entered the first edition under the pseudonym "Limba". In the first stage, the newspaper's readers selected 10 semi-finalists, so that eventually the jury at Warsaw's Hotel Polonia selected the most beautiful one. The laurel went to Kostakówna. It was argued that the newly chosen "Miss Polonia has a great deal of charm. She has a bright, Polish face and a graceful girlish figure". She won over the aristocrats, which excited the readers immensely. People wrote that she was "a princess cast down into poverty by fate", a girl "supporting her sick mother with honest work", and dwelt on her hands, "beautifully tailored, racy, but with traces of the hard work of a housekeeper without a maid".

Władysława Śliwińska - the modern housewife

In the 1930s, a postcard with the image of Władysława Śliwińska of the Kostaks and the annotation "The most beautiful women of Europe" could be purchased throughout Europe. Her photographs also appeared in the press not only on the Old Continent, but also in the USA.

Kostakówna's life accelerated. On 7 February, she represented Poland at the Miss Europe contest in Paris, where she won the title of first runner-up, only to travel overseas a few weeks later to take part in Miss Universum, held in Galvestone, Texas. However, the Pole decided to withdraw after receiving a letter from the local Catholic bishop, Christopher Edward Byrne. He wrote to all participants that women were not allowed to display their charms in swimwear.

Wladyslawa returned to the country and after seven months married Leon Sliwinski, a respected lawyer and participant in the Polish-Bolshevik war. Journalists did not stop following her activities and newspapers reported that she had obtained a driving licence, a sailing patent and was skiing. She also surprised everyone with her decision not to get involved in the entertainment industry, although she received offers from directors in Europe and Hollywood.

She did, however, become involved in charity work. For example, she supported the work of a deaf and dumb society and became known as an animal activist, e.g. the newspapers piped up about the two wolfhounds she took in and who later chased burglars out of her husband's office. We would say - a modern woman, but this description should be supplemented with conservative qualities, as Władysława simultaneously ran a household and raised her husband's teenage son, Leon Junior.

Władysława Śliwińska - a cipher from Nice

Another war - the third milestone in the biography of the most beautiful Polish woman - broke into the everyday life of Poles, and the Śliwiński family of three sought refuge in the Zaleszczyki area. There they learned of the entry of the Soviet army and decided to leave the country. They avoided internment and reached France in October 1939.

After some time, Leon senior left for London, where he served in the leadership of the Navy, while Władysława and his stepson remained in Nice. Soon France was under occupation and the 25-year-old Leon made contact with the government in exile and joined the underground. He adopted the aliases "Jean-Bol" and "Bolesław". In time, he came to be referred to as the 'legendary' co-founder and 'head [...] of the intelligence network in France'.

Władysława herself also became involved in the fight against the Germans and, as 'Maria', encrypted the dispatches. It is noteworthy that she did not agree to be paid for this. She was also quickly promoted in the secret structures. She was also to bravely, and at times bravely, assist those arrested, including Leon junior.

After the liberation of Paris, the family, now complete, decided not to return to Poland and left for Morocco in 1946. This moment is the fourth of the milestones. In the largest city of the Maghreb, Casablanca, the Śliwińskis managed metal ore mines, and at the same time - as the historian Jan E. Zamojski wrote - conducted "a fight [...] for the families of the fallen, helped those who lost their health in prisons", employing comrades from the underground in the company. One of them, as we read in the émigré weekly Życie, was the one mentioned in the tombstone inscription, Michał Kłobukowski. Thanks to information from Barbara Kłosowicz-Krzywicka, we can complete his biography. He was the son of Michał and Angelika Kazimiera Wierzbicka, was born in Białogród and died in Lailly-en-Val in a retirement home run by the Fond Humanitaire Polonaise.

Non omnis moriar

In 1971, Wladyslawa's husband, Leon, died and at that time Wladyslawa left Africa and moved to Aix-en-Provence, where she continued her work for animals and supported the Society for the Care of Polish Historical Monuments and Tombs in France. She died in Provence, but was just buried in Les Champeaux cemetery in Montmorency.