Text in the magazine "Wieści z Polski" describing the celebration of the unveiling of the Adam Mickiewicz monument in Paris. The people who spoke at the event are described, a special mass is mentioned, as well as the course and cast of the ceremony (Source: 'Wieści z Polski', Warsaw 1929, R: 2, no. 5, pp. 8-9, after: Jagiellonian Digital Library).

A modernised reading of the text

Unveiling of the monument to Adam Mickiewicz in Paris.

On 28 April this year, a solemn ceremony took place in Paris, one that gladdens every Pole's heart, namely the unveiling of a monument to Adam Mickiewicz. Already on the eve of the ceremony, i.e. on Saturday the 27th, an academy was held in the Polish language. On the eve of the unveiling, i.e. on Saturday the 27th, an academy was held in French in the grand amphitheatre of the Sorbonne, thanks to the efforts of the Collège de France, of which Mickiewicz was once a professor, together with the France-Pologne society.

The meeting was opened by a member of the institute, Maurice Croiset, after which Professor André Mazon gave a wonderful lecture on the life and works of Mickiewicz. Other speakers included the representative of the W.R. and O.P. Ministry, Franciszek Potocki, Rector Kallenbach, Professor Ujejski, Professor K. Kostanecki and Andrzej Strug. In the hall were present: Mr Ambassador Chłapowski, surrounded by his embassy staff, the Consul General Poznański and his consulate staff, General Gouraud, Bishop Chaptal, Ambassador Panafieu, the family of the Bard, in the persons of Józef Mickiewicz, Maria Mickiewiczówna, dr. Ludwik Górecki, Leon Royer, Captain Choisy, Marshals Daszyński and Szymański, Deputy Marshal of the Senate Stanisław Posner, delegations from Polish schools and literary associations, and crowds of spectators.

At the end, the French artist Herve recited the 'Ode to Youth' and other works by Mickiewicz. The following Sunday, a Mass was held at the Polish Church of the Assumption, celebrated by Father Lagoda, the new rector of the Polish Catholic mission in France. Also present at the service were Ignacy Paderewski, visiting from Switzerland, the former Marshal Pulaski, General Demain, head of the French military mission in Poland. A beautiful commemorative sermon was preached by Fr Luczak.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the ceremonial unveiling of the monument on the Alma square took place. The monument, chiseled by Bourdelle, is one of the most beautiful that Paris has. Previously, a handful of Polish soil specially brought from Kosciuszko's mound had been laid at the foot of the monument. The unveiling of the monument took place in the presence of municipal, military and civilian representatives.

President Doumergue was represented by General Sassem, Minister Briand by Ambassador Laroche, in addition to Czechoslovak, Yugoslav and Finnish deputies and an English military attaché, the director of the Fine Arts Department, Paul Léon, Speaker of the Chamber Buisson, who had come specially from Cannes, former Ambassador Panafieu, prefect of police Chiappe, Ignacy Paderewski, a Polish delegation headed by Minister Crem, with Marshals Daszyński and Szymański, Deputy Speaker of the Senate Stanisław Posner, a number of prominent Polish and French personalities and representatives of dozens of Polish societies from the north and east of France with banners.

Speaking at the monument in turn were first the vice-chairman of the France-Pologne Society, Mr Lewandowski, - the president of the city council of Paris, Mr Lemarchand, - the minister of education, Mr Marnaud, and lastly Ambassador Chłapowski, who began his speech with the words of Victor Hugo:

"To speak of Mickiewicz is to speak of the beauty and justice of which he was the defender, to speak of the duty of which he was the hero, to speak of the liberation of which he was the herald."

After expressing his gratitude to the initiators of the monument, its author, as well as the city of Paris and the French government, the Ambassador emphasised the unbreakable ties that bind France and Poland in their joint efforts to defend the traditions of their ancestors and to guide their peoples, through love of their homeland, towards the ideals of peace, justice and progress. France did not disappoint the hopes placed in it by Mickiewicz and all Poles. Ambassador Chłapowski concluded his speech by raising a shout of 'Long live France'.

The speech was followed by the laying of wreaths - from the city of Paris, from the Ossoliński National Institute, from the Society for the Cultural Protection of Polish Exile in France, from the Polish Army, from Polish students, from Lithuania, from the University of Vilnius. The latter was wreathed with Lithuanian ears and field flowers. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, an academy was held in the Iena hall in Polish, at which Stefan Rejer, president of the Union of Polish Workers in France, among others, spoke.

The academy was followed by a concert, and in the evening there was a dinner at the Embassy in honour of President Doumergue and an arthouse for 1,000 people. All the ceremonies associated with the unveiling of the monument were attended by Zdzisław Fr Lubomirski, President of the Polish Overseas Workers' Welfare Association. This detailed description of the ceremonies is given here in the conviction that the homage paid in the French capital by the representatives of the two friendly nations to the great Poet-derivative will be dear to the hearts of Poles abroad who, like him, are distant from their Homeland and live and work for it.

Mickiewicz, who "loved the whole Nation, all its future and past generations", had the tenderest concern for the exiled Poles who found refuge on French soil after the fall of the Rising. To soothe their longing for their lost country, in his masterpiece "Pan Tadeusz" he brought before their eyes the beauty of Polish nature and Polish life. Ignacy Chrzanowski, an eminent critic and expert on Polish literature, spoke about this at a lecture given a few days after the unveiling of Mickiewicz's monument at the Polish Library in Paris, and demonstrated the "lasting values, not only eternal, but even eternal, both Polish and universal" that the great poet had raised to the treasury of the Polish spirit.

For the emigrants, Mickiewicz created the "Books of Pilgrimage", which begin with the commandment to believe in the future and to love the Homeland. Although the emigrants did not lack love of the Homeland, they did lack faith in the future, Ignacy Chrzanowski went on. That is why the poet began with the commandment of faith and returns to it in another place, saying: "Beware of grumbling and complaining and doubting".

And Mickiewicz goes on to admonish that among emigrants "there are contagious people, that is, bad Poles, who infect others with their unbelief. The monument erected by the great artist Bourdelle, who, although a stranger, felt the poet's spirit more deeply than any other, will undoubtedly become a place of pilgrimage for many Poles, modern-day wanderers - emigrants seeking bread in France.

May the Master's raised hand remind them of his lofty commandment and show them how to live so as not only not to lose anything of their own spirit in exile, but to deepen and broaden it even more, each according to his measure drawing strength from the sources of ever-living love and faith from which Mickiewicz drew inspiration.