Monuments & mounds

Józef Piłsudski Bench in Sulejówek

A few steps from the Milusin villa, where Józef Piłsudski lived in 1923–1926, stands a bronze bench titled "A History Lesson". The monument was unveiled on 10 June 2010 on Piłsudski Avenue, in the very centre of Sulejówek — a town still associated above all with the Marshal.

A composition with the family

The Kraków sculptor Karol Badyna portrayed Piłsudski in gala uniform: he sits in an armchair, leaning on a sabre. Beside him his younger daughter Jadwiga sits on the bench holding a model aircraft, while the elder Wanda stands next to her with a doll. A military cap rests on the armrest. The whole was cast in bronze and set on a granite pedestal bearing the inscription "Marshal of Poland Józef Piłsudski with his daughters Wanda and Jadwiga".

How it came about

The monument was an initiative of the local community: construction was decided by a town council resolution of 7 November 2008, and the cost was covered by residents' donations and grants from sponsors, including the Chancellery of the President of Poland.

In practice

A visit combines well with a walk to the Milusin villa, now a museum devoted to Piłsudski. The bench is accessible around the clock, and a quarter of an hour is enough to view the composition and take photos. Sulejówek lies right at the eastern edge of Warsaw, so it is easy to fit into a sightseeing programme of the capital.