Kornel Ujejski Memorial

The monument was dedicated to Kornel Ujejski (1823–1897), a 19th-century Romantic poet and political activist, and was designed by sculptor Antoni Popiel. The sculpture was unveiled on 8 December 1901, in Lviv, then located in the Second Polish Republic, and now in Ukraine. It was placed in front of the City Cassino at 13 Shevchenko Avenue (then known as Academic Street). Currently, it is occupied by the Lviv Regional Universal Scientific Library.^[1][2]

The monument was taken down in 1946, and returned to Poland in 1950. Until 1956, it was displayed in the Wilanów Garden in Warsaw. Afterwards, it was moved to Szczecin and unveiled on 27 November 1956, at the Victory Square, in front of the St. Adalbert Church. In the 1970s it was moved slightly to the east, closed to the Harbour Gate. The monument was renovated in 1994.^[1][2] To celebrate the 105th anniversary of the sculpture, it was commemorated in a festivity on 9 December 2006, treated like an unveiling ceremony.^[3]

The monument consists of a bronze bust of Kornel Ujejski, placed on a granite pedestal.^[1][2] It is decorated with a bronze sculpture of broken chains, wrapped around a torch, laurel wreath, and the first page of the 1846 musical composition "Chorał" by Józef Nikorowicz, for which Ujejski wrote lyrics in form of the 1847 song "Z dymem pożarów", which was considered as one of the national anthems of the Polish people in the 19th century. ^[1][2][4] The pedestal is inscribed with text "Kornel Ujejski" in front, and "'Narodzie mój bądź szczęśliwy' K. Ujejski" in the back. The latter translates from Polish to "My nation, be happy".^[1][2]