Monument to Anna Walentynowicz

Technique: bronze sculpture on a granite plinth

Dimensions: 81 cm × 80 cm × 64.5 cm (plinth), max. 180 cm × 55 cm × 49 cm (figure)

Object: The bronze figure is a realistic depiction of the woman, who stands in a pensive pose. The granite plinth features a carved intaglio inscription reading: “Anna Walentynowicz 1929–2010” and below: “There is no freedom without Solidarity”. The monument was unveiled on the 86^th anniversary of the activist’s birthday on the initiative of the “Godność” (Dignity) association uniting former political prisoners of the People’s Republic of Poland.

The monument commemorates Anna Walentynowicz, activist and oppositionist in the People’s Republic of Poland. Walentynowicz worked at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk since 1950 as a welder and gantry crane operator. On 8 August 1980 she was dismissed on disciplinary grounds for her oppositionist activity, just five months before she was due to retire. Her dismissal sparked a wave of strikes at the Gdańsk Shipyard, with one of the demands formulated by the protesting workers being Walentynowicz’s return to work. She belonged to the Interfactory Strike Committee and Presidium of the Interfactory Founding Committee of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity”. In the 1980s, she was interned and arrested several times; in 1983, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison for organizing a strike. In 2006, she was decorated with the Order of the White Eagle. She died tragically in the Smoleńsk plane crash on 10 April 2010.

The decision to create a monument in this place raised controversy among local residents, who wanted the area to serve typically recreational purposes.

Place: The sculpture is located on a small park square with several benches, next to Tri-City’s main artery, Grunwaldzka Street, in the vicinity of the Artists’ Colony – a gallery and cultural hub.

Information about the author: Stanisław Milewski is an artist and sculptor. His works include the John Paul II and Ronald Reagan monument in the Ronald Reagan Park in Gdańsk.

Condition of the object –

Owner/guardian: Gdańsk Road and Greenery Authority

Author of the entry: Michalina Domoń