Cecylia Kempner
Cecylia (Celina) Kempner was born in Płock on November 13, 1880, as the daughter of the bookseller Ludwik and Tauba nee Kon. She was an activist of the Polish Socialist Party. As Kazimierz Askanas recalls, Celina Kempner, a graduate of the Women’s Gymnasium (Middle High School) in Płock, was known in the town as “Cechna”. She owed her popularity to thorough education in the field of history, literature, economics and philosophy, as well as close connections with the group of young intelligentsia in Płock and workers of the Sarna and Margulies factories. She cooperated with the well-known socialist activist Paweł Lewinson-Łapiński. She took part in a workers’ demonstration in Płock in 1905 – she spoke during a rally in the park on the Tum Hill. Her speech began with the words: “I feel as in three forms of slavery – as a woman, as a Pole and as a worker activist opposing oppression”.
In 1935, she married Ignacy Daszyński, Marshal of the Parliament (she was his second wife). She died in Warsaw during the occupation.
