Helena Janina Pajzderska
Born	Helena Janina Boguska (1862-05-16)16 May 1862 Sandomierz
Died	4 December 1927(1927-12-04) (aged 65) Warsaw
Pen name	Hajota

Helena Janina Pajzderska née Boguska, also known as Szolc-Rogozińska (1862–1927), was a Polish writer, literary translator, traveller and a women's rights activist. She wrote a number of novels, travel literature and translations under the pen name Hajota.

Early life and education

Helena Janina Boguska was born on 16 May 1862 in Sandomierz, ^{[1] [2]} to Jan Boguski and Emilia née Marczewska. ^[2] She grew up in Warsaw, ^[3] where she received thorough private education ^[2] and mastered various foreign languages at Laura Guérin's school. ^[4] She became friends with a fellow writer Jadwiga Łuszczewska. ^[3]

Career

Helena debuted in 1875 with a novel Narcyzy Ewuni; she was thirteen at the time of publishing. ^[2] Her body of work includes novels, travel literature and poetry. ^[1] Helena wrote under the pen name "Hajota", ^{[1] [2]} sometimes also using a second pseudonym "Lascaro". ^[2] She wrote for the Polish press, such as the Kurier Warszawski, Czas or Kronika Rodzinna. ^[2] She also translated a number of literary works by such authors as Lord Byron, H. G. Wells, Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo, ^[2] Joseph Conrad and Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. ^[1]

Thanks to her acquaintance with Bolesław Prus, Helena met Stefan Szolc-Rogoziński, whom she married in 1888 ^{[2] [5]} and took on his surname. ^[1] The couple travelled together to Africa. While they settled on the island of Bioko, where they ran a cocoa plantation, the Rogozińskis also made trips to the main land ^{[2] [5]} (e.g. Nigeria, Cameroon) to collect material for their writing and research on native population. ^[2] Helena was the first Polish woman known to climb Pico Basilé, the tallest peak of Bioko. ^[5] She may have also been the first European woman documented to do so. ^[5] In 1891, the couple returned to Europe, where they first gave a couple of scientific lectures in Spain, then made their way back to the Polish territories. ^[2] The readings secured Helena a membership in the Geographic Society of Madrid and the African Society of Naples. ^[2]

In 1900, Helena started engaging in women's rights activism. Seven years later, she coordinated the work of two committees (law and politics, literature and arts) at the first Polish Women's Conference. ^[4]

Private life and death

Helena was married twice. First, to the traveller Stefan Szolc-Rogoziński, whom she married in 1888 and divorced in 1895. In 1904, she married the architect Tomasz Pajzderski, but the marriage was short-lived. ^[2]

Helena died on 4 December 1927, in Warsaw. ^{[1] [2]} She is buried at the Powązki Cemetery. ^[2]

Legacy

A street in the Warsaw district of Żoliborz bears the name of Hajota – the pen name of Helena Janina Pajzderska. ^[3]

Selected works

Short story collections

• Z dalekich lądów ^[1]

Novels

• Ostatnia butelka ^[1]
• Błędne koło
• W pogoni
• Dar Heliogabala
• Wyżebrana godzina
• Rosa Nieves ^[2]

References