Abstract: The Foundation for Support of Helena Modjeska's Life and Art, established in 2009 in Krakow, is an organization whose principal purpose is to preserve and disseminate the memory of the great artist. This article is a presentation of the Foundation's structure, its way of functioning, and the most important tasks until now, as well as an attempt to place the organization in the context of memory management processes. The authors try to point out the need to remember about artists as those who build cultural identity, to highlight the role of the past as a tool for the interpretation of the present, and to find the standards that define the ethics of social behavior for generations, the existence of which is made known by the ideas represented by outstanding Polish artists.

Key words: Foundation of Modjeska, memory management, theatre, heritage, Helena Modjeska

“Nobody knows the roads to posterity” – said the one, who, in fact, did pass to posterity, but the road he had taken was long and winding. He was the One, who, a century after his death, became the inspiration for the marvelous honours paid to the memory of Chopin – an artist omnipresent within the world of culture, and he was the one who told us about Jozef Bem, a general remembered only by Poles and Hungarians (“Czemu cieniu odjeżdżasz…” [Why are you leaving dark shadow…]) – restoring the memory of his existence through the art of Czesław Niemen. The recalled citation from the work of C.K. Norwid called “Laur Dojrzały” (“The Mature Laurel”) seems to be a reasonable introduction to the theme of artist's legacy in memory. In this case we wish to debate the legacy of a female Artist, a mistress of such an ephemeral art as is the art of acting on the stage. It is a part of a much broader theme than only cultural or national heritage. It is signified by: the authentic Wawel castle, present over the course of centuries, the reconstructed old town in Warsaw – a proof that the annihilated may be reborn. People's Hall in Wrocław – the symbol of the uneasy relations between Poles and Germans, and thousands of other tangible traces.