Posłanka Wanda Ładzina (1880–1966) i jej działalność w Polsce i we Francji

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the life and activities of Wanda Ładzina, particularly her involvement in numerous spheres of charitable, political and social work and publishing. At various times in her life she was active in the French Red Cross (fr. Croix-Rouge française), and the Union of French Women (fr. Union des Femmes de France), and the Polish Red Cross. She was president of the Sisters’ Section of the Polish Red Cross (pol. Sekcja Sióstr Polskiego Czerwonego Krzyża), dressed wounded French soldiers participating in the First World War and later Polish soldiers fighting in the war against the Bolsheviks. She was also the caretaker of the Association of Catholic Servants in Lodz (pol. Stowarzyszenie Sług Katolickich w Łodzi), belonged to the National Women’s Organisation, Poland (pol. Narodowa Organizacja Kobiet, Polska), and the “Falcon” Polish Gymnastic Society. In 1922, in the elections of 5 November, she won a parliamentary seat on behalf of the Popular National Union; in the Sejm she sat on three committees: the Labour Protection Committee (pol. Komisja Ochrony Pracy), the Social Welfare Committee (Komisja Opieki Społecznej) and the Invalidity Committee (pol. Komisja Inwalidztwa); she was also active in the Polish-French parliamentary group. Wanda Ładzina fought above all for the social rights of female domestic workers, advocated the abolition of restrictions on women’s civil rights and the regulation of the status of employed women and working minors. During the Second World War, she was in France, active in the Polish Red Cross and, from 1941, in the Welfare Society for the Poles in France (fr. Groupement d’assistance aux Polonais en France, pol. Towarzystwo Opieki nad Polakami we Francji). After the end of the war, she decided to remain in France and published journalistic and religious texts. She died in Paris, was buried in the Montmorency cemetery.