Emilia Plater - Legacy

Legacy

Her death was widely publicised shortly afterwards by the Polish press, which contributed to her growing fame. Emilia Plater became one of the symbols of the uprising. The symbol of the fighting girl became quite widespread both in Poland, Lithuania and abroad. Adam Mickiewicz immortalized her in one of his poems, Śmierć pułkownika (Death of a Colonel), although the description of her death is a pure poetical fiction and was only loosely based on her real life. Mickiewicz has also idealized her personality and skills, portraying her as the ideal commander, worshiped by her soldiers. That poem has entered the elementary curriculum in the independent Poland.

Other literary works based on her life were published, mostly abroad, both by Polish emigres and by foreigners. Among them were Georg Büchner, Konstanty Gaszyński, Wacław Gąsiorowski, Tadeusz Korczyński, Antoni Edward Odyniec and Władysław Buchner. Józef Straszewicz most notably published three successive versions of her biography in French.

She also became the theme of paintings by several artists of the epoch, among them Hyppolyte Bellange, Achille Deveria, Philipp Veit, Francois de Villain and Wojciech Kossak. In 1842 J. K. Salomoński published a short biography of Emilia Plater in New York, under the title of Emily Plater, The Polish Heroine; Life of the Countess Emily Plater. A lithograph by F. De Villaine, based on Deveria's work, became one of the most recognizable portraits of her, popularizing her image as a delicate and noble female noble warrior.

She was shown on the Second Polish Republic's notes (20 zloty), and a Polish infantry regiment the Emilia Plater 1st Independent Women's Battalion, was named after her. During World War II, a Polish female support unit, (1 Samodzielny Battalion Kobiecy im. Emilii Plater) in Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division was named in her honor; its former members founded a village (Platerówka) in Lower Silesia. Several streets in Poland are named after her, including one in Warsaw. In 1959 she was made the name-sake of a ship, the MS Emilia Plater

Her life has also been a subject to studies from a feminist perspective, by scholars to point out the significance of her participation in the military conflict as a female going against the stereotype that only males can fight.

Stefan Kieniewicz in a more critical treatment in the Polish Biographical Dictionary notes that a lot of her exploits are poorly documented, and it is not always possible to separate legend from facts. He notes it is not certain she ever commanded any unit, and that her role was more honorary than real; he also notes that she is known to have fainted on the battlefield, distracting her comrades, and in at least one instance (at the battle Šiauliai), she was purposefully held behind front lines, as her comrades tried to ensure she would not endanger herself.