Nicolaus Copernicus Monument, 1830 (installed 1973)
Bertel Thorvaldsen
Museum Campus
Solidarity Drive in front
of Adler Planetarium
In Warsaw, Poland, one of the most notable
landmarks is the Nicolaus Copernicus Monument that stands
in front of Staszic Palace, the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The
monument was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen in 1822 and completed in 1830. The original piece was
later damaged during World War II, but was reproduced from the artist’s model
under the supervision of Polish sculptor Bronislaw Koniuszy. In 1971, to mark the 500th
anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543),
Chicago’s
Copernicus Foundation of Chicago raised $150,000 to produce a replica of the
statue. Koniuszy made a recasting of original monument and shipped the bronze
statue to the United States. It was dedicated during a ceremony on October 14,
1973. Mayor Richard J. Daley credited
the monument with symbolically linking Chicago and Poland. This statue of the father
of modern astronomy sits in front of the Adler Planetarium on Solidarity Drive, renamed by Mayor Jane Byrne at the request of the
Polish community in honor of Lech Walesa and the Polish labor union.
Fellow countryman Thaddeus Kosciuzsko is honored with a monument just to the west of
Copernicus. In 1977, with the remaining funds from the monument campaign, a
search began for a permanent site for the Polish Cultural Center. Named the Copernicus Center, it is located at Milwaukee and Lawrence avenues.
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