Paulina Mongirdaitė - laiškai šviesoraščiu
LTPaulina Mongirdaitė buvo pirmoji moteris fotografė Lietuvoje, pirmoji Palangoje įkūrė meno fotografijos ateljė, per jos darbus mus pasiekė seniausi Kretingos, Palangos, Gargždų miestelių vaizdai, užfiksuota jų kaita. Deja, apie jos pačios biografiją žinojome tik kelis faktus: gimė apie 1865 m. Raseinių apskrityje, fotografijos mokėsi Varšuvoje, mirė apie 1924 m. Palangoje. [Iš straipsnio, p. 36]
ENPaulina Mongirdaitė (~1865–1924) was the first woman photographer in Lithuania, she was the first who established in Palanga art photography studio, and thanks to her the oldest views of Kretinga, Palanga, Gargždai towns have reached our times as well as the process of their change has been captured. The family of nobles Mongirdai is a representative of coat of arms Vadvič. Petras Mangirdaitis was the first nobleman of Lithuania, in 1413 Horodło seimas he received for the merits adapted Vadvič coat of arms, he was a heir of Šalčininkai and Ašmena lands, a nobleman of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Paulina Mongirdaitė was proud of her family coat of arms and even had a seal with an inscription “Wadwicz Mongird / Polangen”, with it she marked her photographs. Thus in some articles in the press her husband photographer Vadvičius Mongirdas was mistakenly mentioned. However, on the back of the photograph preserved in Šiauliai “Aušros” museum there are two seals of P. Mongirdaitė: “Wadwicz Mongird / Polangen” and “ФОТОГРАФИЯ / П. МОНГИРДЪ / ПОЛАНГЕНЪ / Курляндской губ.” (PHOTOGRAPH / P. MONGIRD / PALANGA / Courland Governorate), this proves that the seal of “Wadwicz Mongird” really belonged to Paulina Mongirdaitė.It was assumed that glass plate negatives of P. Mongirdaitė have not survived, though contemporaries told that she had accumulated a big archive of glass works. After familiarizing with photographs and postcards of Paulina Mongirdaitė that are preserved in the archives of Lithuanian and Polish museums as well as published in the publications of the 19th – 20th centuries, according to found analogues, it was possible to identify that her thirteen glass plates of 13x18 cm format are preserved in the funds of Kretinga Museum, where the views and interior of Kretinga church and Franciscans monastery are captured. [From the publication]
