Dzieje Hymnu abstynentów Marii Konopnickiej

The article discusses the publishing history of the poem Hymn abstynentów [The Abstinence Hymn] (Hymn Eleatów [The Hymn of the Eleatics]) by Maria Konopnicka. It originated in December 1905 and was reprinted many times in the press of Galicia, Greater Poland and Silesia, and was also known in the Russian state despite a printing ban. It was performed as a song during abstainers’ meetings. The poem, which expressed the ideas of Eleutheria, was quickly transformed into a more universal text useful for promoting the slogans of the emerging teetotaller movement. It experienced the height of its popularity in the years 1906–1914, and in mid-1930s. These dates illustrate the development of the idea of abstinence in Poland.