Marie Krysińska

Maria Anastasia Krysińska (Warsaw, 22 January 1857 - Paris, 15 September 1908) was a Polish-French symbolist poet, novelist, and musician.

[1] Born to a lawyer, Ksawery Jan Teodor Krysiński and his wife Amelia Maria Wołowska, Marie Krysinska left her native Warsaw when she was sixteen to study at the Conservatoire de Paris, however she abandoned her studies shortly after her arrival in Paris to pursue a more bohemian lifestyle.

[2] She became a pianist at the cabaret Le Chat Noir, where she would also recite some of her poetry.

During her time in Paris, Krysinska became an active member of a variety of creative and literary circles of the time, including the "Hirsutes," "Jemenfoutistes," "Zutistes" and "les Hydropathes" of which she was the only female member.

[4] Regardless, it is important to note both Krysinska's role in the innovation of free verse poetry, and her erasure from its history.