Father Leopold Moczygemba, (sculpture).

Father Leopold Moczygemba, (sculpture).

Rodriguez, Louis, sculptor.

Father Leopold Moczygemba, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Bust: bronze; Base: granite.

Bust: approx. 3 x 2 x 1 ft.; Base: approx. H. 7 ft. x W. 4 ft.

(On bottom proper left of bust:) Louis Rodriguez/1976 (On front of base, incised lettering:) FATHER LEOPOLD MOCZYGEMBA/1824 - 1891/PATRIARCH OF AMERICAN POLONIA/REVEREND FATHER/LEOPOLD BONAVENTURA MARIA MOCZYGEMBA/PIONEERED SETTLEMENT/OF POLISH IMMIGRANTS TO THE UNITED STATES./HE FOUNDED PANNA MARIA,/FIRST POLISH COLONY IN AMERICA, DECEMBER 24, 1854/ESTABLISHED IN THIS COMMUNITY/AMERICA'S FIRST POLISH CHURCH/AND SERVED AS PASTOR UNTIL OCTOBER, 1856/HE CONTINUED HIS WORK AS/PIONEER*MISSIONARY*EDUCATOR (On rear of base, incised lettering:) DONATED BY AND ON BEHALF OF/LOUIS B. AND MARY JANE MANKA/EDMUND AND LUCY PAWELEK/FATHER HENRY MOCZYGEMBA/(list of donors' names follow in two columns)/POLISH AMERICAN PRIESTS ASSOCIATION signed

A bust of Father Leopold Moczygemba. The bust is mounted atop a rectangular base that is inscribed on the front and the rear. Cartouche-like elements flank the upper section of the base. A small crucifix is enclosed in glass in the top front of the base. A cross is carved in relief into the top rear of the base. An inscribed granite plaque rests in the ground directly in front of the base. Moczygemba's original tomb rests in the ground directly in back of the base.

Portrait male -- Moczygemba, Leopold -- Bust

Occupation -- Religion -- Clergy

Ethnic -- Polish

Outdoor Sculpture -- Texas -- Panna Maria

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Panna Maria, Texas

The sculpture commemorates Father Leopold Moczygemba (1824-1891), who pioneered the settlement of Polish immigrants in the United States. On December 24, 1854 he founded Panna Maria, the first Polish colony in America. He established America's first Polish Church and served as pastor until 1856, when he began serving as Superior of the Conventual Franciscan Missionaries in Texas. He founded the first Novitiate and Seminary of the Franciscan Order in Syracuse, New York, and went on to found two seminaries in Detroit, Michigan. In 1873, Moczygemba became the Chairman of the First Polish Roman Catholic Union Convention, serving as President from 1875 to 1879. He entered the Resurrectionist Congregation in Rome in 1880 and the Detroit Archdiocese in 1888. Moczygemba died in February of 1891 and was buried in Detroit. He was reinterred in Panna Maria, Texas on October 13, 1974. IAS files contain a partial transcription of a granite plaque in the ground at the foot of the base.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Texas survey, 1993.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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