Page "Helena Modjeska" Paragraph 4

The question of her origins is a complicated one.

Modjeska ’ s mother was Józefa ( Misel ) Benda, the widow of a prosperous Kraków merchant, Szymon Benda.

In her autobiography, Modjeska claimed that her father was a musician named Michael Opid.

While it is true that the Benda family did employ a music teacher named Michal Opid, who later stood as Helena ’ s godfather, Opid was not the father of Józefa Benda ’ s two youngest children.