Mary Stanisia
American artist (1878–1967)
Sister Mary Stanisia, SSND, (May 4, 1878 – January 28, 1967) was an American Catholic nun, artist, and painter, member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Early life
Monika Kurkowska was born on May 4, 1878, in Poland. She was one of twelve children brought to the United States in 1881 on board the liner, Strassburg, by her parents Franciszek, a wood carver, and Katarzyna Kurkowski. They changed their surname to "Kurk" after arriving in the United States. They were originally from the German partition of Poland. The family became members of the St. Stanislaus Polish parish where Monika attended its elementary school. She went on to the Academy of Our Lady before she left home to study with count Tadeusz Żukotyński in Munich. Żukotyński, an artist born in Poland, taught Stanisia to paint religious art, including murals.
Early career
She returned to the United States in 1893 and three years later, following a religious calling she had felt since she was a young girl, she moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame under a new religious name, Mary Stanisia.
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