Help Us Honour Sophie Gaudier-Brzeska – a Modernist Writer

This year marks the centenary of the death of Sophie Gaudier-Brzeska (1872 - 1925), a pioneering feminist writer, poet, and modernist whose life and work deserve to be remembered. Yet, for the past century, she has rested in an unmarked grave - her legacy fading into obscurity.

Sophie Gaudier-Brzeska was a fiercely independent, boundary-breaking author who wrote in English, French, and her native Polish, producing a body of work that included short stories, a novel, diaries, and poetry. Born to a Polish family in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, she pursued her literary dreams across Paris, Philadelphia, New York, and London, refusing to conform to societal expectations.

In 1909, she met the young sculptor Henri Gaudier, and together they forged an intense artistic partnership, symbolised by their shared name - Gaudier-Brzeska. However, tragedy struck when Henri was killed in World War I. Isolated and adrift, Sophie eventually withdrew to the Cotswolds, her once-vibrant spirit crushed by hardship.

In 1922, she was forcibly committed to a mental asylum in Gloucester, where she died, two and a half years later. Though she had the means for a dignified burial, she was treated as a pauper, laid to rest without a marker, her name lost to time.

Bringing Sophie’s Story to Light

We are raising funds to give Sophie the grave marker she deserves. Crafted by Master Stonemason and Conservator Samuel MacArthur, this memorial will be unveiled on 17th March 2025, 100 years after her passing, in the historic cemetery of the former asylum.

The design will feature her own defiant words:

"I am an artist, I am free, so behave as I see fit."

It will also incorporate a carved motif based on Henri’s drawing Polish Bird, a poignant tribute to their artistic bond.

How You Can Help

Your donation, no matter the size, will help us ensure Sophie is remembered - not as a forgotten footnote of history, but as a pioneering writer and radical thinker.

Together, we are restoring her name, honouring her legacy, and shining a light on her rightful place in literary history.

Thank you for your generosity and support.

mock up of the grave stone marker

Ania Ready, artist & author of I Also Fight Windmills, a book about Sophie Gaudier-Brzeska

James D. Reid, composer & creator of Savage Madonna, a musical based on Sophie’s life.