Piotr Odmieniec Wà Âast (25 June 1876 â 8 March 1949 in Izabelin; until 1907: Maria Jakubina Komornicka) was a Polish writer of Young Poland period, translator and literary critic. Born female, rejects this identity in 1907, but returns to using feminine pronouns and the original name toward the end of life.
The poet's parents were Augustyn Komornicki and Anna Dunin-Wàsowicz, and their grandfather was Teodor Anzelm Dzwonkowski (1764âÂÂ1850). The writer came from an affluent landowning family, and spent the childhood in a property in Grabów. In 1889 Anna Dunin-Wàsowicz came to Warsaw with her 6 children to grant them lessons from the best teachers (Piotr was taught literature by prof. Piotr Chmielowski). Wà Âast had a literary debut in a newspaper "Gazeta Warszawska" in 1892 with short stories Z à ¼ycia nÃÂdzarza and Staszka. In 1883 the same newspaper published a novella Rozà Âàka. In 1894 a collection of short stories Szkice was published, in the same year âÂÂGazeta Poznaà Âskaâ published a drama Skrzywdzeni. Then, under father's pressure, Wà Âast went to Cambridge, to attend lectures at the Newnham College for six months. The diary of the stay was published under the ironic title Youth Paradise at the beginning of 1896. After return, Wà Âast, Wacà Âaw Naà Âkowski and Cezary Jellenta published in 1895 a literary manifesto Forpoczty.
In June 1898 a wedding with a poet Jan Lemaà Âski took place. The marriage was considered unsuccessful, and Lemaà Âski considered impetuous and morbidly jealous. According to Jan Lorentowicz's account, during his honeymoon, Lemaà Âski shot his wife twice with a pistol at Krakow's Planty Park. The relationship broke up after two years.
In 1900 Wà Âast published (under the name Komornicka) Baà Ânie. Psalmodie, and in 1901 a cooperation with "Chimera" edited by Zenon Przesmycki started. The writer published poetry, including series Czarne Pà Âomienie (1901), prose (Biesy, 1902), translations from English, as well as reviews, signed "Wà Âast".
According to Maria Dernaà Âowicz, 1907 in the Bazar Hotel in Poznaà  (during a trip with mother to Koà Âobrzeg) Wà Âast burned women's dresses in the oven and declared himself a man. From then on, Wà Âast wore only men's clothing, smoked a pipe, cut hair short, and had some teeth removed (to get a more masculine facial shape) and consequently used the name Piotr Odmieniec Wà Âast. Prof. Bogdan Zakrzewski recalled that Piotr was a friendly and very interesting interlocutor, his only condition was using masculine forms, referring to him.
Wà Âast not only declared himself to be a man, but also recognized himself as the new incarnation of Piotr Wà Âast, the legendary founder of the Dunin family (of Anna Dunin-Wàsowicz). Declared insane by family, Wà Âast stayed in sanatoriums and hospitals in the years 1907âÂÂ1914. In 1914 Wà Âast returned to Grabów, to begin writing his last work, XiÃÂgi poezji idyllicznej (Books of Idyllic Poetry). By the end of his life he had become completely forgotten as a writer. In 1944, due to war damage, Wà Âast left the family estate; he died in a medical establishment in Izabelin in 1949. His tombstone is located at the Powàzki Military Cemetery (as Maria Komornicka-Lemaà Âska (section B / 20 (7/22)).
The work of Piotr Wà Âast (as Maria Komornicka) was published in 1996 by literary scholar Maria Podraza-Kwiatkowska. In the eighties Maria Janion published the essay "Where is Lemaà Âska?" dedicated to Wà Âast - its reprint in the book âÂÂKobiety i duch innoà Âciâ (1996), as well as the publication in this book of another sketch of Janion devoted to Wà Âast "Maria Komornicka, in memoriam", caused increased interest of the young Polish writer among scholars. In the 21st century, Wà Âast's renaissance took place â feminist critics, LGBT scholars, and journalists became interested in the writer's life and work. Noteworthy is the monograph (565 pages) Stràcona Bogini by Brygida Helbig published in 2010 in Krakow.
Wiktor Dynarski, transgender discourse scholar, stated that "Maria Komornicka has never existed/been there.". Marta Konarzewska, when writing the text about the writer published in "Replika" magazine - like Krzysztof Tomasik in Homobiografie, respected the name and gender identity chosen by the writer. Tomasik wondered in his book: "The question remains whether Wà Âast in his metamorphosis was more concerned about becoming a man or simply a human" as at that time a woman was in fact a sub-human being, which was also pointed out by, among others, Zofia Naà Âkowska.
To mark the 60th anniversary of the poet's death, a monument was unveiled on 8 March 2009 by Gen. Stanisà Âaw Naà ÂÃÂcz-Komornicki (poet's nephew) in the hometown of Grabów nad Pilicà. In July 2016, Warka celebrated the 140th anniversary of the birth of Maria Komornicka with the participation of Brygida Helbig and Tomasz Komornicki.