Click here to download a coloring page of Helena Kurcewiczówna, a beautiful Polish noblewoman from the 19th-c. novel Ogniem i Mieczem (With Fire and Sword) by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
With Fire and Sword was my first introduction to Poland – when I was a teen, my dad found the 1000+ page brick (in English translation) at the library and paid me five whole dollars to read it. I loved it. I eventually saved up to buy my own copy and read it many, many times during high school.
When I met a Polish guy at college a few years later, I was excited someone could finally teach me how to pronounce all the names and places correctly! (Pronouncing Polish is… difficult, especially when the translator, ahem, CHANGES THE SPELLING of everything to try to make it easier! That makes it worse!!)
I eventually figured out Polish pronunciation (pretty good for an American, at least), and married the Polish guy;) This coloring page is for Multicultural Night at our kids’ school!
In my drawing, Helena’s outfit is based on her first look in the 1999 film. She has long braided hair, a fluffy fur hat and a fur-edged coat (I loved designing the fantasy floral fabric!). The decorative border includes the crest with the Polish eagle, and poppies, the Polish national flower. If you look closely, you can see that Helena is unrealistically reading the same book she is the main character of:)
I hope you enjoy this extremely niche “Polish princess” coloring page (probably my favorite coloring page I’ve ever drawn!). If you or your kid colors it, I’d love to see your finished work! You can tag/message me on Instagram.
Artwork © Rebecca Górzyńska 2025. Free for non-commercial personal/classroom use.
Disclaimer: I hate the world has come to this, but I did draw this artwork BY HAND on my iPad (it took six hours) and I did not use any generative AI tools to help create it. And no, AI did not help me write this post either, despite WordPress being absolutely INFESTED with buttons suggesting AI can do the writing (and art…) for me. Thank you for supporting human artists!
