The monument of Ignacy Jan Paderewski was created in a studio in Poznań by the sculptor Rafał Nowak.
The monument stands on the square at the Academy of Music on St. Marcin’s street. Funds for its construction came from social contributions. The initiative to erect a monument for the legendary figure, who became part of the history not only of Poznań but also of Poland, was born in the Hipolit Cegielski Society.

A project by Rafał Nowak was selected through a competition. The monument has a form of a moving figure. Ignacy Paderewski was presented in a tuxedo, with an insurgent rosette plugged into the flap.

The pedestal is 140 cm, and the figure is 3.5 meters high.

The place where the monument was erected was regulated by a resolution of the City Council of 2011 and a decision of the Mayor of Poznań from 2012.

The ceremonial unveiling took place on May 6, 2015. President Bronisław Komorowski took part in the ceremony.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski, our great countryman, pianist, composer, independence activist, statesman and politician.
He was born in Kuryłówka in Podolia in 1860. His mother, Poliksena née Nowicka, daughter of Zygmunt, philomatics and friend of Adam Mickiewicz, died several months after his birth. The only guardian of Ignacy and his older sister Antonina was the father – a participant in the January Uprising, served a year of imprisonment in Kiev for that, and then earned a living as administrator of one of the estates in Podolia. Soon after, his father died. Both of Paderewski’s parents were buried in the cemetery in Żytomierz.

It is difficult to assess whether it was on his order or on the initiative of guardians, or thanks to his own aspirations, little Paderewski as a thirteen-year-old began studying in Warsaw at the Music Institute. He spent five years learning piano there, then he became a teacher of the instrument himself, although he wanted to be a composer. He earned a living as a pianist and accompanist, after a few years he managed to go to Berlin for two six months (1882 and 1884), where he studied composition.
Paderewski’s great fame began in Vienna. For the first time as a concert pianist he was noticed in 1887. A year later he gave a series of concerts in Paris, soon appearances in London, the career began to gain momentum, first in Europe and soon afterwards also abroad (the first tour in the USA is years 1891-1892). Ignacy Jan Paderewski was a great star. He was John Lennon and Mick Jagger of his time. He was referred to as “keyboard wizard”, “pianist king”, “greatest master”. Talent, hard work, but also personal charm, extraordinary beauty and freedom in relations with people – all this helped him to build a professional path. Women fainted at concerts, he was known in Europe, America and Australia. In the United States alone, Paderewski had a total of 19 tours. Other artists devoted their songs to him, a song was created ... Paderewski has his own star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, American post has issued a stamp dedicated to him.