A novel by Maria Konopnicka published in 1890. It was the writer’s response to anti-Semitism, which was a common problem in Polish society at the time. The plot takes place in nineteenth-century Warsaw. The main character of the story is the eponymous Mendel Gdański – an old, impoverished bookbinder, a Polish Jew who spent 27 years of his life on the same street. The events described in the novel show what difficulties the old man struggled with on a daily basis. Despite the anti-Semitism and violence spreading around, Mendel Gdański did not give up his identity and stubbornly defended his dignity.