Hair salon. Patrycja Kamińska

Hairdressing traditions in the Kamiński family date back to 1884 when Leon Kamiński, Patrycja’s great-great-grandfather, began studying hairdressing in Poznan. During his vocational training, he travelled a lot. He visited the United States and Great Britain, and eventually settled in Berlin. There he opened a hair salon and started a family. Leon died at the end of the First World War.

His wife Franciszka and son Alfons moved to Poznan after Poland had regained independence. In 1926 they opened a hair salon at ul. Kanałowa in Poznan where it is still in business today. In 1939, when the Second World War broke out, Alfons was conscripted into the army. His wife Stanisława and son Leon stayed in Poznan.

‘My great-grandmother Stanisława was taking care of my grandfather Leon. She was also looking after the whole business. Although she was not a hairdresser, she had always helped her husband. She really had her head screwed on, which is why very early on she started teaching hairdressing to my grandfather so that he did not get sent away. He was 13 or 14 years old.’

Leon was running the salon for the next several years. At the same time he was engaged in community work as well as in the chamber of crafts, the Hairdressing Technology and Advancement Club and the city council.