Tomasz Pudłocki

An American in Medyka. Elizabeth Munk Clark and the Pawlikowski family

The presented source edition discusses unknown letters of American translator and grant-holder of the Kościuszko Foundation in Poland in the 1930s, Elizabeth Munk Clark (1908–2001). They are concerned with her stay in Medyka and her cooperation with Michał Pawlikowski, translating his novel Change Your Bodies from Polish into English. In her letters to her parents, her fiancé Ernest Reiss and to Pawlikowski, Clark shares her observations from the summer of 1932, describing not only the Medyka residents and the work on translation, but also Cracow, Americans staying there as well as her impressions of daily life in Poland. It hardly ever happens that the same or similar things get described by one person in letters to three different recipients. That is why this correspondence, so far completely unknown, is worth introducing to a broader circle of readers.

In the years 1997–2021, the Department of the History of Education and Culture of the Jagiellonian University was headed by the professors Julian Dybiec, Andrzej Banach and Krzysztof Stopka. Despite the fact that it was structurally part of the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University, its employees also held classes in other university faculties, including the Institute of Pedagogy, Department of Computational Linguistics at the Faculty of Management and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University, and were in charge of the Faculty of History, Archives of the Jagiellonian University and the Museum of the Jagiellonian University. The scientific research of the team oscillated around the history of the Jagiellonian University; science, education and culture from the Middle Ages to the present day; the history of Krakow, Galicia and Poland; but also the intellectual ties of Poland with the Anglo-Saxon countries; the history of Jews and of the Roman and Greek Catholic Church; history didactics – especially in the history of the Armenians. Apart from the department heads, full-time employees in the discussed period included: Grzegorz Chomicki, Tomasz Pudłocki, Krystyna Samsonowska, Maria Stinia, and Wiktor Szymborski.

Andrzej Chwalba and his links with Przemyśl

The article describes the links connecting Polish historian Andrzej Chwalba, professionally connected with the Jagiellonian University, with Przemyśl and its academic milieu. The author shows to what extent personal relationships, the town’s history and the work as a lecturer at the East European State Higher School in Przemyśl had influenced Professor Chwalba’s activity in the local community. The articles is also an attempt to justify awarding Prof. Chwalba with the title of an Honorary Member of the TPN Society of the Friends of Learning and dedicating to him the current volume of the Rocznik Przemyski (History) periodical.

Keywords: Andrzej Chwalba, Przemyśl, East European State Higher School in Przemyśl, Society of the Friends of Learning in Przemyśl

Recenzja książki:

Anna Siciak, Dzieje książki w Przemyślu w okresie autonomii Galicji (1867–1914), Południowo-Wschodni Instytut Naukowy w Przemyślu, Przemyśl 2012, ss. 434

The author discusses the creation of an ideal of a scholar and its implementation by the circles of English and German specialists at the Jagiellonian University in the interwar period. He con­siders how the academic activity was combined with “service for the state,” increasingly imposed by the reality of the time. The choice of university Germanists and Anglicists from Cracow results from the obvious interconnections between the two groups of scholars and from the fact that by using their example it is easy to see how their specific mission was understood, interpreted and how it translated into everyday business relations. It turns out that academic success did not always guarantee a high position or even remaining in the job. Often, they were determined by various completely different factors.

Autor przedstawił sprawozdanie z konferencji naukowej „Andrzej Gawroński (1885-1927) – poliglota i uczony”. Sesję zorganizowało Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk w Przemyślu, I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Juliusza Słowackiego w Przemyślu oraz Podkarpackie Centrum Edukacji Nauczycieli – Odział w Przemyślu w dniu 1 kwietnia 2016 r. Konferencję poświęcono różnym aspektom życia i działalności naukowej jednego z najsłynniejszych lingwistów świata – profesora filologii orientalnej uniwersytetów krakowskiego i lwowskiego, krótko mieszkającego również w Przemyślu. Materiały z sesji zostaną opublikowane w zeszycie Literatura i Język „Rocznika Przemyskiego”.

Autor przedstawił sprawozdanie z konferencji naukowej, która została zorganizowana z okazji 200. rocznicy powstania Towarzystwa Naukowego Krakowskiego. Sesja odbyła się w dniach 9–10 grudnia 2015 r. przy współpracy Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności, Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego oraz Archiwum Nauki Polskiej Akademii Nauk i Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności. Zgromadziła międzynarodowe grono prelegentów, którzy w swoich wystąpieniach przedstawili różne aspekty działalności TNK. Pokłosiem obrad jest publikacja Towarzystwo Naukowe Krakowskie w 200-lecie założenia (1815–2015). Materiały konferencji naukowej 9–10 grudnia 2015, pod redakcją Wandy Lohman (Kraków 2016).

Artykuł dotyczy problemów kadrowych anglistyki Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w latach 1945–1952. Autor przedstawia stan osobowy katedry filologii angielskiej, omawia zakres obowiązków pracowników dydaktycznych i problemy, z jakimi zetknęli się w nowej powojennej rzeczywistości. Śmierć pierwszego kierownika katedry, prof. Romana Dyboskiego, i aresztowanie jego następcy, prof. Władysława Tarnawskiego ze Lwowa, sprawiły, że kadra anglistyczna składała się głównie z pomocniczych pracowników naukowych. Pod względem naukowym nie prowadzono zatem żadnych poważnych badań. Mimo wielu problemów lokalowych i logistycznych, kierunek rozwijał się jednak dynamicznie, głównie dzięki ogromnemu napływowi studentów. Dzięki pomocy Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej w Nowym Jorku uzyskano nie tylko kilka tysięcy książek do zbiorów katedry, ale i wsparcie kadrowe. Kilku wybitnych młodych uczonych i studentów wyjechało w tym czasie na studia do Wielkiej Brytanii i Stanów Zjednoczonych (m.in. Przemysław Mroczkowski i Alfred Reszkiewicz). W 1952 r. władze doprowadziły do zamknięcia kierunku.

Abstract

This article provides a brief history of the English Department at the Jagiellonian University from 1945 to 1952. It presents the members of the staff and discusses their background and responsibilities as well as problems they faced in the new post-war reality. After the death of Prof. Roman Dyboski, the founder and first Head of the Department, and the arrest of his successor, Prof. Władysław Tarnawski, formerly affiliated with the University of Lvov, the staff were mainly of junior academic ranks, with no involvement in any serious research. Despite that and despite a perennial shortage of space and problems with logistics, the number of students enrolling in the English studies programme would increase each year making the Department grow in size and scope. Thanks to the help of the New York Kosciuszko Foundation, the Department received a collection of several thousands of books, a few young American grantees of the Foundation joined the teaching staff, and some of the outstanding academics and students (e.g. Przemysław Mroczkowski and Alfred Reszkiewicz) obtained funding support to study or conduct research abroad. For ideological reasons, however, Poland’s authorities closed the programme, which ultimately led to the closure of the Department in 1952. 

Konferencja pt. „Intellectuals and the First World War: Central European Perspective”, zorganizowana w dniach 20–22 X 2016 r.  w Krakowie, była doskonałą okazją do dyskusji nad fenomenem konfliktu z lat 1914–1918 i jego wpływem na życie przedstawicieli inteligencji oraz twórców kultury. Wojna przerwała niejedne znaczące badania naukowe oraz prace nad dziełami sztuki – wielu intelektualistów zginęło bowiem na frontach jako żołnierze, czy też cywilne ofiary. Z drugiej strony wojna była dla wielu z nich okazją do zaistnienia, m.in. w służbie propagandy wojskowej, i przekierowania swojej profesjonalnej kariery w innym kierunku. Konferencja zorganizowana została przez Instytut Historii UJ, przy wsparciu finansowym Gminy Miejskiej Kraków – Urzędu Miasta Krakowa. Konferencja zgromadziła prawie 30 prelegentów z krajów Unii Europejskiej oraz Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki. 

“Intellectuals and the First World War: Central European Perspective”, a conference organized on October 20–22, 2016 in Kraków, was a perfect opportunity to discuss the phenomenon of the 1914–1918 conflict and its impact on the lives of intellectuals and the creators of culture. Many important scientific studies or cultural activities were interrupted by the war as a result of the conscription of the intellectuals and their death either on the WW1 fronts or as civilian victims. On the other hand, the war was also an opportunity for many to redirect professional careers in new directions e.g. in the service of military propaganda. The conference was organized by the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University with the financial support of the Kraków City Council – City of Kraków. The conference brought together nearly 30 speakers from the European Union and the United States of America.

Autor omawia archiwalną spuściznę Williama Johna Rose’a (1885–1968), kanadyjskiego slawisty, historyka i socjologa, pokazując jej przydatność do badań nad historią nauki oraz relacjami uczonych polskich z uczonymi z krajów anglosaskich. Ze względu na oddalenie Vancouver od Polski kolekcja zgromadzona w Archiwum Uniwersytetu Kolumbii Brytyjskiej nie była do tej pory przedmiotem zainteresowań polskich uczonych, warta jest jednak zauważenia ze względu na swoje bogactwo i różnorodność tematyczną.

Międzynarodowa konferencja pt. „The War That Never Ended. Postwar Continuity and New Challenges in the Aftermath of the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, 1918–1923”, zorganizowana w dn. 24–26 X 2019 r. w Krakowie i w Przemyślu, była doskonałą okazją do dyskusji nad fenomenem kluczowych lat 1918–1923 w dziejach państw, które powstały na gruzach Monarchii Habsburgów i Imperium Otomańskiego. Rozejm w Compiègne (11 XI 1918), jak już niejednokrotnie wcześniej udowodniono w historiografii, miał dla Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej i Południowo-Wschodniej jedynie symboliczne znaczenie i nie przyniósł rozstrzygających decyzji dla regionu. Obszar ten stał się miejscem licznych konfliktów o granice, tarć etnicznych i społecznych, przesiedleń ludności, zaangażowania intelektualistów w politykę czy wręcz przemocy, mającej na celu fizyczną eliminację całych grup i społeczności. Okazuje się, że nowe państwa narodowe w tym okresie formacyjnym mocno korzystały z dziedzictwa imperialnego swoich poprzedników, mimo deklaracji wytyczania nowych dróg. Konferencja zgromadziła prawie 40 prelegentów z wielu europejskich krajów oraz z Kanady i Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki.

Report on the international conference “The War That Never Ended. Postwar Continuity and New Challenges in the Aftermath of the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, 1918–1923”, Kraków –Przemyśl, 24–26 October 2019.

International Conference “The War That Never Ended. Postwar Continuity and New Challenges in the Aftermath of the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, 1918–1923”, organized on 24–26 October 2019 in Krakow and Przemyśl, it was an excellent opportunity to discuss the phenomenon of key years 1918–1923 in the history of countries that arose from the ruins of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. The truce in Compiegne (11.11.1918), as has been proven many times in historiography, had only symbolic significance for Central and Eastern and Southeastern Europe and did not bring decisive decisions for the region. This area became a place of numerous conflicts over borders, ethnic and social friction, resettlement of people, the involvement of intellectuals in politics or even violence aimed at physical elimination of entire groups and communities. It turns out that the new nation-states in this formation period strongly benefited from the imperial heritage of their predecessors, despite the declaration of paving new roads. The conference gathered almost 40 speakers from many European countries as well as from Canada and the United States of America.

When in 1912 a group of friends from Przemyśl went to Istambul and came back telling others about their adventures it was almost possible to believe that the “white man’s burden” can be easily fulfilled not only by the British. They were not the only ones to believe that. It was the time when travelling was cheaper and much more democratic than ever before. What is more, being outside of their place of living could help the residents of Galicia to identify their Polishness, Ukrainianness etc. in the epoch of growing nationalism. All of the sudden, the year 1914 stopped this process. Lots of Galician inhabitants on a massive scale were forced to emigrate for fear of the Russian troops. They escaped to more central Austrian-Hungarian provinces. Not only the authorities but also common inhabitants of those provinces were unprepared to host so many refugees. Special concentration camps in Moravia were created, soon becoming notorious places all over the Monarchy. But even everyday travel experience was shocking for the Galicians – not less than living with complete strangers in a new environment. What is more, the months following the liberation of Galicia by German and Hungarian troops brought even more complex problems: resentment, irritation as well as hostility towards each other. This kind of treatment was shown inside and outside of the province. Galicia’s natives took revenge in 1918 – getting rid of the “strangers” from the newly created Poland, as not Galician enough.
 

Scholars Against The “Silent Abyss.” The Cooperation Between Monica M. Gardner and Roman Dyboski in Favour of the Polish Question in the United Kingdom

There was scarce cooperation among Polish and British scholars in the interwar period due mainly to poor political relations between the two countries. Despite strong anti-Polish propaganda in the leading British daily newspapers, there was a group of people actively involved in the construction of the positive image of Poland in the British Isles. Among them one can find Roman Dyboski, English philologist from Cracow, and Monica Mary Gardner, writer on Poland and Polish literature from London. With the help of Polish Embassy in the UK they were striving in order to improve Polish-British relations by presenting the Anglo-Saxon readers with numerous studies on history of Polish literature and culture. Polish, British and American archival materials help the author depict the meanders of this academic friendship with its most essential fruits.

In search of the truth about what is the object of research. Professor Maria Wichowa in my eyes

The author presents Professor Maria Wichowa, a literary historian from Łódź, who the latest issue of “Rocznik Przemyski. Literatura i Język” is dedicated to. The author does not focus on the Professor’s biography, however, but on a few selected academic achievements, with a view to presenting the Professor as an organizer of academic life, a person, someone whose life has been a perfect embodiment of a university professor. The main motif of the discussion concerns the links between the circles of Łódź and Przemyśl, which – after the death of Professor Jerzy Starnawski – Professor Wichowa has been maintaining and developing. Besides emphasizing Professor Maria Wichowa’s activity at the Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe (Łódź Learned Society) and the Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk w Przemyślu (Society of the Friends of Learning in Przemyśl), the author focuses on his own personal relationship with the protagonist of his article.

Autor na podstawie odnalezionej korespondencji Wincentego Lutosławskiego ze Stefanem Mierzwą, dyrektorem wykonawczym Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej w Nowym Jorku, obejmującej lata 1926–1930, omawia nieznane fakty z życia wileńskiego filozofa. Lutosławski jawi się w niej jako wielki wielbiciel Teatru Reduta Juliusza Osterwy. Przy okazji wyjawia swoje ambicje ponownego przyjazdu do Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki na przełomie lat 20. i 30. XX wieku pod auspicjami fundacji. Z lektury listów wynika, że Lutosławski, skupiony na promowaniu własnej osoby i dorobku, wypowiadał się krytycznie nawet o tych uczonych, którzy, jak Roman Dyboski, byli mu przychylni. Korespondencja potwierdza tym samym nie najlepszą opinię, jaką cieszył się filozof w świecie polskiej nauki.

"Children in the spectacle of men"? Implementation of thesuffrage by women from the of the south-eastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic

On November 28, 1918, Chief of State Józef Piłsudski signed a decree prepared by the government of Jędrzej Moraczewski granting active and passive voting rights to women. At the same time, throughout the whole interwar period, civil law remained contrary to the principle of gender equality enshrined in the Constitution of March 1921. It resulted from the provisions of the legal codes of pre-war empires and was under requisition until 1939. Moreover, it is worth remembering that in the world of distribution and power relations, connections and distinguishing the “assigned” roles of male and female were more important than equality in parliamentary elections. The author of the article tries to show that there was a huge gap between the law and the actual political practice during the whole period. He examines pre-election calls for voting articles, reports from political meetings as well as articles on suffrage written by men and women. Different political parties had one thing in common – women were treated by their representatives as a beautification of politics, not as equal partners. It appears that not only men believed that they were better prepared for public world offices – the majority of women, even from the upper classes, shared this vision. The example of the south-eastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic shows huge conservatism of the elite’s mentality.