Tomasz Skrzyński

Not only as member of the Academy authorities. The associations of Jan Michał Rozwadowski with the Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (Selected Issues)

Jan Michał Rozwadowski is one of the most prominent Polish linguists. With great academic predispositions and achievements, he was able to move quite quickly into the structure of the Aca­demy of Arts and Sciences and then to the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. In many capacities, for example in the area of commission, he displayed great ability in organizing current tasks and furthering the development of science. This had a huge impact on his choice, first for the head of the Philology Department, then the vice president and finally the president of the Academy. The author discusses Rozwadowski’s relations with the intellectual community centered around this institution. From the end of the 19th century, Rozwadowski, with his great authority and organizational skills, had a decisive influence on the development of linguistics in the Academy. The most prominent figures in the Academy, however, were Kazimierz Nitsch and Tadeusz Jan Kowalski,  who played a huge role in the post-war history of the institution.

The Policy of the Communists towards the Socialists in Cracow on the Example of the Collection for the “Common Home”

An important element in the process of absorption of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) by the communists in 1948 was a money collection for the construction of the building which was to house the future joint authorities of the “united party.” The goal of the action was to break the resistance of the socialists against drawing them into the ranks of the communist party. The authorities of the Polish Workers’ Party divided the campaign into declaring future contributions and subsequently the actual collection. Special plenipotentiaries had been appointed at all the organizational levels who were to realize the orders of the communists. The latter forced the members of both parties to declare the highest possible contributions and then executed their payment. In spite of the gradual intensification of pressure, the Cracow communists had failed to force the Socialists to terminate the action within a top-down designated time and to pay the declared sums of money. The above campaign was terminated only in the middle of 1949.

Większość ze zgłoszonych w latach 1945–1950 oddolnych propozycji reform Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności (PAU) miała na celu dostosowanie Akademii do pogłębiającej się specjalizacji w świecie nauki. Omawiana w artykule, nieznana dotąd, inicjatywa filozofa Romana Ingardena miała charakter odmienny. Projektowany przez niego Instytut miał być ośrodkiem służącym stałej współpracy naukowej między uczonymi reprezentującymi nauki przyrodnicze i humanistyczne.

Korzystając ze źródeł archiwalnych i publikacji, omówiono również okoliczności powstania tego pomysłu. Opisano także powody, dla których inicjatywa ta nie została wdrożona.

Ingarden uważał, że badania prowadzone w ramach pracowni eksperymentalnych Instytutu powinny objąć podstawowe zagadnienia praktyczne, zarówno odnośnie do całych zbiorowości, jak i poszczególnych ludzi. Miały dotyczyć m.in. natury człowieka, jego roli na świecie, odrębności i pokrewieństwa w stosunku do innych istot żywych. Ingarden proponował także przetestowanie w ramach Instytutu nowych metod badań i wyszkolenie w ich stosowaniu licznych naukowców.

W praktyce idea powołania Instytutu Nauk o Człowieku PAU była sprzeczna z ówczesną polityką władz państwowych.

In the face of threat. The Attempt to appoint in 1950. interdisciplinary Institute of Human Research of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences

Most of the proposals for reforms at the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, submitted in 1945–1950, concerned the adaptation of the Academy to further specialization in the world of science. Discussed in the article, the previously unknown, initiative of the eminent philosopher Roman Ingarden was of a different nature. The institute, he was designing, was to be the center of permanent scientific cooperation between scientists from natural and humanities sciences.

Using the archive sources and publications, the circumstances of this idea creation were also discussed. The reasons why this initiative was not implemented were also described.

Ingarden believed that research conducted as part of the Institute’s experimental labs should cover basic practical issues both for entire communities and individual people. They were to concern, i.a. the nature of man, his role in the world; separateness and kinship to other living beings. The philosopher also proposed testing new research methods at the Institute and training numerous scientists in their application.

In practice, the idea of establishing the Institute of Human Sciences of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences was contrary to the policy of the state authorities at that time.