Wanda Łuczak

After the Second World War, the Jagiellonian University lost its autonomy and the state authorities destroyed its structures by separating the departments and creating new universities out of them. Independently, in 1946, the National Higher Teacher Training College in Krakow was established. In 1954, it received the right to run a master’s course. The quality of education in WSP was assessed negatively by the Jagiellonian University. In turn, the WSP authoritiesclaimed that their school provided better training for future teachers. At the beginning of the 1950s, some reservations were voiced as to the grounds for the existence of higher teacher training schools due to overlaps with the university curriculum. In 1956, the state authorities decided to close some of these colleges. WSP was to be merged with the Jagiellonian University. A meeting was organized at the Jagiellonian University in April 1956, where representatives of the Ministry of Higher Education, the Jagiellonian University and WSP discussed the merger. However, the meeting didn’t yield the expected results due to the firm objection on the part of WSP. The opportunity to strengthen the Jagiellonian University’s position by merging with WSP was ultimately lost.

The article portrays events from the most recent history of the Jagiellonian University. In the 1950s the communist politicians tried to weaken the position of the University by separating its numerous faculties and transforming them into independent institutions of higher education. The most painful was the loss of the faculties of medicine, agriculture and theology. The role of the University was marginalized and the number of students decreased. The transformations in October 1956 brought the hope that the University might one day regain its previous glory. The new authorities of the University with the rector Zygmunt Grodziński struggled to restore with the Academy of Medicine, College of Agriculture and the Faculty of Theology to the Jagiellonian University. The authorities of the Academy of Medicine were unanimous in the question of merging with the University, and so were the officials at the Faculty of Theology. Nevertheless, at the College of Agriculture the opinions were divided. Talks held between government authorities and party representatives in Warsaw and Cracow did not bring any results. Almost two years of efforts were unsuccessful as the authorities did not agree to admit that the school reform of the Stalinist times was a mistake.