Józef Rydel and his correspondence with Erazm Majewski

Józef Rydel was born on 8 February 1873 in Jarosław. Here he completed his education in an elementary school and a state gimnazjum (secondary school). In 1893 he enrolled at the Jagiellonian University to study law and administration, where he received credits for five semesters, but failed his exam in law. In 1896 he started working in the Bureau of the Academy of Arts and Sciences (AU), being paid by the day (as a diurnista), while in the following year he served in the army, signing up for one year. In 1898 he began to study at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University. He intended to be a teacher specializing in mathematics and physics as well as the natural sciences. He obtained a certificate of completion on 24 June 1904; however, he gave up efforts to be certified as a teacher. By that time he already had a permanent job in the Bureau of AU as an assistant adjunct. Four years later he was appointed adjunct and in 1918 director. He worked in the AU Bureau for 35 years until his retirement in 1931. He died in Cracow on 12 October 1939. The collections of the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw include Józef Rydel’s correspondence with Erazm Majewski from 1900 to 1911. It provides a wealth of information about both men, who probably first met in March 1900 in Cracow. From the start they had very good relations, ones which went slightly beyond official courtesy, as the facts described in their letters witness. Majewski wrote about Rydel that he was a very amiable and friendly man and Rydel called himself ‘a true friend of Erazm Majewski’.

Józef Rydel was born on 8 February 1873 in Jarosław. Here he completed his education in an elementary school and a state gimnazjum (secondary school). In 1893 he enrolled at the Jagiellonian University to study law and administration, where he received credits for five semesters, but failed his exam in law. In 1896 he started working in the Bureau of the Academy of Arts and Sciences (AU), being paid by the day (as a diurnista), while in the following year he served in the army, signing up for one year. In 1898 he began to study at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University. He intended to be a teacher specializing in mathematics and physics as well as the natural sciences. He obtained a certificate of completion on 24 June 1904; however, he gave up efforts to be certified as a teacher. By that time he already had a permanent job in the Bureau of AU as an assistant adjunct. Four years later he was appointed adjunct and in 1918 director. He worked in the AU Bureau for 35 years until his retirement in 1931. He died in Cracow on 12 October 1939. The collections of the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw include Józef Rydel’s correspondence with Erazm Majewski from 1900 to 1911. It provides a wealth of information about both men, who probably first met in March 1900 in Cracow. From the start they had very good relations, ones which went slightly beyond official courtesy, as the facts described in their letters witness. Majewski wrote about Rydel that he was a very amiable and friendly man and Rydel called himself ‘a true friend of Erazm Majewski’.