Rody uczone – przykład ciągłości idei uniwersytetu

Abstract

The text focuses on the Birkenmajers – a noble family in Polish science – but in particular on one of its members, Józef Birkenmajer (1897–1939), the researcher of the literature of the Middle Ages, translator from Latin and English. The history of the family shows the cultivation of the idea of the university understood as a community of scholars and students, who are dedicated to the pursuit of truth, are capable in passing on certain moral and intellectual attitudes to next generations, and are bent on supporting local cultures, which shape national and universal values. The family relations are depicted in Birkmajer’s poem “Castle Boroughs,” dedicated to his father, Antoni Ludwik, and demonstrate the permanence of good models of conduct as well as the ethos of the scholar, citizen, and man. By juxtaposing this tradition with the condition of contemporary scholarly life, we see that the process of continuity is impossible, which in fact means that the idea of the university is over.