To życie jest tak wspaniałe. Z profesor Aliną Kowalczykową rozmawia Anna Janicka

Abstract

In 2018, Prof. Alina Kowalczykowa accepted an invitation to deliver a lecture at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Białystok as part of the series “Master Talks”. Her lecture was to be devoted to the Poles of Vilnius and their fate after the Second World War. Unfortunately, first an illness and then the COVID­ 19 pandemic made it impossible. In April 2018, the scholar agreed to give a special interview to prof. Anna Janicka from the University of Białystok, her long­ time friend for years, with whom she has collaborated on editing the works of Stanisław Lorentz, the father of prof. Kowalczykowa. The interview was conducted in the scholar’s apartment in Warsaw. Prof. Kowalczykowa began cooperation with the Polish Studies academic community in Białystok in the ­mid­ 1990s and has been its regular guest ever since. Alina Kowalczykowa was born on 19 February 1936 in Warsaw. Her father was Stanisław Lorentz, professor of art history and director of the National Museum in Warsaw. In 1952, she began studies at the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, which she abandoned in 1953 and transferred to the Faculty of Philology at the University of Warsaw. In 1957, she was granted a master’s degree in Polish philology and became an assistant at the Retrospective Bibliography Unit of the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IBL PAN). She debuted with an essay entitled Zza kulis “Sowizdrzała” (Behind the Scenes of “Sowizdrzał” (“Przegląd Humanistyczny” 1959, no. 4). Between 1962–1966, she did her academic internship programme at the Institute of Literary Research, concluded with a viva voce examination of her doctoral thesis entitled Rozwój twórczości lirycznej Słonimskiego w latach 1918­–1935 (Development of Słonimski’s lyrical works between 1918 and 1935). The thesis was supervised by Prof. Kazimierz Wyka. She then worked as an assistant professor at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. From 1973 to 1982, she also worked at the Higher School of Pedagogy in Kielce. In 1976, she was awarded a habilitation degree for her dissertation Romantyczni szaleńcy (Romantic madmen), and was granted the position of assistant professor (IBL PAN). In 1982 she began working at the Faculty of Polish Studies at the University of Łódź. Professor Kowalczykowa has contributed greatly to the development of Polish literary studies. Her works are among the basic sources for contemporary research on Romanticism, including: Słownik literatury polskiej XIX wieku (Dictionary of Polish Literature of the 19th Century, ­co­ edited with prof. Józef Bachórz), synthetic papers on the epoch (e.g. Romantyzm. Nowe spojrzenie – Romanticism. New approach, Warsaw 2008), antho­logies of “programme ideas” and “manifestos of romanticism”: Manifesty romantyzmu 1790­–1830 (Manifestos of romanticism 1790­–1830), Warsaw 1977; Idee programowe romantyków polskich. Antologia (Programme ideas of the Polish Romanticists. Anthology), Wrocław 1991, works on the landscape and Romanticist Warsaw (Warszawa romantyczna – Romanticist Warsaw, Warsaw 1987), studies on Juliusz Słowacki (Słowacki, Warsaw 1994), dissertations on Romanticist theatre (Dramat i teatr romantyczny – Romanticist drama and theatre, Warsaw 1997). Professor Kowalczykowa was involved in running the Stefan Żeromski House and Museum in Konstancin­ Jeziorna and took care of his and Monika Żeromska’s lite­rary and epistolographic legacy. She was also involved in opposition activities after the declaration of martial law in Poland on 13 December 1981, including the distribution of illegal press and books.In 1981 she became a member of the Society for the Promotion and Pro­pagation of Science (serving as a member of its board in 1992­–1995), and in 1988 – a member of the Polish PEN Club (serving as its Secretary Gene­ral in 1991­–1995). In 1991 she was awarded the title of full professor, and in the same year, she became a member of the Committee on Literature of the Polish Academy of Sciences. For many years she sat on the Central Committe for Academic Degrees and Titles. In 1997 she was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Professor Kowalczykowa is widely esteemed and respected as an academic autho­rity, also for her courage in expressing uncompromising, bold judgements. In the interview, she gives voice to her optimistic approach to life and science, which is clearly emphasised by its title chosen by the scholar herself (the shape and content of the interview was agreed with the author). Professor Kowalczykowa talks about her family traditions, her upbringing, the role of her father, Stanisław Lorentz, the legendary director of the National Museum in Warsaw, as well as her relationship with the family of the eminent writer Stefan Żeromski. A special place in her memories has the Association of Teachers “Prowincja”, the beginnings of which date back to 1995. The Association was actively involved in conducting courses and lectures among the elite of Polish studies teachers working outside large urban centres. As the scholar recalls: “[…] we would go for ten­ day courses with eight hours of classes each day, including Saturday and Sunday. At the end of the course, the participants demanded to continue the classes even after dinner It was crazy. The organisation was excellent, because the teachers were doing everything for free. It never happened to me that anyone refused to do me a favour; they always acted immediately and with great eagerness. It was amazing”. Another topic address during the interview was Professor Kowalczykowa’s passion for collecting valuable manuscripts of Polish writers’ works created after 1945: “I have always collected things ever since I was a child, whenever I had the chance. When the war ended, there was always something to collect. I collected manuscripts because my parents used to meet every day at noon near the museum for coffee with their friends, many of whom were writers. Sometimes these people would bring their own manuscripts spontaneously, and sometimes I had to ask them to do so. I realised that they don’t collect their manuscripts at all, and even throw them away. So I thought, it could not be like that (after all, I was the daughter of a museum director and heritage protection officer)! I was about fourteen years old at the time. – As she points out: I donated my whole collection free of charge to the National Library.” In 2012, she was presented with the volume Stolice i prowincje kultury. Księga jubileuszowa ofiarowana profesor Alinie Kowalczykowej (Capitals and Provinces of Culture. A Jubilee Book Presented to Professor Alina Kowalczykowa, eds. Jacek Brzozowski, Miłosław Skrzypczyk, Marek Stanisz, Warsaw, p.720). On 10 June 2021 she received the Award of the Capital City of Warsaw. On 11 April 2018, prof. Alina Kowalczykowa, along with prof. Halina Krukowska, was awarded the doctor honoris causa title by the University of Białystok on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the philological community of Białystok.