Twórcy białostockiego środowiska filologicznego: profesorowie Elżbieta Feliksiak, Halina Krukowska, Bogusław Nowowiejski

Abstract

This publication contains a record of celebrations and a collection of materials from an academic symposium held on 28 June 2022 at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Bialystok. In 2018, the Bialystok philological community celebrated its 50th anniversary. In the years 2015–2019, three researchers who made a particularly large contribution to the development of the field of philology in Bialystok sadly passed away, including: Prof. Elżbieta Feliksiak (1937–2015), Prof. Halina Krukowska (1937–2019) and Prof. Bogusław Nowowiejski (1954–2019). Over the years, the two literary scholars and linguist had shaped the field of Polish Studies, the Institute of Polish Studies, the Faculty of Philology and, to some extent, also the University of Bialystok (not just due to the fact that they held the positions of director of the institute, dean and deputy rector). On the initiative of the Academic Committee headed by prof. Leonarda Dacewicz, an Organising Committee was established to prepare a special programme of celebrations honouring outstanding personalities. The project was implemented as part of the programme of the 25th Anniversary of the University of Bialystok (1997–2022). The symposium was held under the patronage of the Rector of the University of Bialystok. The celebrations began on Thursday, 28 June 2022, with a commemorative photo of the staff of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Bialystok, taken on the steps of the building at Plac Niezależnego Zrzeszenia Studentów 1, the place, the edifice and the environment with which the Bialystok philologists had been involved with since 1989, when they went on strike demanding to have the building belonging to the Provincial Committe of the Polish United Workers’ Party handed over to the University (the building was then a Branch of the University of Warsaw). At 9.00 a.m., the ceremony of naming the halls and unveiling plaques began at the Faculty of Philology: Room No. 91 was named after Prof. Halina Krukowska; Room 158 was named after Prof. Bogusław Nowowiejski; while Room No. 48 was named after Prof. Elżbieta Feliksiak. The guests were welcomed by Prof. Jarosław Ławski, Dean of the Faculty of Philology, who emphasised the role of tradition in the development of the academic community. The Rector of the University of Bialystok, Prof. Robert W. Ciborowski was the next to take the floor. He stressed that the contribution made by the aforementioned scholars to the development of their Alma Mater was exceptional and original. In the hall named after Maria Renata Mayenowa (no. 47), the Academic Symposium “Founders of the Bialystok Philological Circle (1968–2019): Prof. Elżbieta Feliksiak, Halina Krukowska, Bogusław Nowowiejski” was then launched. It was opened and chaired by the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Philology for Development Strategy, Prof. Violetta Wejs-Milewska. Several speeches were given by representatives of the philological communities from the University of Opole, the University of Gdańsk and the University of Bialystok. The session was chaired by Prof. Wanda Supa, Prof. Kazimierz Trzęsicki and Prof. Zofia Abramowicz. During the Symposium, the hall was filled with listeners, including researchers, students, teachers and other guests. The final item on the agenda was a meeting entitled “Humanists. Remembering Profs. Elżbieta Feliksiak, Halina Krukowska, Bogusław Nowowiejski”. In the evening, the guests were welcomed at the Hall of Książnica Podlaska by Beata Zadykowicz, Head of Książnica Podlaska (a graduate of Polish Studies at the University of Bialystok), who noted that thirty years had passed (1992–2022) since the representatives of her generation had graduated. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Violetta Wejs-Milewska (University of Bialystok) and ed. Dominik Sołowiej (Książnica Podlaska, Polish Studies expert). The artistic setting for the two-hour meeting was provided by violinist Jan Kukliński. Excerpts from radio programmes devoted to the honoured professors were also played. The evening was concluded with refreshments. This publication is both a record of the ceremony itself and a scholarly work containing the academic articles delivered during the symposium. It consists of a short introduction by the Dean of the Faculty of Philology, Prof. Jarosław Ławski, short biographical notes with photographs of the three professors, three main parts [each consisting of four or five papers] devoted to the professors, a material block containing several memoirs concerning the researchers who were the protagonists of the symposium and the content of the panel devoted to them at Książnica Podlaska, as well as an Appendix of Photographs [a photographic record of the celebrations that took place that day]. The volume was edited by Prof. Jarosław Ławski, Dean of the Faculty of Philology and Prof. Violetta Wejs-Milewska, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Philology. The publisher of the monograph is the University of Bialystok.