400th birthday of the Angelus Silesius – scientific autumn will belong to him
On the 400th anniversary of the birth of Johannes Scheffler (known as Angelus Silesius or Angel of Silesia), the University of Wrocław and the Ossolineum will jointly organise two scientific conferences on the remarkable Baroque poet, physician and philanthropist.
On 15 May 2024, dr Łukasz Kaminski, director of the Ossoliński National Institute, and prof. Artur Błażejewski, vice-rector for research at the University of Wrocław, signed an agreement on cooperation in organising scientific events as part of the Year of the Angelus Silesius in Wrocław.
By a resolution of the City Council of Wrocław, the patron of the year 2024 has been named the Angel of Silesia (Johannes Scheffler), an exceptional poet, thinker, as well as physician and philanthropist. Scheffler is a figure who has inspired artists and intellectuals for centuries. Born in 1624 in Breslau, he studied at several European universities before returning to his hometown years later. He spent the last years of his life in the Monastery of the Hospitallers with the Red Star, where the Ossolineum is housed today.
“The Angel of Silesia is an extremely important figure for Silesian and European culture, the University of Wrocław and the Ossolineum are important institutions for the culture of Silesia, the country and Europe” – said prof. Artur Błażejewski. – “We will promote each other, but also promote the culture of Silesia in the European context; this is an excellent opportunity to do so, not the first and not the last opportunity to work together.”
The University of Wrocław and the Ossolineum will jointly organise two academic conferences. In October, an international conference on “Recepcja Angelusa Silesiusa w europejskich literaturach narodowych od XVII wieku do współczesności” (‘The Reception of Angelus Silesius in European National Literatures from the 17th Century to the Present’) at the UWr Faculty of Letters (10-11 October 2024) and in December, an international conference co-organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Historical and Pedagogical Sciences on ‘Angelus Silesius: Philosophy, Mystics and Art’ (10-11 December 2024).
“I am very pleased that we are opening up another field of cooperation with the University of Wrocław – this time in the strictly scientific sphere” – said dr Łukasz Kamiński. – The Angel of Silesia – Johannes Scheffler, our great predecessor, also literally in this place, is a person who is the protagonist of much important scientific research carried out also in Wrocław. I hope that it will become a tradition for us to organise several important conferences together every year.”
The conferences will be accompanied by a series of educational, exhibition and popularisation events. The joint activities will be part of a broad programme of celebrations of the Year of the Silesian Angel in Wrocław, coordinated by the Ossolineum with financial support from the Municipality of Wrocław. Dr Katarzyna Uczkiewicz, plenipotentiary of the Mayor of Wrocław for the celebrations of the Year of the Angel of Silesia, invited members of the academic community of the University of Wrocław and all Wrocław citizens to participate in the events of the Year of the Angel of Silesia, which from mid-May to the end of December will take place not only at the University and the Ossolineum. – “We have chosen as our motto the title of the epigram of the 82nd First Book of Scheffler’s most famous work, the ‘Cherubic Wanderer’: ‘Heaven is within you’. We want the words of the Patron of the Year 2024 to be an inspiration also today.”
