In memory of those who passed away

prof. Karol Ball (died 31 May 2022)

Professor Emeritus of the University of Wrocław, founder and long-standing director of the Institute of Philosophy (1990-2004), world-renowned expert in the philosophy of German Idealism, contemporary German philosophy, history of ethics in the 19th and 20th centuries. Vice President of the Internationale Hegel-Gesellschaft (1992-2004), a member of the Presidium of the Committee of Philosophical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences (2003-2006), promoter of honorary doctorates of Hans-Georg Gadamer, Leszek Kołakowski and Zbigniew Pełczyński, awarded with the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, great advocate of Polish-German reconciliation, author of numerous publications, highly regarded educator of successive generations of students, doctors and professors, a man of noble mind and heart.

prof. Stefan Bednarek (died 10 February 2022)

He was associated with the Wrocław cultural studies department for more than five decades. From 1998 to 2014, he served as director of the Institute of Cultural Studies. He was a respected cultural theorist and historian, author and editor of monographs, collective works and journal issues. He was also an animator of cultural life in Wrocław, particularly involved in the organisation and development of the literary community. He supported young poetry in particular. Among Stefan Bednarek’s various research interests are cultural history and national character, workers’ culture, everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland, Lower Silesian and Polish memory and mnemonics, small homelands and regionalism, but also, for example, New Age and blogs. He was also preoccupied with the issue of dreams.
He was the type of director who was committed to the management of the institution, gave a lot of attention to the staff and was concerned about the condition and fate of the humanities. From 2004 to 2007, he chaired the Committee for Cultural Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences, was president of the Polish Cultural Studies Society and president of the Lower Silesian Regional Society. He was editor of Cultural Studies and co-editor of the journal Lower Silesia. Awarded the Medal of the Commission of National Education and the badge of honour ‘Distinguished for Polish Culture’. Professor Bednarek brought up several generations of students and promoted many doctoral students, some of whom are now working at the Institute of Cultural Studies.

dr hab. n. hist. Janusz Byliński (died 1 January 2022)

Author of numerous publications on the history of Poland in the 16th/17th centuries, editor of numerous historical sources, distinguished employee of the University of Wrocław, long-serving head of the Library of the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics of the University of Wrocław (1975-2002).

prof. dr hab. Bogusław Gediga (died 18 October 2022)

Prominent archaeologist, Bronze Age researcher and university teacher. His richly documented research included art and religion in prehistory and the early Middle Ages, intercultural contacts and fortified settlements. He taught for many years at the Institute of Archaeology on the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, including the famous lectures on situla art. He was the supervisor of numerous master’s and doctoral theses, including those carried out by the current staff of the Institute of Archaeology. He brought together scholars interested in the cultural changes of the early Iron Age, organising intimate seminars and international conferences in Biskupin.

prof. Zdzislaw Kegel (died 8 February 2022)

Professor Emeritus, former Dean of the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics of the University of Wrocław, long-time Head of the Chair of Forensic Science, Head of several Postgraduate Studies at the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics, long-time member of the Senate of the University of Wrocław.
Member of scientific forensic associations in Poland and abroad. Awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Honorary Doctor of the Lithuanian Academy of Law in Vilnius.
Outstanding expert in forensic science. Author of a number of distinguished works on penal science. Long-time leader of international scientific conferences (Wrocław Symposia on Writing Research).

prof. dr hab. Jacek Kolbuszewski (died 10 September 2022)

Historian of Polish and West Slavic literature, translator and publisher of Latvian literature, Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Polish Studies of the University of Warsaw, for many years Head of the Department of the History of 19th Century Literature, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Warsaw, educator of many generations of Polish scholars.
In the Professor’s rich and multidisciplinary scientific output, works on Romanticism and Young Poland literature and interdisciplinary research on funerary literature and culture, research on the category of space and landscape in literature, as well as on mountain issues come to the fore. He was the author of many monographs, including: Modele estetyczne liryki słowackiej romantycznego przełomu (1974), Tatry w  literaturze polskiej 1805-1939 (1982), Góry – przestrzenie i krajobrazy. Studia z historii literatury i kultury (2020), Wiersze z cmentarza. O współczesnej epigrafice wierszowanej (1985), Co mnie dzisiaj, jutro Tobie – polskie wiersze nagrobne (1996), Cmentarze (1996), Kresy (2005), Literatura i Tatry. Studia i szkice (2016).
Professor Jacek Kolbuszewski promoted 32 doctoral theses and 400 master’s theses in Polish studies.  He was a member of the Committee on Literature of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and the Committee on Slavonic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), an honorary member of the Wrocław Mountaineering Club, served as editor-in-chief of numerous publications of the Wrocław Scientific Society (“Litteraria”, “Annales Silesiae”), and initiated the publishing series “Mountains-Literature-Culture”. He was awarded the Prize of the Minister of Science and Higher Education six times, was the recipient of the Prize of the City of Wrocław (1990), the Zygmunt Gloger Prize and Medal (1997), the Prize of the Alliance of Historical Book Publishers (1996) and the Literary Prize of “Wierchów” (2012), the Literary Prize of Zakopane (2017).

dr hab. Małgorzata Komza, prof. UWr (died 10 January 2022)

An outstanding expert on the aesthetics of ancient and contemporary book, conducting innovative research in the field of book art and book illustration.
Prof. Małgorzata Komza started working at the Institute of Information Science and Library Science of the University of Warsaw in 1969. From 1996 to 2005, she was the director of the Institute and then headed the Department of Contemporary Books and Editing (2005-2016). She served as editor-in-chief of ‘Book and Information Studies’ for several years. She was also a teacher and educator of many generations of students.

prof. dr hab. Witold Kwaśnicki (died 19 July 2022)

An outstanding employee of the University of Wrocław, employed since 2000 at the Institute of Economic Sciences of the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics of the University of Wrocław, a well-known and respected scholar in national and international circles, a laureate of the Golden Cross of Merit, an economist who was “more than just an economist”, an unconventional lecturer, a teacher full of passion, good humour and optimism, an irreplaceable companion with an always cheerful disposition, a versatile educator of many students.
Professor Witold Kwaśnicki had significant scientific achievements, remaining the author of more than a hundred articles and three books. He promoted seven doctoral and many master’s students. In addition to his university career, he has also been involved in journalism and popularisation through active public participation in projects for economic education. He was associated with many scientific societies and civic organisations.

prof. dr hab. Ewa Nowacka (died 28 February 2022)

Prof. Ewa Nowacka was a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Wrocław. From 1969 to 1988, she worked at the Institute of Economic and Social Sciences of the Wrocław University of Technology. In 1978, she defended her doctoral thesis entitled “Gminna rada narodowa a samorząd wiejski”.  In 1988, she was employed as an assistant professor at the Institute of Political Science of the University of Wrocław, then as a full professor at the Institute of Political Science of the University of Wrocław. In 1998, she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws in the field of administrative law on the basis of her dissertation “Samorząd terytorialny w administracji publicznej”, published in 1997. In 2011, she was awarded the title of Professor of Humanities. The scientific output of prof. dr hab. Ewa Nowacka includes several dozen scientific works on the issues of widely understood local government, local self-government and government administration.

mgr Anna Strusińska (died 23 December 2021)

Anna Strusińska was born on 25 April 1957 in Wrocław, and has been professionally involved with the University Library in Wrocław since 1991, holding the position of teaching custodian and acting as head of the Collection Control Section. She became known as a dedicated, helpful, collegial and extremely sensitive person.

doc. dr Roman Zuber (died 29 September 2022)

Former Director of the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Wrocław, pioneer of computer science in Wrocław.
He was born in 1925 in Wrocław. In 1946, as part of repatriation, he settled with his family in Lower Silesia in the village of Małuszów near Legnica. In 1951, he graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry at the University of Wrocław and obtained a Master of Philosophy degree in mathematics. From 1959 to 1964 he worked at WZE ELWRO in Wrocław. From 1965, he took up a post at the Institute of Mathematics of the University of Wrocław. He received his doctorate in 1966 and was appointed associate professor in 1968. From 1969 to 1991 he was head of the Department of Numerical Methods and Mathematical Machines at the Institute of Computer Science, University of Wrocław. In addition, he served as deputy director for scientific and teaching affairs from 1975 to 1979 and director of the Institute of Computer Science from 1979 to 1983.