Ladies and Gentlemen,

Six hundred years have passed since Vladislaus Jagiełło, the King of Poland issued the Foundation Charter of Kraków Academy, thus following the last will of his deceased consort, Saint Hedwig the Queen of Poland. The Charter was issued 36 years after the foundation of King Casimir the Great and it launched a comprehensive university comprising four faculties according to the pattern set by the French University of Sorbonne. In his Foundation Charter, King Vladislaus Jagiełło repeated after his predecessor, King Casimir the Great, that his intention was to create the Academy in Kraków, the academy which should be the pearl of inestimable sciences, bringing forth men outstanding for their maturity of counsel, pre-eminent for their virtue and well-qualified in many branches of knowledge. And truly the will of the king and of his wise councillors was respected. Throughout the six hundred years of the Academy’s existence, innumerable flocks of students from all over Poland, from Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, Hungary, Bohemia, Germany and Spain have rushed to its gates. In the second half of the fifteenth century, over 40% of our university students came from the countries other than the Kingdom of Poland. Throughout several centuries, virtually entire intellectual elite of Poland was educated at Almae Matris Cracoviensis.

Among the renowned students of our university we encounter Nicolaus Copernicus, Karol Wojtyła^1, but also Jan Kochanowski^2, Andrzej Frycz-Modrzewski³, Stanisław Hozjusz^4, Jan Sobieski⁵, Hugon Kołłątaj⁶ and other distinguished Polish politicians and writers of the Partitions⁷ period. It would be in vain to enumerate the names of thousands of our outstanding students, who studied within the walls of Jagiellonian University in the period between the wars⁸ and during the Second World War. However, the fame of this university was mostly earned by the distinguished scholars who lectured here. One of them was Stanisław ze Skarbimierza⁹, widely recognised as the founding father of international law and Paweł Włodkowic¹⁰ who was such a fervent defender of Polish raison d’etat at the Council of Constance. Their younger fellows were scholars of European recognition: Marcin Król z Żurawicy, Marcin Bylica z Olkusza, Wojciech z Brudzewa, Jan z Głogowa^11, Maciej Miechowita¹², Jan Brożek¹³ and hundreds of others. I cannot avoid to mention the nineteenth century scholars: Józef Muczkowski^14, Józef Szujski¹⁵, Michał Bobrzyński^16, Karol Estreicher^17, Karol Olszewski^18, Zygmunt Wróblewski^19, Napoleon Cybulski^20, Józef Dietl^21. And how can I overlook our renowned graduates of the twentieth century: Marian Smoluchowski^22, Tadeusz Banachiewicz²³, Konstanty Michalski, Jan Fijałek²⁴, Władysław Konopczyński, Stanisław Estreicher²⁵, Adam Krzyżanowski²⁶, Stanisław Pigoń²⁷, Władysław Szafer²⁸, Jerzy Kuryłowicz, Roman Ingarden and many others.

The Jagiellonian University has always been dedicated to Polish science. As the only one lay institution which survived the times of foreign occupation of the nineteenth century, it always provided the tokens of its devotion to Polish cause. When such need arised our professors built the administrative structures of Polish state. When the country was in need, the University Senate contributed the invaluable objects gathered at its treasury (it happened during Kościuszko Upraising^29, the students of the university volunteered for insurrectional forces, had to emigrate, were deported and sentenced to hard labour. In the nineteenth century they joined The Legions of Piłsudski³⁰ and they shed their blood for Poland in the World Wars. The University has never let Poland down. In 1656 the Swedish invaders insisted on the university leaders to submit to the King of Sweden, Carolus Gustavus, the Senate made an unprecedented decision of dissolution of the university, so that it could remain faithful to the righteous King Jan Casimirus. Well over hundred of its senior faculty members were arrested and deported to the concentration camp in Sachsenhausen during the notorious Sonderaktion Krakau, many others were slaughtered in Katyń^31. Those who survived organized clandestine teaching according to the motto Ne cedat Academia! (coined after the prevailing motto Ne cedat Polonia!). Hundreds of students attended the clandestine lectures during the gloomy night of German occupation.

The university has never asked to be made for its faithful service, but very often it got a bitter repayment. It happened in the nineteenth century when the group of professors was removed from the university and condemned to long germanisation, because they tried to defend their Polish origin. After the Second World War, the communist authorities, considering the university as the haven of national tradition and not taking its occupation tragedy into account, made the decision of cutting out its five faculties. At the same time they implemented persecution against the widely recognized and estimated professors and students. However the university community’s belief in its service to the country was not in any way disrupted. It is a great value which was particularly emphasised by the recognised authority of contemporary world, John Paul II, present Pontiff on 11th September, 2000, during his meeting with 400 of the university representatives in Vatican Aula named after Paul VI, the Pontiff. John Paul II has alluded to this tradition as the source of one of the most important tasks facing Polish higher education nowadays: shaping the spirit of patriotism in Polish youth. I think it is worth quoting the message put across by our graduate and Doctor of all Faculties. “Kraków Academy - said the Pontiff - has always been the community which harmonised its openness to the world with profound feeling of national entity. The university is the place of prevailing awareness of the country being a heritage which not only comprises certain resources of material property located on the given territory, but above all is a unique treasury of values and spiritual ideas, that is everything which contributes to national culture. Many generations of masters, professors and students of the university guarded that treasure and contributed to its creation, paying the price of enormous sacrifice. Nowadays it seems we can observe the hope-arising, but not free from threats process of uniting European nations. The Jagiellonian University should support the trend with a particular zeal. As an outstanding community renowned for the creation of national culture, let it be the place of shaping patriotic feelings and such love for one’s country which guards the country’s good, but it does not close the gates, it builds the bridges to multiply the good with others. Poland needs wise patriots, willing to make a sacrifice for the love of their country and who are also prepared for creative exchange of spiritual goods with the nations of uniting Europe.”

I don’t have to express any comment of the Pontiff words. This is the programme which we all must strive to put into practice, no matter our political beliefs or religion. We must do it for Poland to retain a proper position in the world in the next century.

The above mentioned facts are the evidence of our great past, but they are also the basis for discussing nowadays and future situation of Polish science and higher education. There is no better opportunity to speak about those issues sincerely than the celebration of the jubilee of the oldest Polish university. The Rector of the Jagiellonian University is by all means entitled to refer to them, because this university established the network of secondary schools called academic colonies in our country in the past centuries. The university was appointed The Principal School of the Realm by the Polish Parliament at the turn of eighteenth and nineteenth century. As such it was responsible for the educational situation in the Kingdom of Poland. The professors of the Jagiellonian University launched the activities of the universities in Warszawa, Poznań and Wilno. Today the universities function in different conditions. Polish Parliament, Government and the Minister of Education are responsible for the state of our education. However this does not take the burden of responsibility from the shoulders of the universities, including Almae Matris Cracoviensis.

Polish academic community welcomed the rise of a new Poland with great joy. We believed that leaving the shadow of the People’s Republic of Poland marked the onset of better times for higher education and for science. Poland brought us good things, it erased the shameful heritage of the People’s Republic of Poland, it gave the higher education institutions the most valuable gifts of freedom and autonomy. Unfortunately, those decisions were not followed by the change in Polish authorities’ policy concerning the financing of universities and scientific research. Like it used to be in the past, throughout the last decade academic community has had the opportunity to hear the politicians’ promises of priority treatment of higher education and science. However I would like to stress that those words are rarely followed by deeds.

I will not discover any secret when I say that the value of a state at the threshold of the twenty first century is not marked by its natural resources, but by its people. I can enumerate many examples: Finland has grown from a poor country to a European scientific power due to the proper policy towards education, including science and higher education. Ireland can serve as another good example. This country was brave enough to launch and implement the national education reform concerning all its stages. We have witnessed the onset of such reform in our country. It is clear that the reform of primary and secondary education, in spite of some mistakes, opens up the perspective of introducing basic changes in this field of social life in Poland. Those changes have been awaited for a long time. Unfortunately we cannot witness taking such steps towards higher education and science by the Polish authorities. The bill concerning higher education has not yet been passed by Polish Parliament. The bill would regulate the issue of functioning of the universities in the light of the constitutional right to free education and it would create the mechanisms allowing to introduce the necessary system of evaluating the quality of education. What is more we have not received the programme of higher education and science development for the next ten to twenty years, the programme like its French equivalent University 2000 or presently implemented programme: Third Millennium. It looks as if this sphere of social life has been marginalized by our national authorities (we all remember the empty Parliament assembly hall during the debate over the issues of higher education). The politicians often emphasise that in the last decade the number of Polish students has tripled and that the number of students in public schools has doubled. However they rarely add that during that time the state has hardly increased the financial support for the development of public higher education institutions and that the support is still about 0,8 of Gross National Product. At the same time more and more people see the real and not fake studying as the opportunity to achieve their life objectives. European Union states foresee that in the coming years around 50% of the whole population will take up higher education. The number of the students of post-graduate courses is growing rapidly (Lifelong Learning is becoming extremely popular). People are more and more interested in acquiring higher education in Poland and the demand will grow. Every year enormous dearth of candidates for students comes to the Polish universities’ gates. It is a great pity that not everybody who should come here due to their skills and talent can actually be here. I am especially worried that among those candidates and later students there is less and less young people from poor families, villages and small towns. Those young people, who are very often gifted students lose the competition with their colleagues from better-off families who can afford private tuition and university fees. The harm which is done to young people from poor families is one of the most serious sins of a new Poland, one of the greatest persecutions which the history will voice against our generation in the future. In order to make for this harm we must change our policy for education, including higher education. We must understand that the state has the duty not only to provide the education on the primary and secondary level, but it should also give the opportunity to gain higher education by all the talented young people. In this field every step is crucial. The government decision to raise the financial support for the investments in higher education two years ago was received by the academic community with great joy. However it is not the question of single actions, but of the change in the whole policy of higher education and science. We would like this field of life to be exerted from the circle of misery and poverty. In order to achieve that we need money, which can be sought in vain in the tight budget.

Truly, it will be very difficult to gain any financial support from the state budget. In this complicated financial situation we should however seek alternative sources of supporting this branch of public life in Poland. We are all aware of the fact that we still possess quite big national property. Throughout the last months we have witnessed a fervent discussion what to do with it. There are also many proposals of saving national education. I will not refer to them now as we all know them. I would also like to believe that they were all based on real concern of the politicians for the state of our education and science. If it is the case, I would like to put forward the proposition: let’s cease our quarrels about how to save our education and science. Let’s exclude this issue from the political parties discussions like it happened with the military issues and international policy. Let’s create one, common programme of education and science development in Poland. Polish people are really gifted. Let’s create pan-political front for providing young Poles the opportunities to obtain knowledge. The poet once said that you can’t go forward, you can’t build you future with your head turned back. Our past was so entangled, so conflicted that I am afraid it will take a long time before we can liberate ourselves from the discords it caused. I am also assure that we will not make for smaller and larger harms done to this or that social group by giving out the remains of national property. As the rector of the oldest university in Poland, which has build the educational system in Poland throughout the centuries, which have educated the elite of the country, I appeal to our authorities for this single issue – Polish science and higher education development – let’s make an agreement. Let’s give the remains of our national property, which are so fervently discussed about, to primary, secondary and higher education, building students’ houses, scholarships for the most talented students, especially for those coming from poor families. Let’s create the programme of the national education development, and let’s stop talking about the need to create one. Let’s give young people the opportunity to obtain education on all levels. Let’s create the proper conditions for Polish scientists.

Polish people could once make national agreement: when we have attained the post-Jesuit property, we have launched the Commission of National Education in the seventies of the eighteenth century. We reformed and modernised primary and higher education, we created the conditions for the development of Polish science. The founders of the Commission of National Education could not carry their programme out until the end, but the memory of them has prevailed in the nation for over two centuries. We are now living in new, better times. Let’s take up the programme of the Commission of National Education once again: let’s give the national property, whose sharing is now so widely discussed, to the development of Polish education and science. I am deeply convinced that such decision would gain the support of the whole society.

I call out to all Poles, but above all to the political elite: let’s create the conditions for the emancipation of the skills and talent of young Poles. Let’s create the conditions for the emancipation of enormous potential of thought and innovation of Polish scientists. Let’s not be wise after the deed once again. Let’s not allow Poland to fall into the civilisation abyss whose threat is not the idea of scientists, but which is very probable. Let’s not allow ourselves to be blamed by our followers that having the great opportunity, having the large property, we wasted it during political conflicts and fights and we didn’t use it to create proper conditions to educate our youths and develop our science. Let’s open not only the gates to primary and secondary schools, but also to higher education for our children. Let’s do everything for the Polish scientists to become partners and not only helpers in the foreign laboratories. The issues of higher education and science cannot be treated instrumentally, as an element of fight between the political parties. This is a national issue, the most important today and tomorrow. Our future, the future of Poland depends on its solution.

We need grand statements nowadays. It is the time to ring the alarm bell. The teachers’ community has been discussing the problem of the lack of financial support to cover the costs of implementing the Teachers Chart, instead of committing oneself to the implementation of complicated educational reform. A lot of problems have occurred in the academic community. There have recently been some symptoms of a serious condition. The higher academic teachers who are poorly paid in public schools, have sought employment in other private schools, thus wasting the time which they should devote to conducting research. Instead of spending their time in the libraries and laboratories, they spend it on buses and trains, commuting to other places of employment. There are cracks in the ethos of a scientist which has been shaped throughout the many centuries’ tradition. We can nowadays observe some wide-spread practices like the appropriation of other people’s intellectual property, feigning research, putting the names of the people who didn’t participate in the research under the reports. Everyone agree on that: the phenomena are connected directly with the financial misery of Polish academic community. It is also the result of loosening the ethical rules which have existed in the world of science for a long time. That is why yesterday, the rectors of Polish higher education institutions have signed the document called Kraków Chart which reminds of those rules and regulations, but which at the same time emphasises the importance of such values as the autonomy of the university and the worthy tolerance. We remind in the Chart of the duty to conduct education and to bring up the students and about the need to create equal access to studying opportunities for the young people. However the rectors themselves cannot raise to the challenges which the coming twenty first century brings. Those are the issues for the national authorities.

The foundation of the university in Kraków by King Casimir the Great was the token of Poland’s and Central-Eastern Europe’s promotion in the continent’s life. The refounding of the university in 1400, which followed the wish of Saint Hedwig the Queen of Poland and king Vladislaus Jagiełło, also held this institution responsible for influencing the neighbouring states, above all the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Nowadays, the situation in Europe has been altered, after the painful experience of communism, we encounter the problem of close international cooperation between universities again. Above all the cooperation with the universities from the neighbouring countries. The Jagiellonian University has the particular responsibility which comes from its historical role and its academic staff situation. We employ over one thousand of academic staff including around 450 full professors. Our scholars are actively involved in the process of creating common research area in Europe by receiving European grants. We are working on establishing common educational area within the Bologna Process. Unfortunately, the conditions within which the university has to function make it impossible to take up many activities in those fields. The post-war neglect in construction investments make us run the classes in historical university buildings from the sixteenth and eighteenth century, but also in the rooms rented from private owners in over twenty tenement-houses. Throughout the last few years we have strived to start the construction of the new university campus in the neighbourhood of the old city (the so-called Third Campus in Pychowice) and last year we achieved the aim. With the help of large investment of the university itself we have bought hectares from private owners. The sources of the financial support were mostly the fees paid by the extramural and evening students. We have succeeded in attracting the strategic investor “Motorola” to the Special Economic Zone located in the direct neighbourhood of the Campus. “Motorola” has just started the construction of the first building in the future Technology Park. The money gained from the fees helped us to build the first university building at Third Campus: the Centre of Biology Research and Scientific Equipment. Those activities led to laying the corner stone of the Jagiellonian University Biology Research Centre which is presently under construction. According to the programme of the university development we should conclude the construction of the Faculties of Management and Social Communication, Informatics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics as well as Political and International Studies in the coming nine years. We are also planning the construction of students’ houses for 4,5 thousand of students. However if we want to put those ambitious plans into practice, we need our Parliament to include the whole investment and not just one building into the central budget. We cannot hide that we feel uneasy about the displacement of the university financial support to the so-called regional contract³². We are afraid our efforts will be all in vain and the realisation of our plans will be moved into the dim future and it will bury the historical opportunity of our university. We expect the Bill of Sejm (the Parliament of Poland) of 9^th May, 1997 concerning “The 600 Jubilee of the Refounding of the Jagiellonian University” will not remain just a promise, but that it will enable the university to conclude the construction of Third Campus according to the previous plans.

I would like to emphasise: the Jagiellonian University does not waste its financial resources. We have conducted the programme of renovation of the historical buildings of the university with the help of the National Fund for the Restoration of the Monuments of Kraków. We have extended the building of the Jagiellonian Library. We are also trying to provide opportunities for gaining alternative sources of scholarships for the most talented students and scholars. In the last academic year the University Senate founded the Scholarship Funds for students, PhD students and academic staff. Thanks to the support of the Pruszyński Cultural Fund, whose representatives are present at the celebrations, we were able to start the Scholarship Fund named after Stanisław Estreicher (for the most talented students and PhD students) and the Fund named after Adam Krzyżanowski (for the academic staff). I would like to take this opportunity and express our gratitude for the generous gift. We gather the money for the scholarships for the students from poor village and small towns’ families. However I am mostly contended with the Fund named after Saint Hedwig, the Queen of Poland for the scholars of Central-Eastern Europe who intend to conduct research in Kraków. We have called for proposals for the Fund in spring and we have got 300 responses. We expect about 100 scholars from thirteen countries of Central-Eastern Europe to arrive in Kraków in the coming year and stay here for at least one month. In future we intend to include the students in this programme. We are convinced that due to this Fund, the thoughtful last will of Saint Hedwig, the Queen of Poland, gracious Benefactor of the University, could be enlivened and fruitful again.

To conclude I would like to refer to the noble Founders of the University once again: King Casimir the Great, Saint Hedwig, the Queen of Poland and King Vladislaus Jagiełło. Due to their wise decisions we can cherish the beginnings of Polish higher education. We should not forget the decisions were taken in the difficult times in our history. King Casimir the Great, reconstructing the country after the destruction of the continuous wars, thought it would be a better idea to found and support his own university than to send our youths to foreign universities of Paris, Montpellier and Bologna. Saint Hedwig who surpassed many rulers contemporary to her with her wisdom, founded the students’ house in Prague for the students of Poland and Lithuania and later devoted her personal property for the refoundig of the university, thus providing the opportunity of gaining higher education for the young people from this part of Europe. King Vladislaus Jagiełło faced many complicated problems in 1400, connected with the wide-spread conflict with the Teutonic Knights. Despite the difficult situation he didn’t hesitate to devote generous funds to support Kraków Academy. I would like the present authorities of the Republic of Poland, the Parliament and the Government to follow the example of the Grand Founders of the Jagiellonian University. I would like the presently ruling politicians to remember the words mentioned in the Foundation Act of Zamość Academy, issued 400 years ago, in 1600 by the sage Chancellor Jan Zamoyski: “the republics will always be as good as their youth’s education”. I wish those words could become the motto of all activities of Polish academic community and the authorities of the Republic of Poland.

Footnotes:

¹ Karol Wojtyła known as John Paul II, the present Pontiff
² Jan Kochanowski (1530-1584) the greatest Polish poet of the Renaissance, often referred to as the father of Polish poetry, renowned for his poems written in native tongue as opposed to previous Latin writing.
³ Andrzej Frycz-Moderzewski (1503-1572) famous Polish statesman of Renaissance period who greatly contributed to the development of Polish political writing and was considered a gifted author of numerous treatsies and books on politics.
⁴ Stanisław Hozjusz (1504-1579) Polish religious writer, archbishop, the founder of first Jesuit congregation in Poland.
⁵ Jan Sobieski, the king of Poland (1629-1696), distinguished ruler and man of war who has led his army to liberate Viena from Turkish siege (1683) and in fact won the battle thus saving Europe from the danger of Turkish raids for numerous years.
⁶ Hugon Kołłątaj (1750-1812) famous Polish statesman and political writer who contributed to Polish political reform of his times and was one of the founding fathers of Polish Third May Constitution (1791), rector and reformer of Cracow Academy.
⁷ The Partitions of Poland were realised in three stages 1772, 1793, 1795, throughout the period (1772- 1918) Poland was under foreign (Austrian, Prussian and Russian) occupation. The population suffered from foreign persecution, however Polish language and culture prevailed which made liberation in 1918 possible.
⁸ The period between the wars that is between the First and Second World War played an important role in Polish history, because it was the time of political renewal and first attempt to establish an independent state after 120 years of foreign occupation.
⁹ Stanisław ze Skarbimierza, lawyer and professor of the Cracow Academy, founder of the international law.
¹⁰ Paweł Włodkowic (1370-1435) distinguished scholar, lawyer and the rector of Cracow Academy. He was a Polish representative at the Council of Constance (1414) where he defended our raison d’etat against a vicious campaign launched by the Teutonic Knights.
¹¹ Jan z Głogowa (1468-1507) professor of Cracow Academy, distinguished representative of scholastic philosophy, author of numerous books on dialectics, astrology and classical philology.
¹²Maciej Miechowita (1457-1523) Polish-Latin writer, rector and professor of Cracow Academy, royal physician of king Sigismundus I of Poland, one of most renowned Cracow astrologists.
¹³ Jan Brożek (1585-1652) mathematician and writer, professor of Cracow Academy, lectured on astrology and theology.
¹⁴ Józef Muczkowski (1795-1858) philologist, librarian and professor of bibliography and paleography of Cracow Academy.
¹⁵ Józef Szujski (1835-1883) politician, historian and poet, professor of Polish history at the Jagiellonian University, member of Galicia Parliment, author of his own historical system, one of the founders of Cracow history school.
¹⁶ Michał Bobrzyński (1849-1925) historian and politician, professor of the Jagiellonian University, author of “Polish history” and member of Cracow history school, member of Parliament.
¹⁷ Karol Estreicher (1827-1908) lawyer, theatrologist and founder of Polish Bibliography.
¹⁸ Karol Olszewski (1846-1915) renowned chemist, rector and professor of Jagiellonian University, in 1883, together with professor Zygmunt Wróblewski, he liquidated oxygen, nitrogen and carbon oxide.
¹⁹ Zygmunt Wróblewski (1836-1908) physicist, professor of Jagiellonian University, dealt with gas diffusion.
²⁰ Napoleon Cybulski (1854-1919) professor of physiology at the Jagiellonian University, discovered adrenaline in 1895, one of the most renowned theoreticians and pedagogists in physiology.
²¹ Józef Dietl (1804-1858) doctor of medicine, rector and professor of the Jagiellonian University, member of Parliment, president of the city of Cracow.
²² Marian Smoluchowski (1872-1917) physicist professor of the Jagiellonian University, discovered the theory of Brown movements and theory of fluctuations.
²³ Tadeusz Banachiewicz (1882-1930) historian, professor of the Jagiellonian University, mathematician.
²⁴ Jan Fijałek (1864-1925) historian, professor of ecclesiatical history, author of many publications on the subject
²⁵ Stanisław Estreicher (1869-1929) lawyer, historian, rector and professor of Jagiellonian University, cooperated with his father Karol Estreicher on Polish bibliography.
²⁶ Adam Krzyżanowski ( 1873-1928) economist, professor of the Jagiellonian University, member of Parliament, author of numerous publications on economics and agriculture.
²⁷ Stanisław Pigoń (1885-1920) historian of Polish literature, professor of Jagiellonian University, author of many books on Polish literature.
²⁸ Władysław Szafer (1886-1927) botanist, professor of the Jagiellonian University, interested in plant ecology and physiology.
²⁹ Kościuszko Uprising led by Tadeusz Kosciusko against Russian occupation was one of the first Polish uprisings and despite initial successes it was finally put to an end by the Russian oppressors.
³⁰ The Legions of Piłsudski led by Piłsudski, later Polish president, fought for the liberation of Poland shortly after the First World War.
³¹ Katyń is the place of the shameful slaughter of the officers of Polish Army which was conducted by the Soviet Forces who invaded Poland in 1939.
³² Regional contract – the contract between the self-government and state administration which ensures the flow of money from the central budget to self government institutions established during the administrative reform of our country