Dr Andrzej Kompa, the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and History, who opened the meeting, emphasized the importance of the "historical moment" – the 600th anniversary of Lodz and many happy circumstances that has made it possible for this great project, which is a five-volume monograph of the city, to be successfully brought to an end. He recalled a similar publishing initiative from the 1980s, when only the first volume out of the planned three was published. The Chairman of the City Council, Marcin Gołaszewski, and the Deputy Mayor of the city, Małgorzata Moskwa-Wodnicka also discussed the uniqueness of the work by the historians from the University of Lodz for the city and its residents.
Prof. Jarosław Kita and Prof. Tadeusz Grabarczyk, the authors-editors of the monograph, in an interview with Ryszard Bonisławski, talked about the arrangement of the content in the first volume, its extraordinary timeliness, which made it possible to include, among others, the effects of recent excavations in the Old Market Square and previously unknown facts from the oldest history of the city. Let us remind you that the first volume covers the history of Lodz from prehistoric times to 1820, i.e. the period when historians conventionally call the city "agricultural Lodz".
The huge contribution of work to its creation, topicality and wealth of new facts is evidenced by the fact that in the already mentioned, unfinished monograph from 40 years ago, only a dozen or so pages were devoted to this period, while now we have a volume of over 600 pages, richly illustrated with photos, graphics and maps.
After questions from the audience and the end of the meeting, the historians from the University of Lodz – the editors of the monograph, signed copies of the book for all those who managed to buy it at the stand of the Lodz University Press.
The second volume of the monograph "Łódź poprzez wieki. Historia miasta" will be released on 11 November 2024, the third volume in March 2024, and the fourth one on 29 July 2024, at the end of Lodz's jubilee year. The fifth volume, containing the so-called spoken story will be a supplement to the series, and its release date is not known yet.
Video report of the meeting at the Izrael Poznański’s Palace will be available soon.
Source: Communications and POR Centre, University of Lodz
Photos: Mateusz Kowalski, Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Lodz