Rector of the University of Lodz, Prof. Elżbieta Żądzińska, and the Chancellor of the University of Lodz, Kamila Szcześniak, with the team of the Kultura Literary Institute in front of the entrance to Maisons-Laffitte
The letter of intent is the beginning of the next stage of deepening and popularising knowledge about the intellectual achievements of the Literary Institute in Paris and the achievements of Jerzy Giedroyc by a team of researchers from the University of Lodz. The authorities of the University of Lodz also visited the rooms of the "Kultura" House filled with souvenirs of the residents, familiarised themselves with the specificity of the archival and library resources of the Kultura Literary Institute, and discussed the prospects of mutual contacts with its president Anna Bernhardt.
Anna Bernhardt, President of the Kultura Literary Institute and the Rector of the University of Lodz, Prof. Elżbieta Żądzińska, sign a letter of intent regarding the cooperation between the University of Lodz and the Kultura Literary Institute
The cooperation with the Kultura Literary Institute, initiated in 2014 by historians from the University of Lodz (Prof. Rafał Stobiecki and Dr Sławomir M. Nowinowski, UL Professor), was formalised in June 2020. University of Lodz was the first university to conclude a cooperation agreement with the Kultura Literary Institute. It makes it easier for scientists from the University of Lodz (also the youngest generation) to conduct research in Maisons-Laffitte. As part of the cooperation, a series of publications "JERZY GIEDROYC I..." was launched and in September 2022 the Jerzy Giedroyc Centre was established at the university.
The Kultura Literary Institute is the legal heir of the Literary Institute in Paris, founded in 1946 by Jerzy Giedroyc, who headed the institution until his death in 2000. Since 1954, a house at 91 avenue de Poissy in Maisons-Laffitte has been the seat of the Literary Institute. Its permanent tenants, apart from Jerzy Giedroyc, were Zofia and Zygmunt Hertz and siblings Józef and Maria Czapscy.
Prof. Elżbieta Żądzińska, Rector of the University of Lodz, in the office of Jerzy Giedroyc
It is difficult to overestimate the merits of Jerzy Giedroyc. For over half a century, he edited the monthly "Kultura". One of the most important Polish intellectual circles in the twentieth century was created around the monthly. He published nearly 500 books that could not be published in People's Poland (including works by Witold Gombrowicz, Czesław Miłosz, Leszek Kołakowski and Marek Hłaski), for 39 years he published "Zeszyty Historyczne" – an important historiographic periodical. Jerzy Giedroyc supported and inspired both political emigrants as well as the democratic opposition in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.
Source: dr hab. Sławomir M. Nowinowski, UL Professor, Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Lodz
Edit: Paweł Śpiechowicz, Promotion Centre, University of Lodz