Head:

Prof. dr hab. Kazimierz Ilski  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Deputies:

Prof. dr hab. Adam Łajtar, Uniwersytet Warszawski This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Narecki, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dr hab. Jakub Pigoń, prof. UWr, Uniwersytet Wrocławski This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Prof. dr hab. Jan Zabłocki, Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dr hab. Katarzyna Jażdżewska, Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Honorary Head:

Prof. dr hab. Jerzy Danielewicz This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Secretary (and website administrator):

Dr Katarzyna Pietruczuk This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

ORGANIZED CONFERENCES

MEANDER - a classical journal annually published by the Committee

NEWS

 

 

COMMITTEE ON ANCIENT CULTURE OF THE POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES:

A HISTORICAL SKETCH

The Committee on Ancient Culture of the Polish Academy of Sciences was created in 1952 as one of the eleven scientific committees within the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences. The first members of the Committee included Bronisław Biliński, Ryszard Gansiniec, Adam Krokiewicz, Iza Małowist-Bieżuńska, Kazimierz Michałowski, Tadeusz Sinko, Stefan Srebrny, Władysław Strzelecki, Wiktor Steffen and Rafał Taubenschlag. Kazimierz Kumaniecki was named the first Head of the Committee. In 1960, as a result of restructuring, the Committee on Ancient Culture was merged with the Committee of Oriental Studies and the Committee of Modern Languages and Literatures (Neophilology). This was a short-lived change, and in 1962, the three committees regained their separate existence.

Kazimierz Kumaniecki served as the head of the Committee for the first twenty-five years. After his death in June of 1977, his duties were passed on to his deputy, Józef Wolski. In the years that followed, the Committee was headed by Jan Wikarjak (1978-1983), Jerzy Łanowski (1984-1989), Anna Sadurska (1990-1995), Witold Wołodkiewicz (1996-2002), Jerzy Danielewicz (2003-2011), Krystyna Bartol (2011-2019), and Kazimierz Ilski (2019-).

Within the Committee, there are four sections: Byzantine Studies (created in 1963 and reactivated in 1980), Neo-Latin Studies and the Reception of Ancient Culture (existing since 1982), Ancient Law (since 1982), and Archeology (since 2011).

The Committee members represent diverse disciplines within the field of ancient studies, including scholars of Greek and Latin literature, linguists, historians of antiquity, Byzantinists, historians of ancient philosophy, Roman law scholars, archeologists, and papyrologists. Acknowledging diversity of the field, the Committee’s main form of activity has always been monthly lectures, which aim to bring together scholars representing different areas of studies in antiquity. The Committee also maintains a library exchange with institutions abroad and represents Polish researchers in international societies. In particular, the Byzantine Studies section has formed a close collaboration with the Association Internationale des Études Byzantines (AIEB). This collaboration includes the exchange of literature, dissemination of information on research projects carried out in Poland and scholarly works published, involvement in organization of international congresses dedicated to Byzantium, and regular presence of members of the Committee at conferences organized by AIEB.

The Committee itself also organizes numerous conferences, both research- and education-focused, such as “Recent Trends and Methods in the Study of Ancient Culture” (1976), “Virgil and his Reception in Polish Culture” (1983). In 2009, the Committee honored the memory of Tadeusz Zieliński with an international meeting co-organized with the Faculty of Artes Liberales at the University of Warsaw, titled “Tadeusz Zieliński: On the 150th Anniversary of his Birth.” Conferences organized and co-organized by the Committee in 21st c. are international in nature and attract both Polish researchers and scholars from prominent international institutions. They promote the achievements of Polish studies in antiquity in the world and increase their visibility as well as establish or continue contacts with researchers from abroad. In 2014, the Committee organized the conference “Fragments, Holes, and Wholes: Reconstructing the Ancient World in Theory and Practice”, and in 2021 it co-organized (with the Institute of Classical Philology at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań) the international conference “The Presence of Plotinus: The Self, Contemplation, and Spiritual Exercise in the Enneads.”

In the past, the Committee’s tasks have included assessment of programs of studies at the university level (Classical philology, Mediterranean archaeology), reviewing the activities of the Polish Philological Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Filologiczne), and assessment of research carried out in Poland in the field of ancient studies. Recently, in 2022, the Committee evaluated a new curriculum for the subject “Latin” in secondary schools.

The Committee has also repeatedly discussed and made recommendations regarding the evaluation of research achievements in the field of humanities. It has also conducted expert evaluations of periodicals and publications related to ancient and Byzantine studies for the Ministry of Education and Science (formerly the Ministry of Science and Higher Education). Additionally, the Committee has issued opinions on a variety of documents issued by the Ministry during the pre-consultation phase.

The Committee also provided patronage for initiatives aimed at disseminating the ancient tradition, such as the activities of the Foundation for the Promotion of Research on Greco-Roman Antiquity “Traditio Europae” and the Contest of Knowledge about the Ancient World, organized by the University of Białystok.

In addition, the Committee conducted publishing activities, including the series “Filological Archive”, “Bibliotheca Latina Medii et Recentioris Aevi”, “Auctorum Graecorum et Latinorum Opuscula Selecta”, and “Library of Translations from Ancient Literature”. Currently, the most important publishing activity of the Committee is the journal “Meander”, published since 1946 (and under the aegis of the Committee since 1965). This journal is devoted to antiquity and combines the highest scientific standards with popularizing value.

Katarzyna Jażdżewska