Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences

The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning, headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of sciences.
The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences is co-owner of the Polish Library in Paris.

History

The Academy traces its origins to Academy of Learning founded in 1871, itself a result of the transformation of the, in existence since 1815. Though formally limited to the Austrian Partition, the Academy served from the beginning as a learned and cultural society for the entire Polish nation. Its activities extended beyond the boundaries of the Austrian Partition, gathering scholars from all of Poland, and many other countries as well. Some indication of how the Academy's influence extended beyond the boundaries of the Partitions came in 1893, when the collection of the Polish Library in Paris, the largest collection of Polish materials amassed by the Great Emigration, was transferred to the ownership of the Academy, and a branch was founded in Paris, though this latter step had been preceded by the establishment of the Rome Expedition.
After World War I, the Academy was renamed "Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences", and became the official representative of Polish learning, which entailed its participation in works of international learned organizations. Among other things, the PAU was a founder member of the Union Académique Internationale. The period between the world wars was the time of greatest activity at the PAU, especially in the sphere of publications: over 100 publication series were then in print, among them the monumental Polish Biographical Dictionary. It was also in this period that the Scientific Station in Rome replaced the Rome Expedition.
The PAU was initially organized into four sections:

Philological
Historical-Philosophical
Mathematical-Natural Sciences
Medical

In 1942 a successor body of the Polish Academy of Learning, the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences, was established in New York City by Bronisław Malinowski, Oskar Halecki and other scholars associated with the Academy, which had been forcibly closed down by the occupying Germans. Following the collapse of communism in Poland, the Polish Academy of Learning was revived and became affiliated with the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America.
After the German Occupation, the PAU continued its activities in the same fields until 1952, when the authorities decided to take over its agencies and assets on behalf of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, which was then being established. The PAU was never formally dissolved, however, and after two unsuccessful attempts at its reactivation in the years 1956–57 and 1980–81, it was finally able to resume activities in the immediate aftermath of the transformations of 1989.

Presidents of the PAU

Among the honorary members of the PAU were:

John Paul II
Jan Nowak-Jeziorański
Władysław Bartoszewski
Franciszek Macharski
Structure of the PAU

At present, the Academy is organized into six distinct sections, consisting of multiple dedicated and interdisciplinary commissions and committees.

Philology

This section brings together scholars who represent philologies, including linguistics and literary studies, as well as art historians.
The primary fruits of the section's labors are its publications, presently consisting of three series: Papers in Philology, Library of Translations from Ancient Literature, and Old Polish Source Materials. The first series, Papers in Philology, includes several publications, such as a study by Stanisław Urbańczyk dealing with the history of linguistics in Poland, collection of essays by the Italian Slavicist Riccardo Picchio as well as the following works: by on national varieties of German language, by on the life and artistic works of Lisias, by Magdalena Sitarz on Jewish and Polish proverbs and by on the two-way Polish-Jewish influence in the field of language. There are now five more volumes in the classical translation series: two translated and edited by , one translated and edited by Romuald Turasiewicz, one translated and edited by Michał Bednarski and one translated and edited by Ireneusz Ptaszek. In the series of source materials from the earliest history of Poland, Kazimierz Rymut and his co-authors have published a collection entitled Polish Letters from the 16th Century, in a critical edition by Marian Plezia. Some publications written by members of Class I have appeared in the publication series of Class II, such as the Latin text of Vincent Kadłubek's Chronicles, in a critical edition by Marian Plezia.

Commission on Classical Philology

The nature of the Commission's work is to bring together representatives of various humanistic disciplines who share an interest in the study of Greco-Roman antiquity, broadly conceived, and its reception in the culture of Medieval and modern Europe. It gathers Hellenists and Latinists, specialists in history and literature, as well as linguistics : Byzantinists, neo-Latinists, ancient historians, historians of ancient culture and philosophy, Patristicists, archaeologists, numismatists, specialists in ancient law, and scholars interested in the reception of antiquity in the culture and literature of Europe, especially Poland.
The thematic scope of the Commission's activities covers virtually all areas of knowledge about antiquity.
The focus of scholarly attention has been on the study of:

the grammar, syntax, semantics, and stylistics of the classical languages;
the types and genres of Greek literature of the classical period, especially drama, historiography, and rhetoric;
Roman literature of the Augustan Age.

The Commission publishes its Works, in which five volumes of assembled works on various topics have already appeared, as well as four monographs. The Commission is also actively engaged in the PAU series entitled Library of Translations from Ancient Literature, in which there have appeared so far editions of Statius's Thebais, Lucan's Bellum Civile, Lysias's Speeches and Apollonius Dyskolos's Essay on Syntax and Andocides's Speeches.
The research issues presented at this Commission's meetings involve Polish and European art, from antiquity to the most recent times. Papers read before the Commission must display both a solid methodological base and a profound exploration of the subject matter, based on a thorough review of the secondary literature. Papers are often read by scholars who do not belong to the Commission, from various universities in Poland. The papers presented at the Commission's meetings have earned considerable respect among young art historians. Discussions have also been organized on the organizational framework of the Polish Committee on Art History.

Commission on Art History

The majority of the papers presented are published in the Commission's scholarly yearbook, Folia Historiae Artium, series nova. Seven volumes have been published since 1995, when the new series was commenced. Volume IV was devoted to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karolina Lanckorońska, a person of inestimable importance for Polish learning, and especially for the PAU, of which she was a member. The publication series Cracovia Artificum continues to be produced by the Commission, with source materials in the history of craftsmanship, including artistic crafts; to date three volumes have appeared, edited by Bolesław Przybyszewski.

Commission on Modern Philology

This Commission was formed in the autumn of 1998, but due to the illness of its founder and first chairman, Przemysław Mroczkowski, it could not begin activities until early 2000, under the leadership of Olga Dobijanka-Witczakowa.
The Commission's meetings bring together scholars in modern philology, with the goal of achieving integration in terms of research methodology and facilitating the exchange of experiences.
The third volume of the Works of the Commission on Modern Philology has now appeared, featuring the best papers from the scholarly meetings held to date.

Commission on Slavonic Culture PAU

Attached to the PAU Class I, the Commission was formed in 2000. It is to some extent an interdisciplinary endeavor, including certain aspects of the field of interest of PAU Class II. Accordingly, the members of the Commission represent not only scholars in Slavonic philology, but also archaeologists, historians, and ethnographers. The Commission has published three volumes of its Works.

History and Philosophy

This section comprises historians, archaeologists, philosophers, lawyers, theologians, sociologists, and psychologists. The section holds monthly meetings, some of which are organized jointly with Class I.
The section is involved in studies and publications on the following topics:

Sources for the history of the Polish Government-in-Exile: minutes of the meetings of the Council of Ministers. Eight volumes are planned; Volumes I-IV have already been published.
History of Poland in the two decades between the world wars. A book by Janusz Pajewski on this subject has already appeared, and two more volumes are anticipated.
The history and organization of Polish learning. This subject is treated in a broad program of publications and expositions.
Continuation of the re-edition of Jan Długosz's History of Poland – completed in 2007.
The publication of the acts of the Apostolic Nunciature in Poland, a project which is recommended by the Academy of Arts and Sciences, was being continued by the Polish Historical Institute in Rome, under the direction of Karolina Lanckorońska. The PAU joined the project and now it is its only manager and executor, but the enterprise is still financed by the Lanckoroński Foundation.
In keeping with tradition, the Class also publishes several series of source materials for Polish history: two volumes of Monumenta Poloniae Vaticana. A new series has been added: Monumenta Sacra Polonorum.

The Class has organized three scholarly symposia: one devoted to the Senate of the Republic of Poland, its historical role and its present status; the second, to the anniversary of the Soviet attack on Poland on 17 September 1939; and the third, to research on the settlement of the first agricultural peoples on both sides of the Western Carpathians in the fifth millennium BC.
The Class's most significant publications include a book by Gerard Labuda, Mieszko I król Polski 1025–1034 ; a book by Piotr Hübner, Siła przeciw rozumowi. Losy Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności 1939–1989 ; Protokoły posiedzeń Władz RP na Uchodźstwie 1939–1945 , Volumes I-IV; and Chrześcijaństwo Rusi Kijowskiej, Białorusi, Ukrainy i Rosji , edited by Jerzy Kłoczowski; Józef Gierowski The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century. The Class cooperates with the Jagiellonian University in publishing the periodical Kwartalnik Filozoficzny .
The section is also actively engaged in realizing the agreement with the Slovak Academy of Sciences, through such joint projects as coordinating archaeological research performed by the Kraków centre on both sides of the western Carpathians; studies on Polish-Slovak relations during World War II; and the preparation of a dictionary of the Oravian local dialect. Contracts are in preparation with the Slovenian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Lviv, and the Czech Academy of Sciences.