The conference entitled
„Historical Libraries of Religious and Ethnic Minorities”
took place on 22-23 September 2022 at the Ossolineum in Wrocław.

The conference poster

Dr Łukasz Kamiński, director of the Ossolineum.


From the left: (row 1) Piotr Piniński, president of the Lanckoronski Foundation,
Dr Dorota Sidorowicz-Mulak, vice-director of the Ossolineum,
(row 2) Professor Krzysztof Stopka, director of the Museum of the University of Kraków,
Monika Agopsowicz, member of the Board of the Foundation for the Culture and Heritage of Polish Armenians,
Father Marek Miławicki OP, vice-director of the Dominican Historical Institute in Kraków.


A Promotion of the book
„Karolina Lanckorońska. In the Service of Science and Poland”
took place at the Ossolineum in Wrocław on 21 September 2022.

The book’s cover.

From the left: Dr Stanisław Bogaczewicz (co-author),
Professor Bishop Jan Kopiec (co-author),
Dr Dorota Sidorowicz-Mulak, vice-director of the Ossolineum,
Dr Wojciech Biliński (editor, co-author),
Piotr Piniński, president of the Lanckoronski Foundation.


 

Piotr Piniński, president of the Lanckoronski Foundation.

From the left: Dr Stanisław Bogaczewicz,
Dr Lukasz Kamiński, director of the Ossolineum,
Dr Dorota Sidorowicz-Mulak, vice-director of the Ossolineum,
Dr Wojciech Biliński,
Piotr Piniński, president of the Lanckoronski Foundation.



The Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków held a joint opening of two exhibitions, entitled ‘Masterpieces from the Lanckoroński Collection’ and ‘The New Royal Treasury’, on 30 June 2022.

Amongst those paintings from the Lanckoroński Collection which after the Second World War were sold on the European art market, are three, kindly lent by their present owners for the first of the two exhibitions. They are: Saint George and the Dragon by Paolo Uccello (owned presently by the National Gallery in London), acquired originally by Count Karol Lanckoroński prior to 1892; Portrait of a 21 year-old Woman by a follower of Bartholomaeus Bruyn the Elder (today the property of the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill), purchased by the count in 1885 at an auction of the possessions of his close acquaintance, the artist Hans Makart, who died in 1884; and A Group in a Park by Barend Graat, earlier in the collection of the last King of Poland, Stanislas August (now belonging to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam). All three were amongst the most outstanding works which once belonged to the Viennese collection of the Lanckoroński family.

Guests were also invited to visit the Wawel’s third exhibition, entitled ‘Wyczółkowski Found’, presenting the painting A Highland Girl, sometimes also called A Country Lass in a Yellow Shawl, which was stolen during the Second World War having been earlier donated to the Royal Castle as part of the Wawel Foundation of Count Leon Piniński, founded in 1931.

 

A book financed by the Lanckoronski Foundation on the history of the Lanckoroński Collection, with emphasis on the paintings in the exhibition.

The director of the Wawel Royal Castle, Professor Andrzej Betlej.


 

The opening of the exhibitions.

The three paintings formerly belonging to the Lanckoroński Collection:
Saint George and the Dragon by Paolo Uccello (centre),
Portrait of a 21 year-old Woman
by a follower of Bartholomaeus Bruyn the Elder (left),
and A Group in a Park by Barend Graat (right).



Presentation of the prizes for “the Count Leon Piniński award for knowledge of Roman Law”,
of which the Lanckoronski Foundation was patron.
University of Szczecin, 14 June 2022.

Piotr Piniński, president of the Lanckoronski Foundation (right),
with Professor Maciej Jońca.

Piotr Piniński, president of the Lanckoronski Foundation (left),
with Vice-Rector Professor Kinga Flaga-Gieruszyńska (right).


The diploma for 1st prize.


The promotion of the book „The Girl and the Scholar” which was financed by the Lanckoronski Foundation, took place at the Royal Castle in Warsaw on 24 May 2022.

Dziewczyna i uczony - Gerdien Verschoor

The cover

Od lewej: autorka Gerdien Verschoor i tłumaczka/redaktor Alicja Oczko

(from left to right) The author Gerdien Verschoor
with the translator and editor Alicja Oczko


Prezes Funcacji Lanckorońskich Piotr Piniński i prowadząca spotkanie Renata Kim

The President of the Lanckoronski Foundation Piotr Piniński
with the chairperson Renata Kim

od lewej: Prezes Funcacji Lanckorońskich Piotr Piniński, Alicja Jakubowska z Ośrodka Sztuki Zamku Królewskiego w Warszawie, wraz z autorką Gerdien Verschoor

(from left to right) The President of the Lanckoronski Foundation Piotr Piniński,
Alicja Jakubowska of the Department of Art of the Royal Castle in Warsaw,
and the book’s author Gerdien Verschoor.



https://harpercollins.pl/ksiazka,5600,dziewczyna-i-uczony.html

Young Researchers Take the Lead

The centre of the Polish Academy of Science in Vienna, which for years has hosted recipients of scholarships from the Lanckoronski Foundation, this year initiated a project entitled ‘Young Researchers Take the Lead’. This is being done in co-operation with the Foundation as well as the Polish Academy of Learning in Kraków. Its aim is to show scholarship holders to a wide audience, and highlight the importance of establishing contacts with Austrian academic institutions as an important milestone on the road to realizing their scholarly ambitions. ‘Young Researchers Take the Lead’ is a cycle of filmed interviews with scholarship holders, who briefly, though with passion, humour and perspicacity, describe their current research projects, plans associated with their time spent in Vienna, and greatest ambitions in their chosen field.

The presentation may be viewed on YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/LSPaFLYC32A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCRoWt2iieE&t=2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0Czcu09-ms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY6UWMGak1w&t=2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z6tpoPUgtw&t=1s

The annual meeting of the Lanckoroński Foundation’s Scholarship Committee, held at the Polish Academy of Learning in Kraków which administers the programme

26061

(from left to right) Piotr Piniński president of the Lanckoronski Foundation, professor Andrzej Borowski the vice-president of the Polish Academy of Learning, and Katarzyna Dzięgło who is the committee’s secretary.

(from left to right) Professors Adam Małkiewicz (of the Polish Academy of Learning), Janusz Tandecki (of the University of Toruń), Kazimierz Lewartowski (of the University of Warsaw), and Maciej Salamon of the University of Kraków).

(from left to right) Professors Adam Małkiewicz (of the Polish Academy of Learning), Janusz Tandecki (of the University of Toruń), Kazimierz Lewartowski (of the University of Warsaw), and Maciej Salamon of the University of Kraków).

† With deep sadness the Foundation regrets the loss of its long-standing member, Stanisław August Morawski, who died in Rome on December 23rd at the age of ninety seven. The funeral took place there on December 27th. His contribution to Polish culture, in particular that of the émigré Polish community in Italy, was of great significance.

 

Nekrolog-SM

Dr Olga Linkiewicz’s book “Locality and Nationalism. Rural communities in Eastern Galicia in the interwar period ” was awarded the Kazimierz Moczarski City of Warsaw History Award.

Dr Olga Linkiewicz of the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences received the Kazimierz Moczarski City of Warsaw History Award for her book “Locality and Nationalism. Rural communities in Eastern Galicia in the interwar period”, published with the support of the Lanckoronski Foundation (see: News – New Publications 2018).

The Kazimierz Moczarski City of Warsaw History Award, established in December 2018 by the Warsaw City Council, is a continuation of the award created in 2009 for the best book on the history of Poland. The project is coordinated by the History Meeting House – the Cultural Institution of the City of Warsaw, as well as by the Kazimierz and Zofia Moczarski Foundation. The award promotes the most important publications and best authors. It is a tribute to the memory of Kazimierz Moczarski, a journalist, lawyer and Home Army soldier who was imprisoned after the war on charges of anti-communist activity. Moczarski wrote the well-known “Rozmowy z katem” (“Conversations with an executioner”), which was translated into many languages.

 

Dr Olga Linkiewicz (IH PAN) odbiera z rąk Pani Ewy Malinowskiej Grupińskiej Nagrodę Historyczną m.st. Warszawy im. Kazimierza Moczarskiego. Obok: Pani Elżbieta Moczarska i Prof. Andrzej Friszke. Foto: Urząd M.St. Warszawy. Autor: Zuzanna Sosnowska.

Dr Olga Linkiewicz receiving the The Kazimierz Moczarski City of Warsaw History Award from Ewa Malinowska-Grupińska in the presence of Elżbieta Moczarska and Prof. Andrzej Friszke. Photo: City Council of Warszawy/photographer: Zuzanna Sosnowska.

Dr Olga Linkiewicz, Elżbieta Moczarska and Piotr Piniński, President of The Lanckoronski Foundation. Photo by courtesy of Zuzanna Sosnowska.

Dr Olga Linkiewicz, Elżbieta Moczarska and Piotr Piniński, President of The Lanckoronski Foundation. Photo by courtesy of Zuzanna Sosnowska.

 

 

 

 

Declaration with regard to the interview given by Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski in the weekly magazine ‘Wprost’ (no 41) dated 7-13 October 2019, as well as in the newspaper ‘Gazeta Polska’ of 9 October 2019

With regard to the interview given by Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski in the weekly magazine ‘Wprost’ (no 41) dated 7-13 October 2019, as well as in the newspaper ‘Gazeta Polska’ of 9 October 2019, The Ciechanowiecki Collections Foundation, The Ciechanowiecki Foundation and The Lanckoronski Foundation, would like to publish the following declaration.

  1. In the interview Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski states that Andrzej Ciechanowiecki worked together with the Communist Secret Service (the ‘UB’ and the ‘SB’), and  that when Władysław Bartoszewski senior discovered this fact he broke off relations with him.
  2. The above statements are not in accordance with the facts, are untrue and offensive to the memory of Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, and equally so to the good name of The Ciechanowiecki Collections Foundation at the Royal Castle in Warsaw which was founded by him on 8 October 1986 and over which he presided, to The Ciechanowiecki Foundation in London, and to The Lanckoronski Foundation with which he was for decades deeply engaged.
  3. At this point one should make plain the basic facts. For continuing his conspiratorial underground activities associated with the Polish Home Army (the ‘AK’) Andrzej Ciechanowiecki was arrested by the new communist authorities on 22 October 1950 and in 1952 was given a ten-year prison sentence. He was freed on 6 March 1956. He spent five years in the Rawicz and Wronki prisons. During this time agents of the communist Ministry of Public Safety tried to convince him to become an agent.  Attempts also occurred in the years 1956-58 after Andrzej Ciechanowiecki had been freed.
  4. Such a charge of working as an agent can only by formulated by someone with no knowledge of the records preserved at the Institute for National Memory (the ‘IPN’) (partially available in the internet) and research work published by historians, or by someone who wants to discredit and compromise Andrzej Ciechanowiecki. From these sources even an amateur can easily conclude that Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, despite the obvious risk he was taking, played the authorities – as did many others. The entire dossier is a example of the fact that consistently and full awareness of what he was doing, he conducted a dialogue in such a way as to confuse, mislead and take advantage of the authorities for his own purposes. Andrzej Ciechanowiecki did not write reports and refused to inform. In only two or three superficial notes did he give information which was, in any case, publicly available. The nature of this dialogue irritated the authorities who, as a result, resigned from further attempts to elicit information from him. Today it is hard not to have the impression that these meetings made fools of the authorities, a fact formally noted in their reports by the agents themselves. If anyone fails to see this and draws different conclusions, then that can only be as an act of deliberate bad faith.
  5. Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, finding himself in this situation, took advantage of it to help save his fellow prisoners by, amongst other means, falsifying documents in the prison hospital records, which resulted in the temporary release of many of them. According to the statements of witnesses, it appears that only one person returned to prison from temporary release. That was what Andrzej Ciechanowiecki’s co-operation with the communist authorities looked like, and for which he suffered an additional prison sentence.
  6. Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski is not being truthful when claiming that his father, Władysław Bartoszewski senior, broke off relations with Andrzej Ciechanowiecki when he discovered about his past. In a letter to Andrzej Ciechanowiecki dated 13 January 2014 (written long after the court case referred to below was initiated by The Foundation), Władysław Bartoszewski senior wrote that he had read the work of Dr Wojciech Frazik entitled ‘An Emissary of Free Poland’, in which the author writes in detail about how Andrzej Ciechanowiecki played the authorities during his time in prison. Władysłąw Bartoszewski judged the book to be thorough and accurate, agreeing with the author’s approval of the way in which Andrzej Ciechanowiecki played the SB, and furthermore drew his attention to the dangers associated with ambiguous documents in the IPN. There was no question of breaking off relations with him. The matter was, however, unambiguous, and as Dr Wojciech Frazik concluded in a letter addressed to Andrzej Ciechanowiecki dated  28 January 2014: “The documents in the IPN, with which I am familiar in their entirety, relating to Andrzej Ciechanowiecki (IPN Kr 009/6870. IPN BU 0192/514, IPN BU 0259/596), and the testimony of Andrzej Ciechanowiecki as well as other former political prisoners, allows me to state once again – which I have otherwise already done in my book – that in opposition to the intentions of the security services Andrzej Ciechanowiecki not only did not act against the best interests of those imprisoned in the prisons of Rawicz and Wronki, but in fact did quite the opposite …”. In the light of this, Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski’s notion that Andrzej Ciechanowiecki should forfeit the Order of the White Eagle in completely baseless.
  7. At this point, as members of the above-named Foundations who for many years worked together with the Founder and were usually also his personal friends, we feel the need to again emphasize Andrzej Ciechanowiecki’s services to Polish culture. He was an exceptional historian of art and collector whose main aim in life was to help rebuild Poland’s museum collections after the Second World War, in particular those of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. For this purpose he dedicated his knowledge, experience and significant financial resources throughout many decades. He also helped young Poles to study in England, including Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski. Until the end of his life Andrzej Ciechanowiecki was committed to the protection and propagation of Poland’s national heritage and the above-named Foundations have the honour of continuing this mission.
  8. Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski’s defamatory statements must be seen in the context of recent interest shown in the media relating to the ongoing court case in which The Ciechanowiecki Collections Foundation is seeking the return of approximately 16 million Polish złoties as as well as certain works of art. To describe this case in the briefest possible way, it concerns Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski’s accountability with regard to the failure to return assets relating to agreements made with the Foundation Non Omnis Moriar, set up by Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, as well as with Andrzej Ciechanowiecki personally. These agreements permitted Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski to control the assets of the Foundation and Andrzej Ciechanowiecki with regard to pre-agreed and defined purposes. The Ciechanowiecki Collections Foundation, unlke Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, will not make public statements about this case, but leave judgement to the courts, notwithstanding the fact that matters appear otherwise than Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski is attempting to portray them in his interviews and brief comments in the media.
  9. It is transparently obvious that the interviews and defamatory statements made by Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski are intended to discredit Andrzej Ciechanowiecki and give credibility to his role in the case brought against him by the Ciechanowiecki Collections Foundation. We do not hesitate in expressing the view that Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski’s intention is to influence an independent court and that this constitutes a very serious infringement of universally accepted standards, committed moreover by a public person.

We feel obliged to inform public opinion about the situation and circumstances and to declare emphatically that appropriate legal steps will be taken in the event of further examples of similar behaviour on the part of Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski.

 

The Ciechanowiecki Collections Foundation

The Ciechanowiecki Foundation, London

The Lanckoronski Foundation

 

The most relevant sources:

J.Woźniak, Droga do wolnej Polski, Wrocław 2011, s.102-104;

W.Frazik, Emisariusz Wolnej Polski. Biografia polityczna Wacława Felczaka (1916-1993) Kraków 2013; s.420-443;

A.Friszke, Między wojną a więzieniem 1945-1953. Młoda Inteligencja Katolicka, Warszawa 2014, s. 219-241.

Andrzej Ciechanowiecki’s correspondence given after his death to The Ciechanowiecki Collections Foundation.