2014 'Jagiellonian University Year'

Jagiellonian University: photo wiki

The university is 650 years old this year and Polish senators declare in a special resolution that 2014 should be a celebration of Polish science and academic studies.
The resolution says that the Jagiellonian University, founded by King Casimir the Great in 1364, has for centuries been a breeding ground for Poland’s intellectual and academic elites.

The Senate stressed that the history of the Jagiellonian University has been inseparably linked with the ups and downs in the history of the Polish nation, as evidenced by the arrest by the Germans, in November 1939, of its 184 professors and their deportation to concentration camps.

The Senate resolution also mentions the Jagiellonian Library and University museums as institutions of European renown.

Former alumni of the Jagiellonian University include Nicolas Copernicus, Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II, the playwright Stanislaw Wyspianski, and the poets Jan Kochanowski and Wislawa Szymborska.

A wide range of events to mark the anniversary is planned, including academic conferences, concerts, exhibitions and a grand show in the city’s Market Square.

The Jagiellonian University now has around 50, 000 students and over 3, 800 staff, including 540 professors. (mk)