Powstanie i działalność Katedry Historii Nauki i Oświaty w latach (1945) 1957–1970

Abstract

The establishment of the Department of the History of Science and Education at the Jagiellonian University in 1956 took 11 years of efforts and attempts by the university authorities and Krakow historians of culture, education and science to develop these directions of research at the oldest Polish research center. The pre-WW2 chair was vacant because Professor Stanisław Kot took the position of the ambassador in Rome and after the communists had gained full power in Poland, he could not return to the country. The chairs of Barycz and Hulewicz began operating in 1946, but in 1947 the communist authorities decided to eliminate them. The implementation of these decisions, however, was not carried out immediately as it was delayed in the case of Barycz’s chair until 1949, and in the case of Hulewicz’s until 1953. It was not until 1956 that the thaw allowed the authorities of the Jagiellonian University to restore the closed departments as a single one under the name of the Department of the History of Science and Education, consisting of two seminars. The author discusses the organizational structure, composition, research results, and teaching activities of the Department’s employees.