On Monday, 6 May, four Poznań universities - AMU, PUMS, UPP and AWF - launched celebrations to mark the 105th anniversary of the University of Poznań. The first accent was to name one of the halls in the Collegium Minus after Prof Ludwika Dobrzyńska-Rybicka, the first woman to obtain the title of professor in the Second Polish Republic.
Prof. Dobrzyńska-Rybicka (1868-1958) played a significant part in the founding of the Wszechnica Piastowska (later the University of Poznań). As one of the first female scientists, she paved the way at universities for the next generation of educated women. She belonged to the first generation of women, who, with tremendous effort and in defiance of custom and law, gained an academic education. She studied in Zurich, Paris, Oxford and Leuven (where women couldn't be admitted, but in this case, an exception was made, and Ludwika had an individual course of study). Academically, she was involved in the history of philosophy, ethics, psychology and later sociology. She was committed to the struggle for equal rights for women in political and professional life. She co-founded the Supreme Women's Organisation and was a member of several women's associations. Her rich legacy is stored in the Poznan branch of the Archives of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the PTPN Library. The AMU Archives hold two files relating to her employment at the University of Poznan. One of the streets in Strzeszyn in Poznań is named after Ludwika Dobrzyńska-Rybicka.
The unveiling of the plaque was accompanied by a scientific seminar entitled. '105 years of the University of Poznan; remembering the past, looking to the future. Three panels addressed the topic of women in university science and didactics in the 21st century, the future of university science and didactics, and female students at the university in the 21st century.
On 7 May, Tuesday, the highlight of the celebrations is the march of the rectorial authorities of AMU, PUMS, UPP and AWF and the university senates from ul. Mielżyńskiego through Gwarna and Św. Marcin to Mickiewicza Square, where the rectors will lay flowers at the Adam Mickiewicz monument, followed by a joint meeting of the senates of all the universities in the AMU Hall. A copy of the plaque dedicated to the first Rector of the University of Poznan, Prof. Heliodor Swiecicki, which was located in front of the entrance to the hall and disappeared during the Second World War, will also be unveiled.
Programme of the 105th anniversary celebrations: https://amu.edu.pl/105lat
Photo: Przemysław Stanula
