Dr Jakub Wojtczak from the AMU Faculty of History has discovered where the founder and first Rector of the University of Poznan, Professor Heliodor Święcicki, was born. So far, his biographers have not unambiguously confirmed whether it was Poznań or Śrem.
Controversy over Heliodor Święcicki's birthplace arose immediately after his death. His birth certificate was missing. Professor Paweł Gantkowski, in his posthumous memoir about the first Rector, published, among others, in Dziennik Poznański, identified his birthplace as Śrem.
So far, biographers of the Rector of UP have tended to confine themselves to searching for his baptismal certificate in the Śrem registers. Those who have taken Poznań as his place of birth, however, have not checked thoroughly.
Dr Wojtczak said: "These discrepancies prompted me to investigate the problem."
Dr Jakub Wojtczak of the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, found a baptismal record for the future Rector of UP in the books of the Roman Catholic parish of St Mary Magdalene in Poznan. The birth certificate of Heliodor Święcicki can be found in records held in two archives in Poznan - the Archdiocesan Archives and the State Archives.
- Not only do we learn from the document that the first Rector of the UP was born in Poznan and not in Śrem, where he spent his childhood, but we can also identify the tenement house where it happened, says Dr Wojtczak. The building is located on the corner of Garbary and Woźna Streets. The doctor's surgery run by Heliodor Święcicki's father was probably based there. We also know that the childbirth occurred at 1 p.m. on 3 July 1854.
‘The AMU researcher has also pointed to the possible circumstances of the birth of the future Rector. - "In one of the biographies of Święcicki, written by Roman Meissner, Zbigniew Słomko and Tadeusz Pisarski, the authors cited an account by Ludmila Krakowiecka, daughter of Professor Adam Wrzosek. According to her, Święcicki's birth in Poznan was a result of his parents arriving for the baptism of Aleksander Święcicki, son of Antoni (brother of Heliodor's father Tadeusz) and Michalina née Korytowska (sister of Heliodor's mother Dorota). The stagecoach journey had not benefited the pregnant woman and hence the birth in Poznan. This account is confirmed by the record of Aleksander's baptismal date in the Poznan metrical books," comments Dr Wojtczak.
Dr Jakub Wojtczak's discovery brings to an end a debate that has lasted over 100 years concerning the birthplace of the first Rector of the University of Poznan.
Photo: Martyna Płaczek