The Academy of Arts and Sciences in Krakow (1872–1918) and its Czech members (in Polish)

Abstract

The article shows that the Czech humanists formed the largest group among the foreign members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Krakow. It is mainly based on the reports of the activities of the Academy.

The Academy of Arts and Sciences in Krakow was established by transforming the Krakow Learned Society. The Statute of the newly founded Academy was approved by a decision of the Emperor Franz Joseph I on February 16, 1872. The Emperor nominated his brother Archduke Karl Ludwig as the Academy’s Protector.

The Academy was assigned to take charge of research matters related to different fields of science: philology (mainly Polish and other Slavic languages); history of literature; history of art; philosophical; political and legal sciences; history and archaeology; mathematical sciences, life sciences, Earth sciences and medical sciences. In order to make it possible for the Academy to manage so many research topics, it was divided into three classes: a philological class, a historico‑philosophical class, and a class for mathematics and natural sciences. Each class was allowed to establish its own commissions dealing with different branches of science.
The first members of the Academy were chosen from among the members of the Krakow Learned Society. It was a 12‑person group including only local members, approved by the Emperor. It was also them who elected the first President of the Academy, Józef Majer, and the Secretary General, Józef Szujski, from this group.
By the end of 1872, the organization of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Krakow was completed. It had its administration, management and three classes that were managed by the respective directors and secretaries. It also had three commissions, taken over from the Krakow Learned Society, namely: the Physiographic Commission, the Bibliographic Commission and the Linguistic Commission. At that time, the Academy had only a total of 24 active members who had the right to elect non‑ resident and foreign members. Each election had to be approved by the Emperor.
The first public plenary session of the Academy was held in May 1873. After the speeches had been delivered, a list of candidates for new members of the Academy was read out. There were five people on the list, three of which were Czech: Josef Jireček, František Palacký and Karl Rokitansky. The second on the list was – since February 18, 1860 – a correspondent member of the Krakow Learned Society, already dissolved at the time. They were approved by the Emperor Franz Joseph in his rescript of July 7, 1873.
Josef Jireček (1825–1888) became a member of the Philological Class. He was an expert on Czech literature, an ethnographer and a historian. František Palacký (1798–1876) became a member of the Historico‑Philosophical Class. The third person from this group, Karl Rokitansky (1804–1878), became a member of the Class for Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
The mere fact that the first foreigners were elected as members of the Academy was a perfect example of the criteria according to which the Academy selected its active members. From among the humanists, it accepted those researchers whose research had been linked to Polish matters and issues. That is why until the end of World War I, the Czech representatives of social sciences were the biggest group among the foreign members of the Academy. As for the members of the Class for Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the Academy invited scientists enjoying exceptional recognition in the world. These criteria were binding throughout the following years.
The Academy elected two other humanists as its members during the session held on October 31, 1877 and these were Václav Svatopluk Štulc (1814–1887) and Antonin Randa (1834–1914). Václav Svatopluk Štulc became a member of the Philological Class and Antonin Randa became a member of the Historico‑Philosophical Class.
The next Czech scholar who became a member of the Academy of Arts and Scientists in Krakow was Václav Vladivoj Tomek (1818–1905). It was the Historico‑Philosophical Class that elected him, which happened on May 2, 1881.
On May 14, 1888, the Krakow Academy again elected a Czech scholar as its active member. This time it was Jan Gebauer (1838–1907), who was to replace Václav Štulc, who had died a few months earlier.
Further Czech members of the Krakow Academy were elected at the session on December 4, 1899. This time it was again humanists who became the new members: Zikmund Winter (1846–1912), Emil Ott (1845–1924) and Jaroslav Goll (1846–1929). Two years later, on November 29, 1901, Jan Kvičala (1834–1908) and Jaromir Čelakovský (1846–1914) were elected as members of the Krakow Academy. Kvičala became a member of the Philological Class and Čelakovský – a corresponding member of the Historical‑Philosophical Class.
The next member of the Krakow Academy was František Vejdovský (1849–1939) elected by the Class for Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Six years later, a chemist, Bohuslav Brauner (1855–1935), became a member of the same Class.
The last Czech scientists who had been elected as members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Krakow before the end of the World War I were two humanists: Karel Kadlec (1865–1928) and Václav Vondrák (1859–1925).
The founding of the Czech Royal Academy of Sciences in Prague in 1890 strengthened the cooperation between Czech and Polish scientists and humanists.