Profesor Heleny Więckowskiej spojrzenie na Joachima Lelewela

Abstract

Helena Więckowska’s effort to discover and provide an insight into a great Polish scholar, Joachim Lelewel, cannot be overestimated. Helena Więckowska and Joachim Lelewel crossed their paths in 1927, when a young history graduate of University of Warsaw started to work in the recently established National Library of Poland. In the same year the collections of the Library of Rapperswil were repatriated to Warsaw. In this very place Helena Więckowska came across Joachim Lelewel’s correspondence for the first time. Fascinated by his life and oeuvre, she committed herself to exploring his achievements and literary output. For this reason, Joachim Lelewel and the Great Emigration became the central theme of Helena Więckowska’s research. She reiterated that Polish people had never appreciated the accomplishments of Lewel. Helena Więckowska proved to be a diligent and thorough researcher while exploring the facts about life and academic work of Joachim Lelewel. She published numerous articles on this topic, including multivolume work “Listy emigracyjne Joachima Lelewela" and book “Joachim Lelewel: uczony, polityk, człowiek”. Helena Więckowska belonged to the group of Polish historians who endeavored to give due credit to Joachim Lewel.