Prof. Sawicki is distinguished by his fidelity to scientific truth

Prof. Stefan Sawicki is one of the most distinguished scholars of post-war Poland, and what distinguishes him above all is his loyalty to scientific truth, says literary historian Prof. Piotr Chlebowski of the Institute of Literary Studies of the Catholic University of Lublin. Prof. Sawicki associated his entire academic life, including his research dedicated to the works of Cyprian Norwid, as well as his social life with our university," added Prof. Chlebowski.

At the Rectorate of the Catholic University of Lublin on July 18, Prof. Stefan Sawicki - a theoretician and historian of literature, as well as an expert in the works of Cyprian Norwid - received the Papal Order of St. Gregory the Great, as well as the Medal of the Minister of Education and Science "Sapientia et Veritas for Merit to Polish Science."

During the decoration ceremony, the now 96-year-old Prof. Stefan Sawicki said that the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) was a great adventure and even a love in his life.

Prof. Stefan Sawicki is one of the most prominent scholars in Poland after World War II, as well as people associated with the life of the Church, but all of his scientific, as well as social, activities are connected with the Catholic University of Lublin. Professor Sawicki had already been at the Catholic University of Lublin since the second half of the 1940s, with a small break for two years to complete his studies at Jagiellonian University.

And from 1951 until his retirement in 1999, the professor devoted himself entirely to our university. Today he also participates, already less frequently, in the scientific and social life of the university, which is a specific university in the history of Poland.

What, in your opinion, most characterizes Prof. Stefan Sawicki?

What first and foremost distinguishes Professor Sawicki, is his fidelity to scientific truth and research tools, but also to the subject to which he devotes himself. Few humanist scholars in Poland after World War II can boast such fidelity and constancy in this regard. I'm thinking here especially of the years of communism, which distorted science - today this is also returning in the form of heavily subjectivized research, while Professor Sawicki was constantly faithful to objective truth. Few scholars, especially in the 1950s and a little later, could boast such fidelity.

Another issue is the areas of research that the professor undertook, which were almost considered prohibited. Here I am leaving out poetics, which was finally appreciated, but above all research on axiology in the study of literature, also research on the relationship between the sacred and literature - actually, here in Poland, he was a pioneer in this regard. And the culmination is his research on the works of Norwid, combining axiology and interest on the verge of literature and religion.

What is it about Norwid's work that so attracts researchers to this day, because you, too, professor, have devoted many years to the studies conducted at the Center for Research on the Works of Cyprian Norwid of the Catholic University of Lublin?

It is, on the one hand, the strong rooting in Christianity, Catholicism, and therefore a certain type of conservatism, and on the other hand, the quality and modernity of those approaches that Norwid proposes - they are always present, non-stop contemporary. This is literature that, although it seems to speak to us in an ancient language, does not age. In addition, it is quite complex, so it requires a lot of intellectual effort, but it also gives a lot of joy to the researcher and a lot of such satisfaction from interacting with this literature, but also with the visual arts.

Because let's not forget that Norwid is not only a writer and poet, but also a visual artist. In a sense, he is an art master, which I also think to a large extent Professor Sawicki was attracted to in his work