Jagiellonian University
Encyclopedia
For several academies alternatively called "Krakow Academy" or "Cracow University", see Education in Kraków
Education in Kraków
Higher Education in Kraków takes place in 10 university-level institutions with about 170,000 students and 10,000 faculty, as well as in a number of non-public colleges.- Public institutions of higher education :* Jagiellonian University...

.


The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great
Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great , last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Władysław I the Elbow-high and Hedwig of Kalisz.-Biography:...

 in Kazimierz
Kazimierz
Kazimierz is a historical district of Kraków , best known for being home to a Jewish community from the 14th century until the Second World War.-Early history:...

 (district of Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

). It is the oldest university in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, the second oldest university in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

 and one of the oldest universities in the world.

The university fell upon hard times when the occupation of Kraków by Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 during the Partitions of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...

 threatened its existence. In 1817, soon after the creation of the Duchy of Warsaw
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...

 the university was renamed as Jagiellonian University to commemorate Poland's Jagiellonian dynasty, which first revived the Kraków University in the past. In 2006, The Times Higher Education Supplement
The Times Higher Education Supplement
The Times Higher Education , formerly Times Higher Education Supplement , is a weekly British magazine based in London reporting specifically on news and other issues related to higher education...

 ranked Jagiellonian University as Poland's top university.

History

In the mid-14th century, King Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great , last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Władysław I the Elbow-high and Hedwig of Kalisz.-Biography:...

 realized that the nation needed a class of educated people, especially lawyers, who could codify the country's laws and administer the courts and offices. His efforts to found an institution of higher learning in Poland were rewarded when Pope Urban V
Pope Urban V
Pope Urban V , born Guillaume Grimoard, was Pope from 1362 to 1370.-Biography:Grimoard was a native of Grizac in Languedoc . He became a Benedictine and a doctor in Canon Law, teaching at Montpellier and Avignon...

 granted him permission to set up an academy in Krakow. A royal charter of foundation was issued on 12 May 1364, and a simultaneous document was issued by the City Council granting privileges to the Studium Generale
Studium Generale
Studium generale is the old customary name for a Medieval university.- Definition :There is no clear official definition of what constituted a Studium generale...

. The King provided funding for one chair in liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

, two in Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, three in Canon Law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...

 and five in Roman Law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...

, funded by a quarterly payment taken from the proceeds of the royal monopoly on the salt mines at Wieliczka
Wieliczka
-External links:***...

.
The Cracow Academy's development stalled upon the death of King Casimir, but the institution was re-founded in 1400 by King Władysław Jagiełło
Jogaila
Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...

 and his wife Saint Jadwiga
Jadwiga of Poland
Jadwiga was monarch of Poland from 1384 to her death. Her official title was 'king' rather than 'queen', reflecting that she was a sovereign in her own right and not merely a royal consort. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou, the daughter of King Louis I of Hungary and Elizabeth of...

, the daughter of the King Louis of Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. The queen donated all of her personal jewelry to the academy, allowing it to enrol 203 students. The faculties of astronomy, law and theology attracted eminent scholars: for example, Stanisław of Skarbimierz, Paweł Włodkowic, Jan of Głogów, and Albert Brudzewski
Albert Brudzewski
Albert Brudzewski, also Albert Blar , Albert of Brudzewo or Wojciech Brudzewski Albert Brudzewski, also Albert Blar (of Brudzewo), Albert of Brudzewo or Wojciech Brudzewski Albert Brudzewski, also Albert Blar (of Brudzewo), Albert of Brudzewo or Wojciech Brudzewski (in Latin, Albertus de Brudzewo;...

, who from 1491 to 1495 was one of Nicolaus Copernicus's
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....

 teachers. The university was the first university in Europe to establish independent chairs in Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

 and Astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

.

Throughout the history of the University, thousands of students from all over Poland, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 have studied there. In the second half of the 15th century, over 40% of students came from outside the Kingdom of Poland. For several centuries, virtually the entire intellectual elite of Poland was educated at the university.

The first chancellor of the University was Piotr Wysz, and the first professors were Czech
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

s, Germans and Poles, many of them trained at the Charles University in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 in Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

. By 1520 Greek philology was introduced by Constanzo Claretti and Wenzel von Hirschberg; Hebrew was also taught. The golden era of the University of Krakow took place during the Polish Renaissance, between 1500 and 1535, when it was attended by 3,215 students in the first decade of the 16th century. As the university's popularity declined in later centuries, this record was not surpassed until the late 18th century.
In 1846, after the Kraków Uprising
Kraków Uprising
The Kraków Uprising of February 1846 was an attempt, led by Edward Dembowski, to incite a Polish fight for national independence. Even though most of Poland was part of the Russian Empire, the Polish risings were conducted mainly in Prussia and in the Austrian Empire.-History:Most of the...

, the city and its university became part of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

. The threat of a closure of the University was dissipated in 1847 by the Austrian Emperor's
Ferdinand I of Austria
Ferdinand I was Emperor of Austria, President of the German Confederation, King of Hungary and Bohemia , as well as associated dominions from the death of his father, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, until his abdication after the Revolutions of 1848.He married Maria Anna of Savoy, the sixth child...

 decree to maintain it. New buildings were added, including the Collegium Novum
Collegium Novum
The Collegium Novum is the Neo-Gothic main building of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, built in 1873-1887. Based on a design by architect Feliks Księżarski to match the oldest building of the University, it was opened for the 500th anniversary of the University's foundation...

, which opened in 1887.

On November 6, 1939, following the Nazi invasion of Poland, 184 professors were arrested and deported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...

 during an operation codenamed Sonderaktion Krakau
Sonderaktion Krakau
Sonderaktion Krakau was the codename for a German operation against professors and academics from the University of Kraków and other Kraków universities at the beginning of World War II....

. The university, along with the rest of Poland's higher and secondary education, was shut down for the remainder of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The faculty was later suppressed by the Communists in 1954.

In 2000, a new complex of university buildings, the so-called Third Campus, began construction; completion is planned for 2015. Public funds earmarked for the project amounted to 946.5 million zlotys, or 240 million euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

s. The Third Campus borders the LifeScience Park managed by the Jagiellonian Centre of Innovation. In 2007, the university's administrative offices, including those of the Rector and Deans, were located in the historic Collegium Novum
Collegium Novum
The Collegium Novum is the Neo-Gothic main building of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, built in 1873-1887. Based on a design by architect Feliks Księżarski to match the oldest building of the University, it was opened for the 500th anniversary of the University's foundation...

.

Notable alumni

  • Saint John Cantius
    John Cantius
    Saint John Cantius was a renowned Polish priest, Scholastic philosopher, physicist and theologian. He is also known as John of Kanty or John of Kanti.-Biography:...

     1390–1473. Scholastic; theologian
  • Jan Długosz 1415–1480; historian
  • Laurentius Corvinus
    Laurentius Corvinus
    Laurentius Corvinus was a Silesian scholar who lectured as an ‘extraordinary’ professor at the University of Krakow when Nicolaus Copernicus began to study there...

     1465–1527; humanist
    Renaissance humanism
    Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...

    ; lecturer at the University
  • Nicolaus Copernicus
    Nicolaus Copernicus
    Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....

     1473–1543; astronomer; promoter of heliocentrism
    Heliocentrism
    Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism, is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a stationary Sun at the center of the universe. The word comes from the Greek . Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center...

  • Francysk Skaryna 1485?–1540?; pioneer of the Old Belarusian language
    Old Belarusian language
    Old Belarusian was a historic East Slavic language, written and spoken at least in the 14th–17th century, and reported spoken as late as the very beginning of the 19th century, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the East Slavic territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, probably...

     (historically Old Lithuanian Language
    Old Belarusian language
    Old Belarusian was a historic East Slavic language, written and spoken at least in the 14th–17th century, and reported spoken as late as the very beginning of the 19th century, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the East Slavic territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, probably...

    ); first to print a book in an Eastern Slavic language (1517 in Prague
    Prague
    Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

    )
  • Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
    Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
    Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski was a Polish Renaissance scholar, humanist and theologian, called "the father of Polish democracy." His book De Republica emendanda was widely read and praised across most of Renaissance Europe.-Life:Modrzewski was born in Wolbórz Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski (ca....

     1503?–1572; diplomat; political thinker; religious thinker
  • Marcin Kromer
    Marcin Kromer
    Marcin Kromer or Martin Cromer was Prince-Bishop of Warmia , a cartographer, diplomat and historian in Poland and later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...

     1512–1589; historian; Prince-
    Prince-Bishop
    A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...

    Bishop of Warmia
  • Jan Kochanowski
    Jan Kochanowski
    Jan Kochanowski was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language.He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz, and the greatest Slavic poet, prior to the 19th century.-Life:Kochanowski was born at...

     1530–1584; Polish nominal poet
    Polish literature
    Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages, used in Poland over the centuries, have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Yiddish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German and...

  • Bartosz Paprocki
    Bartosz Paprocki
    Bartholomew Paprocki was a Polish and Czech writer, historiographer, translator, poet, herald and pioneer in the Polish and Czech genealogy.-Biography:...

     c.1543 – 1614; writer; historiographer; translator; poet; genealogist
  • Stanisław Koniecpolski 1590?–1646; military commander; military politician; Grand Hetman of the Crown
  • John III Sobieski 1629–1696; military leader; monarch of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
    Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
    The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...

    ; victor of the Battle of Vienna
    Battle of Vienna
    The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...

  • Wincenty Pol
    Wincenty Pol
    Wincenty Pol was a Polish poet and geographer.-Life:Pol was born in Lublin , to Franz Pohl , a German in the Austrian service, and his wife Eleonora Longchamps de Berier, from a French family living in Poland. Pol fought in the Polish army in the November 1830 Uprising and participated in the 1848...

     1807–1872; poet; geographer
  • Ignacy Łukasiewicz 1822 – 1882; pharmacist
    Pharmacist
    Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...

    ; deviser of the first method of distilling kerosene
    Kerosene
    Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...

     from seep oil
    Oil
    An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

  • Carl Menger
    Carl Menger
    Carl Menger was the founder of the Austrian School of economics, famous for contributing to the development of the theory of marginal utility, which contested the cost-of-production theories of value, developed by the classical economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo.- Biography :Menger...

     1840–1921; economist; lawyer; founder of the Austrian School
    Austrian School
    The Austrian School of economics is a heterodox school of economic thought. It advocates methodological individualism in interpreting economic developments , the theory that money is non-neutral, the theory that the capital structure of economies consists of heterogeneous goods that have...

     of economics
  • Karol Olszewski
    Karol Olszewski
    Karol Stanisław Olszewski was a Polish chemist, mathematician and physicist.-Life:Olszewski was a graduate of Kazimierz Brodziński High School in Tarnów . He studied at Kraków's Jagiellonian University in the departments of mathematics and physics, and chemistry and biology...

     1846–1915; physicist; chemist; the first to liquefy oxygen
    Oxygen
    Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

    , nitrogen
    Nitrogen
    Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...

     and carbon dioxide
    Carbon dioxide
    Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

     from the atmosphere
  • Wacław Sierpiński 1882–1969; mathematician
  • Bronisław Malinowski 1884–1942; anthropologist
  • Oskar Halecki
    Oskar Halecki
    Oskar Halecki was a Polish historian, social and Catholic activist.As a historian, Halecki was an expert on medieval history of Poland and Lithuania, and history of Byzantine Empire....

     1891–1973; historian, social and Catholic activist
  • Ivo Andric
    Ivo Andric
    Ivan "Ivo" Andrić was a Yugoslav novelist, short story writer, and the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His writings dealt mainly with life in his native Bosnia under the Ottoman Empire...

     1892–1975; Nobel laureate
  • Henryk Sławik 1894–1944; diplomat; designator of a Righteous Among the Nations
    Righteous Among the Nations
    Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

     for the rescue of Jews
    Jews
    The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

     in World War II
    World War II
    World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

     Hungary
    Hungary
    Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

  • Tadeusz Pankiewicz
    Tadeusz Pankiewicz
    Tadeusz Pankiewicz , was a Polish Roman Catholic pharmacist, operating in the Kraków Ghetto during the Nazi German occupation of Poland...

     1908–1993; pharmacist; Righteous Among the Nations
    Righteous Among the Nations
    Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

     who aided Jews in the Kraków Ghetto
    Kraków Ghetto
    The Kraków Ghetto was one of five major, metropolitan Jewish ghettos created by Nazi Germany in the General Government territory for the purpose of persecution, terror, and exploitation of Polish Jews during the German occupation of Poland in World War II...

  • Józef Cyrankiewicz
    Józef Cyrankiewicz
    Józef Cyrankiewicz was a Polish Socialist, after 1948 Communist political figure. He served as premier of the People's Republic of Poland between 1947 and 1952, and again between 1954 and 1970...

     1911–1989; communist politician; prime minister of Poland 1947–1970
  • George Zarnecki
    George Zarnecki
    George Jerzy Zarnecki, CBE, FBA, FSA was a Polish-English Professor of Art history. He was a scholar of Medieval art and English Romanesque sculpture, an area of study where he did pioneering research....

     1915–2008; art historian specializing in English Romanesque art
    Romanesque art
    Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...

  • Antoni Kępiński
    Antoni Kepinski
    Antoni Kępiński was a Polish psychiatrist.He attended the Bartłomiej Nowodworski High School. In 1936 he entered the Medical Faculty of the Jagiellonian University. In 1939, he interrupted his studies before graduation and volunteered for the Polish Army to defend his country from the German...

     1918–1972; psychiatrist
  • Pope John Paul II
    Pope John Paul II
    Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

     (Karol Wojtyła) 1920–2005
  • Zbigniew Czajkowski
    Zbigniew Czajkowski
    Zbigniew Czajkowski is a fencing coach. Czajkowski has been dubbed "Father of the Polish School" of fencing. He has been coach to many champions, including Egon Franke - the first Pole to earn an Olympic gold medal in fencing....

     ("Father of the Polish School of fencing") b. 1921
  • Stanisław Lem 1921–2006; writer
  • Bohdan Lepky
    Bohdan Lepky
    Bohdan Lepky, pen name: Marko Murava was a prominent Ukrainian writer, poet, scholar, public figure, artist and patriot.It seems symbolic today that the future writer was born on November 9, 1872, in the picturesque village of Zhukiv, in the same house where the famous Polish insurgent Bogdan...

    ; writer
  • Wisława Szymborska b. 1923; poet; 1996 Nobel laureate in Literature
    Nobel Prize in Literature
    Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...

  • Norman Davies
    Norman Davies
    Professor Ivor Norman Richard Davies FBA, FRHistS is a leading English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland, and the United Kingdom.- Academic career :...

     b. 1939; British
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

     historian
  • Krzysztof Zanussi
    Krzysztof Zanussi
    Krzysztof Zanussi, is a Polish producer and film director.He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop...

     b. 1939; film director
  • Leo Sternbach
    Leo Sternbach
    Leo Henryk Sternbach was a Polish-Jewish chemist who is credited with discovering benzodiazepines, main class of tranquilizers.-Biography:...

     1908–2005; chemist; inventor of the benzodiazepine
    Benzodiazepine
    A benzodiazepine is a psychoactive drug whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring...

  • Paulo Szot
    Paulo Szot
    Paulo Szot is a Brazilian opera baritone singer and actor. In 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Emile De Becque in a revival of South Pacific. He won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance in the musical, becoming the first Brazilian to receive...

     born c. 1970; opera singer; Broadway musical theatre actor
  • Bat-Erdeniin Batbayar born c. 1954 politician, political analyst and writer.
  • Kazimierz Papée
    Kazimierz Papée
    Dr. Kazimierz Papée was the ambassador from Poland to the Holy See from 1939 to 1958, during and after World War II...

     1889 – 1979; Polish Ambassador to the Holy See 1939–1958
  • Andrzej Łobaczewski
    Andrzej Łobaczewski
    Andrzej Łobaczewski was a Polish psychiatrist who synthesized the research of a group of underground Eastern European scientists that included Kazimierz Dąbrowski, Stefan Szuman, and Stefan Blachowski, among many other anonymous contributors...

     1921 – 2007; psychologist who studied totalitarianism and ponerology
    Ponerology
    Ponerology is the name given by Polish psychiatrist Andrzej Łobaczewski to an interdisciplinary study of the causes of periods of social injustice. This discipline makes use of data from psychology, sociology, philosophy, and history to account for such phenomena as aggressive war, ethnic...

  • Czeslaw Olech b. 1931; mathematician
  • Mietek Pemper
    Mietek Pemper
    Mieczysław "Mietek" Pemper was a Polish-born German Holocaust survivor. Pemper helped compile and type Oskar Schindler's now-famous list, which saved 1,200 people from being killed in the Holocaust during World War II....

     1920 – 2011; studied Law; Holocaust survivor who compiled Schindler's list

Notable professors

  • Stanisław of Skarbimierz (1360–1431), rector, theologian, lawyer
  • Paweł Włodkowic (1370–1435), lawyer, diplomat and politician, representative of Poland on the Council of Constance
    Council of Constance
    The Council of Constance is the 15th ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418. The council ended the Three-Popes Controversy, by deposing or accepting the resignation of the remaining Papal claimants and electing Pope Martin V.The Council also condemned and...

  • Albert Brudzewski
    Albert Brudzewski
    Albert Brudzewski, also Albert Blar , Albert of Brudzewo or Wojciech Brudzewski Albert Brudzewski, also Albert Blar (of Brudzewo), Albert of Brudzewo or Wojciech Brudzewski Albert Brudzewski, also Albert Blar (of Brudzewo), Albert of Brudzewo or Wojciech Brudzewski (in Latin, Albertus de Brudzewo;...

     (1445–1497), astronomer and mathematician
  • Maciej Miechowita
    Maciej Miechowita
    Maciej Miechowita was a Polish renaissance scholar, professor of Jagiellonian University, historian, chronicler, geographer, medical doctor , alchemist, astrologist and canon in Cracow.He studied at the...

     (1457–1523), historian, chronicler, geographer, medic
  • Jan Brożek
    Jan Brozek
    Jan Brożek was a Polish polymath: a mathematician, astronomer, physician, poet, writer, musician and rector of the Kraków Academy.-Life:...

     (1585–1652), mathematician, physician and astronomer
  • Henryk Jordan
    Henryk Jordan
    Henryk Jordan , was a Polish philanthropist, physician and pioneer of physical education in Poland...

     (1842–1907), professor of obstetrics
    Obstetrics
    Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...

  • Walery Jaworski
    Walery Jaworski
    Walery Jaworski , was one of the pioneers of gastroenterology in Poland.In 1899 he described bacteria living in the human stomach that he named "Vibrio rugula". He speculated that they were responsible for stomach ulcers, gastric cancer and achylia. It was one of the first observations of...

     (1849–1924), gastroenterologist
  • Władysław Natanson (1864–1937), physicist
  • Stanisław Estreicher (1869–1939), founder of the Jagiellonian University Museum
  • Tadeusz Estreicher
    Tadeusz Estreicher
    Tadeusz Estreicher was an Austrian-born Polish chemist, historian and cryogenics pioneer who spent most of his career in Austria and the German Empire.-Life:...

     (1871–1952), pioneer in cryogenics
    Cryogenics
    In physics, cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. A person who studies elements under extremely cold temperature is called a cryogenicist. Rather than the relative temperature scales of Celsius and Fahrenheit,...

  • Marian Smmhowski (1872–1917), pioneer of statistical physics
    Statistical physics
    Statistical physics is the branch of physics that uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approximations, in solving physical problems. It can describe a wide variety of fields with an inherently stochastic...

  • Bohdan Lepky
    Bohdan Lepky
    Bohdan Lepky, pen name: Marko Murava was a prominent Ukrainian writer, poet, scholar, public figure, artist and patriot.It seems symbolic today that the future writer was born on November 9, 1872, in the picturesque village of Zhukiv, in the same house where the famous Polish insurgent Bogdan...

     (1872–1941), literature
  • Stanisław Kutrzeba (1876–1946), rector, General Secretary of the Polish Academy of Learning
    Polish Academy of Learning
    The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning , headquartered in Kraków, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of sciences....

  • Andrzej Gawroński
    Andrzej Gawronski
    Andrzej Gawroński was a Polish Indologist, linguist and polyglot...

     (1885–1927), founder of the Polish Oriental Society
    Polish Oriental Society
    Polish Oriental Society a society of Polish orientalists. Founded in 1922. Currently 131 members. Its statutory aims are: to contribute to the development of oriental studies in Poland through research and support of research on peoples of Asia and Africa. President: Marek Mejor.Address: 00-927...

    , master of Sanskrit
    Sanskrit
    Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

  • Stanisław Kot (1885–1975), historian and politician
  • Tadeusz Sulimirski
    Tadeusz Sulimirski
    Tadeusz Sulimirski was a Polish-born historian and archaeologist, who emigrated to the United Kingdom soon after the outbreak of World War II in 1939. He is best known for his works on the ancient Sarmatians....

     (1898–1983), historian and archaeologist, experts on the ancient Sarmatians
    Sarmatians
    The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....

  • Stanisław Smreczyński(1899–1975) zoologist.
  • Henryk Niewodniczański
    Henryk Niewodniczanski
    Henryk Niewodniczański was a Polish physicist, professor at the Jagiellonian University and the creator and director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Cracow....

     (1900–1968), physicist

Enrollment

As of 2008, the university has 52,445 students (including 1,612 degree students from abroad) and 3,657 academic staff. About 1,130 international non-degree students were enrolled in 2007. Programmes of study are offered in 48 disciplines and 93 specialisations. The university has an exchange program with The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...

 and its Columbus School of Law
Columbus School of Law
The Columbus School of Law, also known as CUA Law, is the law school of The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C..Over 900 Juris Doctor students attend CUA Law. Incoming classes are typically composed of two to three hundred students, including day and night programs. Around 3,500...

. It also hosts a "semester-abroad" program with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
The University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point is a public university located in Stevens Point, Wisconsin...

 and the University of Guelph
University of Guelph
The University of Guelph, also known as U of G, is a comprehensive public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College, the Macdonald Institute, and the Ontario Veterinary College...

.

Library

The university's Jagiellonian Library
Jagiellonian Library
Jagiellonian Library is the library of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and with almost 6.7 million volumes, one of the biggest libraries in Poland, serving as a public library, university library and part of the Polish national library system...

 (Biblioteka Jagiellońska) is one of Poland's largest, with almost 6.5 million volumes. It has a large collection of medieval manuscripts, including Copernicus'
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....

 De Revolutionibus
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus...

 and the Balthasar Behem Codex
Balthasar Behem Codex
The Balthasar Behem Codex is a collection of the privileges and statutes of the city of Kraków. Compiled in 1505, the codex was named for the chancellor at the time, Balthasar Behem. The book's text is in Latin...

.

The library also has an extensive collection of underground political literature (so-called drugi obieg or samizdat
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...

) from Poland's period of Communist rule between 1945 and 1989.

Departments

The university is divided into 15 faculties:
  • Law and Administration
    Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University
    Faculty of Law and Administration is the oldest unit of the Jagiellonian University. In 1364, when the University was established, 8 out of 11 chairs were devoted to legal sciences. At the beginning only courses in Canon Law and Roman Law were available...

  • Medicine
    Jagiellonian university medical college
    Latin : Universitas Jagellonica Cracoviensis Motto Plus ratio quam vis Established 1364 University Jagiellonian University School Type Public Rector Prof...

  • Pharmacy and Medical Analysis
  • Health Care
  • Philosophy
  • History
  • Philology
  • Polish Language and Literature
  • Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science
  • Mathematics and Computer Science
  • Chemistry
  • Biology and Earth Sciences
  • Management and Social Communication
  • International and Political Studies
  • Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology

Student associations

In 1851, the university's first student scientific association was founded. Now, over 70 student scientific associations exist at the Jagiellonian University. Usually, their purpose is to promote students' scientific achievements by organizing lecture sessions, science excursion
Excursion
An excursion is a trip by a group of people, usually made for leisure, education, or physical purposes. It is often an adjunct to a longer journey or visit to a place, sometimes for other purposes....

s, and international student conferences, such as the International Workshop for Young Mathematicians, which is organized by the Zaremba Association of Mathematicians.

The links below provide further information on student activities at the Jagiellonian:

See also

  • Collegium Maius
    Collegium Maius
    The Collegium Maius , in Kraków, Poland, is the Jagiellonian University's oldest building, dating back to the 15th century. It stands at the corner of ulica Jagiellońska and ulica Świętej Anny The Collegium Maius (Latin for "Great College"), in Kraków, Poland, is the Jagiellonian University's...

  • Collegium Novum
    Collegium Novum
    The Collegium Novum is the Neo-Gothic main building of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, built in 1873-1887. Based on a design by architect Feliks Księżarski to match the oldest building of the University, it was opened for the 500th anniversary of the University's foundation...

  • Collegium Witkowski
    Collegium Witkowski
    The Collegium Witkowski , in Kraków, Poland, is a Jagiellonian University building erected in 1908-11. It stands at ulica Gołębia 13 and was named for physicist and Jagiellonian University rector August Witkowski....

  • Jagiellonian Library
    Jagiellonian Library
    Jagiellonian Library is the library of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and with almost 6.7 million volumes, one of the biggest libraries in Poland, serving as a public library, university library and part of the Polish national library system...

  • List of medieval universities
  • Nawojka
    Nawojka
    Nawojka was a legendary medieval Polish woman known to have dressed as a boy in order to study at the University of Krakow in the 15th century. She later became a nun. She is considered to be the first female student and teacher in Poland.-Overview:...

    , the university's legendary first female student from the 15th century
  • Sonderaktion Krakau
    Sonderaktion Krakau
    Sonderaktion Krakau was the codename for a German operation against professors and academics from the University of Kraków and other Kraków universities at the beginning of World War II....

    , a Nazi German operation against professors and academics from the University of Kraków
  • John Wolcot
    John Wolcot
    John Wolcot , satirist, born in Dodbrooke, near Kingsbridge in Devon, was educated by an uncle, and studied medicine. In 1767 he went as physician to Sir William Trelawny, Governor of Jamaica, and whom he induced to present him to a Church in the island then vacant, and was ordained in 1769...

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