THE HISTORY OF POLISH ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Chronological board

22 VIII 1891: during the Congress of Polish Physicians and Naturalists in Kraków Seweryn Udziela presented the project to create the Ethnological Society. This initiative failed to come into fruition

1893: attempt to establish the Ethnological Society in Lviv, by Mikołaj Rybowski et al., I-R (Imperial-Royal in reference to Austro-Hungarian) Galician Governorship rejected the draft of the statute

22 VII 1894: Congress of Polish Writers and Journalists in Lviv (at the General National Exhibition), stated the idea behind Ethnological Society. The initiator was prof. dr. Antoni Kalina

19 VIII 1894: Ethnological Society statute was approved by rescript by I-R Galician Governorship

9 II 1895: at the Town Hall in Lviv the Ethnological Society held its first General Assembly. The first president was Antoni Kalina and secretary Adolf Strzelecki

28 February 1895: First scientific meeting "in the hall of geographical lectures at the University", where Dr. Iwan Franko gave a lecture On contemporary directions in ethnology. The lecture hall held about 40 people - members of the Society and guests

16 III 1895: Ethnological Society established contacts with the Society of Education

30 October 1895: the Ethnological Society appointed members correspondents: prof. dr. Władysław Nehring (Wrocław), prof. dr. Alexander Brückner (Berlin), Jan Witort (Poniewież), dr. Lubor Niederlego, Frantisek Řehoř and dr. Čenk Zibrt (Prague) and dr. Michael Haberlandt (Vienna)

30 XII 1895: ES appointed members correspondents: Frantisek Bartos (Brno), dr. Klemens Koehler and dr. Władysław Łebiński (Poznań) and prof. dr. Jiri Polivka (Prague)

1895: the first volume of the "People" (pol. “Lud”) was issued. Second book of the "People" was offered to Jan Karłowicz, one of the founders, in recognition of 25 years of work in the field of Polish ethnology

21 I 1896: attendance of delegated members of the ES in the General Congress of the Pedagogical Society in Stryj

23 I 1897: Third General Assembly of the ES. Antoni Kalina re-elected as president. Kazimierz Gorzycki was appointed as Secretary.

1 III 1897: changes in the ES statute enacted during the Third General Assembly approved by rescript of I-R Governorship

1897: questionnaires regarding Easter eggs were arranged and printed in Polish and Ukrainian, and were sent in the spring of 1897 in the number of 2,720 units to 1,200 villages

19 May 1897: Dr. Ivan Franko and his wife Olga leave the Ethnological Society

June 19, 1897: ES delegates Ludwik Pierzchała, Kornel Jaworski and Edmund Kolbuszowski to the General Assembly of the Pedagogical Society

13 X 1897: ES appointed prof. dr. Adolf Černý from Prague as correspondent member

November 20, 1897: Regulations enacted for branches of Ethnological Society

3 XII 1897: prof. Ludwik Młynek founded a branch of ES in Buczacz

January 29, 1898: a resolution was adopted to make Ethnological Society library available for the members of the Society

April 5, 1898: Seweryn Udziela founded a branch of ES in Wieliczka

4 XII 1898: ES established a branch in Krakow; Jan Świętek is appointed its chairman

12 III 1899: ES branch of the Tartars in the Hutsul region is founded by Józef Schnaider

13 III 1899: prof. Ludwik Młynek founded a branch of ES in Tarnów

13 I 1900: ES establishes branch in Chrzanów; Bronisław Gustawicz is appointed its chairman

February 10, 1900: a lecture by Stanisław Eljasz-Radzikowski in Lviv: Of Zakopane Style

June 4-6, 1900: ES participates in the Third Congress of Polish Historians in Kraków

1900: the 6th yearbook "People" announces the search for and printed short questionnaires regarding children rhymes and games for children (Franciszek Krček), sources of medicinal character in folklore (Stanisław Eljasz-Radzikowski), a questionnaire about Kazimierz - the “peasant” king (M. Rawicz-Witanowski), on popular local names in the Chrzanów district, and April Fool’s Day (Bronisław Gustawicz) and an appeal of ethnologists to photographers (according to Michael Haberlandt it was put forward by Franciszek Krček)

1901: “Folklor” - a handbook for those dealing with ethnology was published with the efforts of Ethnological Society (ed. George L. Gomme, polish ed. Stanisław Eljasz-Radzikowski, translated by Wojciech Szukiewicz)

October 26, 1901: Chairman of the Kraków branch of ES Jan Świętek resigned from membership in the Society

April 12, 1902: at a meeting of the Board it was "enacted to request a return of the collection of former Buczacz and Wieliczka branches"

April 20, 1902: Seweryn Udziela established a branch of ES at Podgórze near Krakow (The Board of Ethnological Society approved it on June 7, 1902)

14 VI 1903: Jan Karłowicz died - one of the founders and the first honorary member of the Ethnological Society

30 and 1904: the "People" yearly was transferred to Kraków, into the hands of prof. dr. Karol Potkański and Seweryn Udziela

February 1905: an exhibition of folk art from the Sącz region in the Industrial Museum in Lviv (from the collection of Seweryn Udziela with drawings and watercolors of F. Taroni, M. Guńkiewicz, H. Zajączkowski and M. Pruskówna)

1 V 1905: a room was rented in order to store ethnographic collections, books and magazines of Ethnological Society

10 - June 11 1905: XI General Assembly of Ethnological Society. Antoni Kalina, the retiring president of ES, was given honorary membership. Prof. dr. Józef Kallenbach appointed the new president. The General Assembly entrusted Jan Świętek with the task of revival and organization of Kraków branch. Meeting was accompanied by a scientific session and ethnographic exhibition. "Congress believes that ‘Wisła’ should not fail"

3 V 1906: co-founder and first president of the Ethnological Society prof. Dr. Antoni Kalina died in Lviv

13 XII 1906: ES president Joseph Kallenbach resigns as editor of the "People". The vice president of the Society prof. Dr. Wilhelm Bruchnalski becomes the new editor of the magazine

16 VIII 1907: prof. Dr. Karol Potkański, historian, ethnographer, co-editor of "People" died (yearbooks 10-11)

November 1910: Seweryn Udziela published in the "People" (vol. 16, 1910, pp. 328-330) questionnaires about folk songs and music. The results of the research have come to develop a collective study entitled Das Volkslied in Österreich

1910: dr. Adam Fischer became the editor of "People"

June 1911: XVI General Assembly of Ethnological Society (the last before World War I)

23 XII 1913: Stefan Ramułt died, co-founder of the Ethnological Society, a member of the Board in the years 1895-1899, an expert of Kashubian dialects

1913: the seat of Ethnological Society was moved from Św. Michała Street 5 to the premises "Bojkot" club, then, because of lack of money for rent, to the private apartment of Adam Fischer. At the end of 1913 years the library and collections were transferred to the Anthropological Institute of the University of Jan Kazimierz

1914: Wladyslaw Kosinski died, a pioneer of modern folklore sciences, an associate of the "People"

12 III 1916: Francis Krček died, linguist and folklorist, one of the founders of ES

28 V 1916: Ivan Franko died, one of the founders of ES

1916: prof. dr. Jan Czekanowski and dr. Adam Fischer reactivated Ethnological Society in Lviv (lack of activity, from mid-1911 there appeared only two volumes of "the People")

June 9, 1917: the scientific meetings of ES were resumed with a reading from prof. dr. Kazimierz Nitsch: Dialectology and material folk culture in the light of chosen examples

1917: Bronislaw Gustawicz died, ethnographer and folklorist, founder of the Chrzanów branch of Ethnological Society

June 30, 1917: XVII General Assembly of the Ethnological Society. Prof. dr. Wilhelm Bruchnalski appointed new President, prof. Dr. Jan Czekanowski was appointed Vice-president, Dr. Adam Fischer took the role of Secretary

1919: the Ethnological Society received membership of the Association of Polish Scientific Societies in Lviv

1921: "People" became part of the Polish Ethnological Society, still published by the Ethnological Society. Forthcoming, 21st annual "People" book was also the first volume of the "New Series". The volume marked the change in the character of "People"

31 Oct 1922: Szymon Matusiak diad, dialect scholar and folklorist, editor of "People" in the years 1908-1915

January 1925: Library of the Ethnological Society was deposited in the Department of Ethnology of University of Jan Kazimierz, thus obtaining a permanent seat

12 V 1926: XVIII General Assembly of the ES. Prof. dr. Jan Czekanowski was appointed new president. Aleksander Brückner, Lubor Niederlego and Seweryn Udzieli became honorary members. A resolution was passed to devote the Library of Ethnological Society to the Department of Ethnology of UJK in perpetual deposit

June 3, 1926: Jan Świętek, founder of the Kraków branch of ES died

2 XII 1928: Stanisław Zdziarski died, Polish philologist, slavist and folklorist, secretary of ES in the years 1899-1904

27 May 1930: Stanisław Ciszewski died, Professor of Ethnology at the University of Lviv in the academic year 1910-1911, member of the Board of Ethnological Society in the years 1911-1917, member of the Polish Society of Ethnologists

24 I 1931: William Pessler’s lecture: Die Geographische Methode in der Volkskunde, at a joint meeting of the Geographical and Ethnological Societies in Lviv

1932: Szymon Gonet, a prominent folklorist and an associate of the "People" since 1896 died

24 June 1934: XIX General Assembly of Ethnological Society in the seminar room of the Department of Ethnology of University of Jan Kazimierz. Prof. dr. John Czekanowski and prof. dr. Adam Fischer remained respectively the President and the Secretary of ES

1934 Henryk Biegeleisen, literary historian and folklorist, founder and member of the Board of ES in the years 1895-1896 died

1934 Ethnological Society begins printing the series entitled "Ethnographic Works" by publishing the work of Seweryn Udziela The Lemko land half a century ago

1934 Ethnological Society Library (deposited at the Department of Ethnology of UJK) lists at that time a collection of 1,519 works, including 340 magazines. "People" is exchanged for 62 domestic and 152 foreign related institutions

26 Sep 1937: Seweryn Udziela died, co-founder of Ethnological Society of branches in Wieliczka and Podgórze, honorary member of the ES, the editor of "People", the creator of the Ethnographic Museum in Kraków

4 April 1939: XX General Assembly of ES in Lviv. Prof. dr. Jan Czekanowski reappointed as the President, and prof. dr. Adam Fischer reappointed as Secretary

24 V 1939: prof. dr. Aleksander Brückner, an associate of the "People", honorary member of the ES died

28 VIII 1941: Ludwik Młynek, a teacher, ethnographer and folklorist, founder of branches in Buczacz and Tarnów died

22 XII 1943: prof. dr. Adam Fischer, a longtime secretary of Ethnological Society and editor of "People" died in Lviv

12 October 1945: the first post-war meeting of Ethnological Society in Lublin; present were: prof. Jan Czekanowski, Jan Mydlarski, Leon Halban and Józef Gajek, who was entrusted with the role of the Secretary

November 22, 1945: XXI General Assembly of Ethnological Society in Lublin elected its Board: President - Kazimierz Moszyński, Vice-presidents - Jan Czekanowski and Leon Halban, Secretary - Józef Gajek

24-25 I 1947: XXII General Assembly of Ethnological Society in Lublin saw the change of the organization name to the Polish Ethnological Society and made major changes in the methods of performing Society's activities. Prof. dr. Kazimierz Nitsch was appointed an honorary member

4 II 1947: First General Meeting of the branch of Polish Ethnological Society in Mszana Dolna

15 III 1947: Kraków branch of PES resumed its activity

18 III 1947: the authorities of the city of Toruń approved a branch of PES

March 22-23, 1947: conference on the problem of implementation of the Polish Ethnographic Atlas

May 23, 1947: the statute of Polish Ethnological Society was approved

1947: Ethnographic Guidance Centre of PES was established by the Seminar of Slavic Ethnography of Jagiellonian University, serving teachers and young people "with advisory assistance and their collection of books"

1947: publishing of the first volume of the series "Ethnological Works" (T. Milewski, Outline of general linguistics (pol. Zarys językoznawstwa ogólnego). Part I - The theory of linguistics)

9-10 April, 1948: XXIII General Assembly of PES in Kraków, prof. Kazimierz Moszyński gave a lecture Critical Evolutionism compared to other fields of ethnology ("People", vol. 38, 1948, pp. 3-27). Prof. Franciszek Bujak, prof. Leopold Węgrzynowicz and prof. Franciszek Popiołek became honorary members of the Society

1948: PES sent out a questionnaire concerning collecting of wild edible plants

1948: PES has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Culture and Art on the issuance of "Atlas of Polish Traditional Costumes"

11-14 VI, 1949: XXIV General Assembly of Polish Ethnological Society in Toruń

October 25, 1949: at a meeting of the Board of PES it was approved to establish a Silesian branch of PES

1949: "Atlas of Polish Traditional Costumes" first issue is published (Roman Reinfuss, Dress of Highlanders from Szczawnica)

10 V 1950: meeting of the Executive Committee of Main Board of PES, the secretary - prof. dr. Joseph Gajek announced the establishment of a branch in Łódz. Prof. dr. Kazimiera Zawistowicz-Adamska became president of this branch (she served this function until 23 V 1970).

15-17 June 1950: XXV General Assembly of PES in Poznań. Prof. Kazimierz Moszyński has been chosen again to serve as President, and prof. dr. Józef Gajka to serve as Secretary

Before September 29, 1951 prof. Dr. Boleslaw Olszewicz proposed dissolution of the Wroclaw branch of PES to the Board of the city of Wrocław

24-25 November 1951: The XXVI General Assembly of PES in Łódź; it was decided to transfer the seat of PES to Poznań

1951: The PES branch in Katowice undertook research on the culture of professional groups

1951: a new publishing series of PES was created: "The Ethnographic Archive"

1951: prof. Leopold Węgrzynowicz proposed to establish a branch of PES in Limanowa

1 I 1952: the central seat of PES was moved to Poznań (work was undertaken on 1 II 1952).

Beginning of 1952: prof. Jerzy Pogonowski reactivated the Wrocław branch of PES

March 21-23, 1952: A conference of PES in Krakow, devoted to the preparation of field research on agriculture and livestock for the regional monographs and Polish Ethnographic Atlas

June 4-6, 1952: A conference of PES in Poznań on indexing ethnographic and folklore magazines (instructions for indexing were developed)

16-18 V 1952: XXVII General Assembly of PES in Katowice (Stalinogród). Approved the establishment of the Sudety branch in Jelenia Gora

10 XII 1952: a group of people from Limanowa filed a statement of establishing a branch of PES

5 - June 7, 1953: XXVIII General Assembly of PTL in Wroclaw. Prof. dr. Józef Gajek was appointed President and doc. dr. Adolf Nasz Secretary of PES, it was enacted to establish a branch in Warszawa

27 X 1953: as a result of the conflict between prof. Józef Gajek and prof. Eugeniusz Frankowski the authorities of University the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań require the Society to leave the premises of the Department of Ethnography of the University. Following this PES moved to Wroclaw (at the invitation of the rector of the University of Wrocław, prof. dr. Jan Mydlarski)

1953: the 40th volume of the "People" was published, which indexed the previous 39 editions of this magazine

June 1, 1954: PES established a Mazury branch in Olsztyn

June 18-19, 1954: XXIX General Assembly of PES in Jelenia Góra and Kolberg Session. The decision was made to prepare an offset reissue of the complete works of Oskar Kolberg and release the previously unpublished materials. Four new branches were approved: Tatra (Zakopane), Mazury (Olsztyn), Limanowa and Warszawa

July 1954: Academy of Sciences approved the plan developed by PES to reissue the works of Oskar Kolberg and prepare the non-edited works for press

16 I 1955: a new series was created: "The Popular Scientific Library" edited by Kazimiera Zawistowicz-Adamska

April 1955: section I of Polish Academy of Sciences withdrew from the agreement with PES to reissue the works of Oskar Kolberg

autumn 1955: a branch of PES was established in Walbrzych (before June 1952 there was only a sub-branch of PES of Jelenia Góra)

28-30 November 1955: XXX General Assembly of PES in Warszawa

1955-1956: in Łódź there existed the Section for Popularization Knowledge (Agenda of Main Board of PES)

April 1, 1956: prof. dr. Jan Mydlarski, a longtime member and president of PES branch in Lublin, anthropologist, professor at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin and the University of Wrocław died. "Thanks to his extraordinary kindness and efforts, in accordance with the decision of the XVIII General Assembly of 1953 the Polish Ethnological Society moved to Wroclaw, quickly obtained suitable accommodation for their collections and publications"

April 9-11, 1956: Africanist Seminar in Wrocław, with participation of professors Jan Czekanowski, Roman Stopa and Tadeusz Milewski

1956: PES held a photo contest "Yesterday and today, the Polish countryside" (on rural construction)

26-29 September 1956: XXXI General Assembly of PES and the Podhale Conference in Zakopane. Prof. dr. Tadeusz Seweryn was chosen President, prof. dr. Józef Gajka secretary, new honorary members became professors Ján Mjartan, Otakar Nahodil, Dymitr Krantzalov and Jiri Damborský (Czechoslovakia)

June 26, 1957: the Gdansk branch of PES was founded

6-8 September 1957: XXXII General Assembly of PES in Szczecin. Doc. dr. Ludvik Kunz (Brno) became the honorary member

1957: "Folk Literature" starts to be issued - the first folklore magazine in Poland. Editor prof. dr. Julian Krzyżanowski, publisher - the Warszawa branch of the Polish Ethnological Society

Chronological Board was obtained from:
The Chronicles of Polish Ethnological Society (1895-1995), ed. Zygmunt Kłodnicki
Wrocław University Press, 1997 Wrocław, pp. 171-201