Department and Seminar of the History of Culture at the Jagiellonian University 1920-1934

The centenary of the establishment of the first Department of History of the Polish Culture at the Jagiellonian University is a good opportunity to recall the scientific achievements in this discipline. In Krakow, in the second half of the nineteenth century, research on history of education, literature and culture was conducted at the Academy of Arts and Sciences and at the Jagiellonian University. However, it was not until Stanisław Kot’s scientific activity and his appointment as an associate professor that the chair in History of the Polish Culture at the Jagiellonian University was created in 1920. His seminar on the history of culture had enjoyed significant popularity and was attended by many students. In the years 1925–1939 he promoted 22 doctors and four of his students obtained a habilitation. However, due to the political involvement of Kot, the Sanation authorities decided to abolish his chair by introducing a new law on academic schools in 1933