Donations to the National Institute are gifts for the common good (...). The great donors of such gifts become contributors to the common good and therefore deserve to be commemorated and testified in writing by national justice and gratitude (...) in memory and as an example for contemporaries and future generations.
Franciszek Siarczyński (the first Director of Ossolineum)
Diary of civic gifts for the national book collection 1827-1841
Rkps BOss 1314/III
When characterising the collections of the National Ossolinski Institute in Wroclaw, it is impossible to remain indifferent to the fact that a large part of the library and museum collections collected in Lviv since 1828 were donations and bequests made by the subjects of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, the Tsar of Russia and the King of Prussia - Poles by spirit or by birth and, after Poland regained its independence in 1918, citizens of the reborn Republic of Poland.
The first, founding act of donation was made by the founders of the Institute - Count Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński and Prince Henryk Lubomirski, who decided to donate their collections to the nation. Their example was soon followed by many others. The influx of donations, which was the main source of the library's acquisitions until the 1860s, transformed the Ossolineum from a "private enterprise into a universal one", as the founder had intended.
All those who contributed to this transformation should be honoured by posterity, for it is thanks to them that what constitutes Poland and Polishness has been preserved and sealed; it has served and continues to serve to deepen knowledge of the past and current reflection on Polish national identity in a united Europe.
Looking back to those times, it is appropriate for us - contemporaries - to bow down and honour the hundreds of benefactors of the Ossolineum, who with their donations and bequests created the greatness of the National Ossolinski Institute, and to encourage similar actions by all those who care about the good of national culture, the first foundation of citizenship.
Below, in alphabetical order, is a list of the most important tangible private and institutional donations from 1828 to 2017.
In 1914 Count Stanisław Henryk Badeni donated a large collection of Polish and foreign periodicals and 1,000 rare and old books from a lending library acquired from K. Gubrynowicz; after 1918 he bequeathed his father Stanisław Badeni's book collection (about 10,000 volumes).
Eugeniusz Brodzki coat of arms Łodzia donated, also by bequest (1842, 1847), his own library (manuscripts, prints) and a fund to supplement the collection of the Ossolineum.
In 1934, Jan Cieński donated to the Ossolineum the Cieński Archive from Okno and a fragment of the library of Udalryk Mikołaj Cieński from Okno (several hundred books, 11 incunabula and 16 maps).
Stefania Czaykowska, née Darowska, granddaughter of Mieczysław Darowski, donated (1911-1920) manuscripts, autographs and the family book collection (1,200 volumes), as well as a collection of prints after Mieczysław Darowski.
In 1889, Walerian Czajkowski donated 18 paintings of the Polish School.
Stanisław Dąmbski donated 243 paintings received from Łukasz Dąmbski in 1923 as a permanent deposit, the so-called 'Dąmbski Gallery' - this deposit became the property of the Ossolineum by court decision in 1929.
In 1877, Marceli Hulewicz donated an oil painting (after a drawing by Stefano della Belli) of Jerzy Ossoliński entering Rome in 1633 to the collection of the Lubomirski Museum.
In 1920, Stanisław Jabłonowski donated fragments of the Jabłonowski Archive and the Jabłonowski family library in Bursztyn (about 10,000 volumes), which had survived the destruction of the war.
Piotr Krausneker, through K. Raczyński, bequeathed (1842) a collection of medical books (357 titles in 937 volumes).
Karol Kühnl, a Major in the Austrian Army (d. 1871), who spent his youth in Poland and, although he later lived abroad and even forgot Polish, donated a collection of 9 paintings and 400 drawings and engravings in 1868 as an expression of his "attachment to his country".
In 1913, Princess Eleonora Lubomirska donated the library of her grandfather, Count Adolf Hussarzewski.
Stefan Andrzej Lubomirski donated a valuable collection of prints from the library of the Kruszyna estate (10,000 volumes) in 1912, thus fulfilling the decision of the family convention to merge the Lubomirski collections with the Institute's collection.
Antoni Małecki (1866-1910) donated his library and, on behalf of Toefil and Hersylia Januszewska, a collection of manuscripts by J. Słowacki.
Eleonora Mniszchowa, née Cetner, donated (1867-1868) 50 paintings of foreign schools, engravings, atlases and French prints of the 16th-18th centuries.
Magdalena Morska of Zarzecz bequeathed to the Institute in her will (1849) a collection of French books comprising 1,300 volumes.
Malwina Nargielewicz, née Dybowska, donated her husband Jan Nargielewicz's book collection of 8,790 volumes and several dozen atlases in 1903.
Jan Tysiewicz (actually Mieczysław Niewiarowicz) bequeathed his paintings, books and real estate (1891).
In 1921, Jan Gwalbert Pawlikowski, son and heir of Mieczysław Pawlikowski, grandson of Jozef Gwalbert, bequeathed to the National Institute a separate collection known as the Library of the Pawlikowski Family of Medyka, comprising over 20,000 prints, over 4,000 autographs and manuscripts, almost 700 maps, over 3,500 numismatic items and almost 25,000 engravings and drawings by the most important, mainly Polish, artists.
Prof., Count Leon Jan Piniński, art historian, lawyer, collector, governor of Galicia, bequeathed to the Institute a valuable collection of prints and a library (1938).
Prince Kalikst Poniński of Horyniec (1919) temporarily deposited the Horyniec Library, founded and maintained in the Horyniec Palace by his father, Aleksander Oskar Poniński, with some 60,000 volumes. In the end, 441 prints from the 16th century remained in the Institute.
Zygmunt Radzimiński-Luba deposited a valuable collection of family archives in the Ossolineum (1910-1920).
Adam Junosza Rościszewski, in recognition of his services to the Ossolineum, was appointed by the curator, Prince Henryk Lubomirski, to the group of "representatives of posterity"; he donated, among other things, 1,196 prints, 15 manuscripts and many "museum objects" in the years 1828-1844; he was also the initiator of a commemorative medal for Ossoliński ("For establishing a National Library in Lwów. Countrymen 1820").
In 1910, Prince Władysław Leon Adam Feliks Sapieha deposited the Sapieha's Krasiczyn archive (40,000 files) and financed a grant to organise it.
Count Ignacy Skarbek bequeathed his own library (1844), comprising 1,588 volumes and a valuable collection of drawings by European masters.
Maria Szembekowa, granddaughter of Aleksander Fredro, donated her grandfather's literary works and archives to the Institute between 1929 and 1940.
Klementyna Witosławska donated 12 paintings depicting the family of Juliusz Słowacki in 1891, in accordance with the will of Wiktor Sobieszczański.
Stanisław Wronowski, book collector, imperial–royal Advisor to the Court of First Instance, bequeathed to the Library (1838) several dozen paintings, 6,671 prints and 27 manuscripts.
Józef Zaleski and Stanisław Zarewicz bequeathed (1912-1914) over 800 ex-libris.
Roman Aftanazy donated, among other things, archives and correspondence relating to the study of the history of the residences in the former Eastern Borderland (2004).
Władysław Bartoszewski, a member of the Board of Curators of the Ossolineum, donated his library collection, archives and memorabilia (1961-2015).
Dr Jakub Forst Battaglia donated the book collection of Otto Forst Battaglia, currently exhibited in the Library of the Scientific Station of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Vienna (II 2009).
Bożena and Kazimierz Czechowicz (2002-2009) donated the works of Eugeniusz Geta-Stankiewicz and other artists who collaborated with him on the Miedzioryt Towarzyski and Dürery XX Lubomirskich projects.
Prof. Norman Davies, a British historian of Welsh origin, professor at the University of London and author of numerous works on Polish history, donated his personal papers, correspondence, works and publications (1998).
Stanisław Garczyński, a native of Lwów, a distinguished numismatist and Polish-American activist living in the United States, donated to the Ossolineum in 2004 a unique collection of Polish numismatic items, archives and documents relating to the life of the Polish community in the USA.
In 1967, Asta Gąsiorowska-Hemmingsen bequeathed to the Ossolineum the valuable archives of Wacław Gąsiorowski, a writer, columnist and independence activist, including extensive documentation on the formation of the Blue Army in France and the recruitment of volunteers in the United States, as well as two paintings.
Wiesław Geras, President of the Wrocław Society of Theatre Friends, initiator and director of the WROSTJA Festival, donated (1979-2013) to the Social Life Documents collection the complete documentation of the One-Actor Theatre Festivals in Wrocław and Toruń, as well as documents on social life in Wrocław from the 1960s to the present.
Prof. Mieczysław Gębarowicz, director and, after 1945, informal custodian of the collections of the Ossolineum in Lviv, donated to the Ossolineum in Wroclaw a number of important archives relating to the Institute and various iconographic materials between 1945 and 1984.
Prof. Kazimierz Grotowski, brother of Jerzy Grotowski, theatre director, scholar of acting and lecturer in theatre anthropology, reformer of the performing arts and cultural visionary, donated the archives of Jerzy Grotowski to the Library of the National Ossolinski Institute, which were presented in 2010 in the exhibition "An indelible trace". Jerzy Grotowski at the Ossolineum".
Professor Zbigniew Hornung donated and bequeathed (1981-1982) 11 valuable oil paintings (including works by Antoni Lange, Andrzej Grabowski, Jan Stanisławski, Stefan Filipkiewicz, Stanisław Batowski, Michał Rouba, Tymon Niesiońowski, Kazimierz Sichulski) and watercolours and drawings by, among others, Wyczółkowski, Matejko, Sichulski, Augustynowicz.
Maria Niewęgłowska-Jonca, Magdalena Jonca donated the archive of Karol Jonca, professor of law, scholar of legal philosophy, history of state and law, history of fascism and military history (2009).
Kazimiera Kijowska donated the literary legacy of her husband, Andrzej Kijowski, writer and literary critic, to the Ossolineum (1995-2003) and the Andrzej Kijowski Prize Fund to the Institute.
Barbara Klein-Szymańska donated several sets of Polish contemporary graphic art and ex-libris (2000-2008).
Joanna Kuklińska donated the book collection of her husband, Colonel Ryszard Kukliński, to the Ossolineum (2008).
Maria Kuncewicz donated her extensive literary estate and the archive of her husband, Jerzy Kuncewicz - politician, historian and publicist - to the Institute in 1986.
Jadwiga Loret, daughter of Maciej Loret, Polish Ambassador to Rome, historian and politician, bequeathed to the Ossolineum her father's valuable archives and documents (imported from Rome in 2000).
Krystyna Miłobędzka, poet, playwright, bequeathed to the Ossolineum (2013-2014) her literary archives and those of her husband, Andrzej Falkiewicz (1929-2010), an eminent cultural philosopher, literary and theatre critic and essayist.
Dr. Tomasz Niewodniczański, a collector and bibliophile living in Germany and a member of the Board of Curators of the Ossolineum, donated 217 maps, plans and views of Silesian towns from the 16th and 17th centuries to the Department (XI 2002). A representative overview of this collection was presented in the exhibitions Imago Silesiae and Imago Poloniae (2002, 2003).
Jan Nowak Jeziorański, "Courier from Warsaw", participant in the Warsaw Uprising, long-time director of the Polish section of Radio Free Europe and member of the Board of Curators of the Ossolineum, donated and bequeathed a valuable collection of archival materials, paintings, drawings, prints, miniatures, photographs, weapons and artistic crafts in 1998-2005.
Jerzy Okruciński, fulfilling the will of his father Aleksander, bequeathed (2001) a collection of 952 titles of fantasy, Polish authors and translations.
Professor Zbigniew Osinski, theatre historian and theorist, donated (2015) to the Institute an archive containing, among other things, a rich documentation of the life and creative work of Jerzy Grotowski.
Piotr Piniński donated to the Ossolineum illuminated manuscripts from the collection of Count Mieczysław Piniński, originally from the collection of Professor Count Leon Piniński (2012).
Irena Prime donated a set of 28 miniatures painted by her late husband, Zygmunt Sowa-Sowiński, in 1998-1999.
Teresa Jadwiga Sapieha, daughter of Eustachy Seweryn Sapieha, donated (2005) the collection of historical and literary books and family archives collected by her father.
Renata Sapieżyna donated (2009-2017) several paintings (portraits of Sapieha family members), prints and sculptures made by Lew Sapieha.
In 1984, Jadwiga Sosnkowska donated the archive of General Kazimierz Sosnkowski (84 files).
Eugeniusz Get-Stankiewicz, a graphic artist, draughtsman and poster designer who was awarded the title of Civitate Wratislaviensi Donatus, donated his engravings from the Miedzioryt Towarzyski series and the Dürery XX Lubomirskich portfolio to the Graphic Arts Collection in 2009, and a collection of several hundred original posters and works by famous Polish graphic artists to the Social Life Division of the Ossolineum Library (2011).
In 1968 Władysław Świrski donated to the Ossolineum the original documents of the Military Department of the Headquarters of Area 3 of the Home Army in Lwów and of the Regional Government Delegation for Poland.
Jan Artur Tarnowski and the City Council of Wroclaw donated the "Pan Tadeusz" manuscript to the Ossolineum (5th November 1999) (until then it had been a deposit of the Tarnowski family).
In 1991, Prof. Andrzej Vincenz donated the archive of his father, Stanis³aw Vincenz, a writer and researcher of Hutsul culture (448 units containing documentation of the writer's work and rich and varied correspondence).
Andrzej Wajda, one of the most important and popular Polish directors, co-founder of the Polish Film School, donated the texts of his film scripts, major film awards and more than 100 posters to the Institute's collection (2010-2011).
Stanisława Wasylewska (and her heirs) bequeathed to the Institute the papers of her husband, the writer Stanisław Wasylewski, author of well-known and widely read books on Lwów and the customs and culture of the 19th century (1959-1996).
Anna Kubicka, Zofia Zakrzewska-Chrzanowska and Ewa Chrzanowska-Parsons donated to the Ossolineum the Visual Panorama of Old Lvov, the work of their father and grandfather, Janusz Witwicki, a Lvov architect and art historian. The panorama, which depicts Lviv at a scale of 1:200 in its 18th century form, was taken out of Lviv by Irena Witwicki in 1946 and remained in hiding until 1988.
From 1984 to 2006 Prof. Jerzy Węgierski donated to the Ossolineum studies, original documents, photocopies and copies, testimonies and correspondence concerning the Union of Armed Struggle - Home Army 1941-1944.
Wanda Wrońska donated (2008-2009) two unique paintings from the collection of Mieczysław Gębarowicz: The Martyrdom of St Sebastian from the 18th century and The Holy Family from the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Barbara Zakrzewska, the widow of Professor Bogdan Zakrzewski, donated (2013) the Professor's extensive archive, including a large collection of correspondence.
Kazimierz Zamorski, lawyer, journalist and émigré activist, contributor to Radio Free Europe, bequeathed his extensive archive, book collection and museum artefacts. The executor (2001-2004) was Nina Kozłowska from Munich, an RWE employee and member of the Permanent Conference of Polish Museums, Archives and Libraries in the West.
Daromila Żenczykowska, widow of Tadeusz Żenczykowski - political activist and publicist, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, in 1954-1975 editor, then deputy director of the Polish section of Radio Free Europe - donated her husband's archive (1997, 2002).
