Professor Małgorzata
Kitowska-Łysiak was a prominent
expert in Bruno Schulz's heritage and a great friend of Drohobych
Photo credit: Jerzy Jacek Bojarski
Professor Małgorzata Kitowska-Łysiak from the Catholic University of Lublin, a
historian of art, one of the most prominent researchers of Bruno Schulz's
heritage and a great friend of Schulz's Special Province the 17th of October, 2012 . This is a great loss
for Schulzology in Poland
Just a couple of days
ago we have exchanged several emails discussing the latest (5th)
Schulz Festival which took place in Drohobych this September. Unable to travel
to Drohobych in person because of the condition of her health, Professor
Kitowska was keeping track of the SchulzFest from her Lublin
Back in 2000, she
compiled and edited Bruno Schulz's Critical
Sketches (Szkice Krytyczne) which
were published by Lublin's UMCS Publishing House — and this year she was happy
to see the first-ever Ukrainian translation of Sketches published by Dukh i
Litera in Kyiv and unveiled during the 5th SchulzFest. The
Ukrainian translation of Critical
Sketches was my academic project within the framework of this year's Gaude Polonia scholarship awarded by
Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland
Photo credit: Jerzy Jacek Bojarski
She was an easy and pleasant
interlocutor, whatever the topic might have been (not necessarily Schulz). And
she always was a person with whom you would want to have a conversation. She
was able and willing to listen, understand, and consult. She was energetic in
her reaction to any matter pertaining to Bruno Schulz and got immediately
engaged in any Schulzian undertaking aimed at preserving and/or renaissance of
the memory of Schulz in his native Drohobych. From the very beginning, she
supported each and every idea suggested by me and my late husband, Igor Meniok:
the creation of the Centre for Polish Studies in the University of Drohobych,
the opening of the intro version of Bruno Schulz's Museum hosted by Schulz's
former professorial office in the former building of King Władysław Jagiełło Grammar School, and the initiation of the
International Bruno Schulz Festival in Drohobych. She has always been a
brilliant consultant for any Schulz-related project and event taking place in
Drohobych. She was always ready to help in any way.
Just some time ago,
she wrote about Drohobych's recently deceased Zenon Filipov whom she knew very
well and whom she valued as a photographer and a collector of old postcards and
other material memorabilia of the city's past and who managed to publish a
superb book about the history of Drohobych's photo art.
She congratulated
Alfred Schreyer, an outstanding musician and singer, the last antebellum Jew of
Drohobych, and the last student of Schulz still living in Drohobych who
celebrated his 90th birthday in May this year.
A year ago she
painfully took the tragic news about the sudden death of Professor Valeriy
Skotnyi, Rector of the University of Drohobych
She was closest to the ingenious Schulzian
initiatives of the late Professor Władysław
Panas whom she valued and loved as a prominent and unconventional
Schulzologist. In 2002, she teamed up with him to organise the largest Polish
academic conference dedicated to Schulz and co-edited the book, Amid the Splinters of a Broken Mirror. On the 110th Anniversary of Bruno Schulz's birth and the 60th Anniversary of his Death (W ułamkach źwierczadła. W 110. rocznicę urodzin i 60. rocznicę śmierci Brunona Schulza, TN KUL, Lublin 2003).
Several years ago, she
helped me survive through the experience following the sudden death of my
husband, Igor, supporting me in my efforts to continue and develop his ideas.
She wrote letters in which she was always open and good-willing, as a true
friend.
Professor Małgorzata Kitowska-Łysiak has always been tolerant to people surrounding her;
she had a gentle attitude towards the world; and she was always very demanding
of herself. I perceived her as a person with a warm light in her heart which
was shining for everyone who has co-operated with her at any time, for anyone
who talked to her, for anyone who was a friend. It is hard to believe that she
has departed from us and that we now have to bid farewell to her. She, however,
bequeathed the shining of her heart to us.
I thank You, Dear Małgosia, for Your friendship
and Your good and wise words which will remain with me for ever –
Wiera Meniok
Drohobych, on the 17th of October, 2012 AD
Translated by Ostap Dzondza
