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An award that has been inspiring and building a community of authorities for 25 years
The Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award has been awarded for 25 years by the Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation for special achievements in the protection of cultural heritage. The aim of the project is to promote and support personalities whose activities can inspire future generations. Previous winners of the Award include Prof. Jerzy Hausner, Prof. Jerzy Limon, Mr. and Mrs. Penderecki, Anda Rottenberg, Norman Davies, the Social Committee for the Care of Old Rossa and the Borys Woźnicki Lviv Art Gallery. The distinction is awarded for outstanding achievements aimed at protecting Polish cultural heritage in the country and abroad. On March 14, 2024, the Laureate of the 25th edition of the Award will be announced at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
“The Aleksander Gieysztor Award is a story about building a community of those who care about the achievements of the past for the sake of the future generations. Communities of people who see potential in heritage and believe that a necessary condition for building a good future is knowledge of the cultural context from which we come. This initiative brought together and distinguished outstanding personalities. The work of the Award Winners is a "fuel" for new artists, helps young people in their search for identity, is an inspiration for curators, museologists, people at the interface of culture and business, without whose investments it is difficult to imagine cultivating, protecting and promoting culture", says Paweł Zegarłowicz, President of the Management Board of the Kronenberg Foundation at Citi Handlowy.
For 25 years, the Foundation has been awarding Laureates who, through their activities, support the development of awareness of the importance of history, its physical, intellectual and mental legacy. The Aleksander Gieysztor Award is one of the most important awards in Poland in the field of cultural heritage protection. It gathers around itself outstanding figures, institutions and initiatives.
Institutions and individuals honoured with this Award are actively involved in the development, promotion and education in the area of cultural heritage protection. For almost twenty-five years, outstanding initiatives have been awarded. The award was given to, e.g. Professor Jerzy Hausner for his comprehensive activities for the use and (re)interpretation of cultural heritage as the basis for communication and creativity as well as the economy of values. Professor Jerzy Limon was awarded for creating the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre, which combines tradition with modernity, promoting contemporary theatre and art in an understandable way. The Pendereccy family was also awarded for creating the European Centre for Music in Lusławice – a place where young art adepts can develop their talent. For outstanding achievements in research, exhibition, social and cultural animation activities related to Polish and world art at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Anda Rottenberg also received the award. It was also awarded to the British historian Norman Davies, who devoted a significant part of his scientific achievements to the study and dissemination of Polish history. Among the winners there were also such names as Krystyna Zachwatowicz and Andrzej Wajda – awarded for outstanding achievements in the field of film and theatre promoting Polish culture. The award was also given to the Social Committee for the Care of Old Rasos, which has been taking care of the oldest Polish necropolis in Vilnius since 1990. The winner of the Award was Bishop Waldemar Pytel l for over thirty years of effort to save, revitalize and restore the splendor of the Lutheran quarter together with the Church of Peace in Świdnica, inscribed in 2001 on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The winners are also Professor Jacek Purchla in recognition of his many years of work on urban issues and urban development, and Leon Tarasewicz – for conscious, long-term building of bridges between different ethnic, linguistic and religious groups of the Polish-Belarusian-Lithuanian borderland. The award was also given to The Borys Woźnicki Lviv Art Gallery – for consistently building the identity of Lviv as an open city and strongly connected with Polish heritage, which is at the same time a combination of many other cultures: Ruthenian, Armenian, Jewish, German.
The award is one of the numerous initiatives, thanks to which Citi Handlowy fulfils the mission of its founder, economic activist, patriot and patron of culture, Leopold Kronenberg. With his activities, he supported many areas of social and cultural life. By establishing the Aleksander Gieysztor Award, the Bank supports the development of projects in the field of cultural heritage protection, at the same time contributing to its preservation for future generations.
On March 14, 2024, the Laureate of the 25th edition of the Award will be announced at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The ceremony, in accordance with a long-standing tradition, is held under the Honorary Patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda
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The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation supports activities for the protection of cultural heritage, financial and digital education, startups and innovations, support for women, support for migrants, and activities to promote the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility.
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