Uniwersytet Lwowski − kresowa uczelnia w kresowym mieście

Abstrakt

Lviv, situated at the borderline of cultures, languages, and religions was, by its nature, considered a borderland city. It was an opinion of its Polish inhabitants who formed the majority of city’s population until 1939. The article presents an analysis of selected statements of distinguished representatives of Lviv University academic elite, mainly of the Second Polish Republic period (1918−1939), who ascribe it a special mission not only at the borderlands of Poland, but also at the borderlands of Western civilization, emphasizing the significant role of Lviv and Vilnius Universities in the realm of the Latin culture. Let us take an exert from a speech of Jan Kasprowicz − a poet, the then Vice-Chancellor of Lviv University. During his inaugural address at the opening of 1921/1922 academic year he stated that the University constitutes one of the major bases of Polish presence in the Borderlands, but also one of the bases of the depleted Polish Republic. An obvious consequence of taking this standpoint was, inter alia, a strong resistance of Lviv professors against transforming the University into a bilingual school − Polish-Ukrainian − and, all the more, against establishing a Ukrainian university in Lviv, the city which is the bone of contention of the Poles and Ukrainians.