Dziedzictwo Stanisława Leszczyńskiego. O nauczaniu języka i kultury polskiej w Nancy – historia, wyzwania, zagrożenia
The Legacy of Stanisław Leszczyński. On Teaching Polish Language and Culture in Nancy: History, Challenges, Threats

Summary/Abstract: Patrycja Gardin’s aim in this article is to describe the history of teaching Polish at the University of Lorraine in Nancy, one of the few centers of Polish studies in France and also a place where classes are (still) taught at all levels of instruction, from bachelor’s degree to doctoral studies. The starting point of Gardin’s analysis is the year 1752, when Stanisław Leszczyński, King of Poland and Duke of Lorraine and Bar, established the Collège Royal de Médecine, the first university unit in Nancy. Using French archival sources, Gardin discusses large-scale activities undertaken by Leszczyński in Lorraine for the promotion of Polish culture and science. Gardin’s description of the long-standing tradition of teaching the Polish language in the Stanislavian land has been based on the analysis of annals and emigration chronicles, as well as French magazines from the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Gardin describes the most important activities and achievements of the Department of the Polish Language: its establishing in 1961, the subsequent structural transformations, its teaching programs, as well as the challenges and threats it faces. This description is complemented by the profiles of the founders and heads of the Department and an outline of their most important research projects. To this end, the author presents the most important scholarly works from two collections found at the University of Lorraine, i.e., the Decaux Collection and the Lajarrige Collection.

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