From September 16 to October 20, 2013 cultural institutions - state, local and non-governmental - can nominate candidates for the 15th annual Aleksander Gieysztor Award. This prize is awarded by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation at Citi Handlowy to individuals active in protection and promotion of Polish culture heritage at home and abroad.
The winner of the 15th jubilee edition of the Aleksander Gieysztor Award will be announced in February 2014 during a gala ceremony at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The winning candidate will proudly join the pantheon of laureates, which includes such eminent individuals as Prof. Norman Davies, the eminent British historian and insightful scholar of Polish history; Anda Rottenberg, esteemed art historian, critic, and exhibition curator; and Jan K. Ostrowski, longtime director of Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków. The Gieysztor Award is widely recognized as the most prestigious prize in the field of protection and popularization of Polish cultural heritage.
Starting on October 20, candidates for the Awards can be nominated by members of the Award Committee, previous winners of the Award, and cultural institutions - state, local and non-governmental. The winners of this prestigious award can be individuals and institutions. The prize is awarded in the following fields: museum, conservation, archival, and library activities; preservation and protection of Polish cultural heritage abroad. Also awarded are: local government projects designed to protect cultural heritage; individual and collective initiatives aimed at collecting and preserving remnants of cultural heritage, as well as disseminating knowledge about the need and methods for protecting cultural heritage in Poland.
Nominations should be made using the electronic application form accessible at www.nagrodagieysztora.pl. The selection is made by the Award Committee, convening under the chairmanship of Prof. Andrzej Rottermund. The Committee includes members of the Council and the Management Board of The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation.
The awarding of the annual Aleksander Gieysztor Award is one of the activities of The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation in the field of supporting and protecting cultural heritage. The Foundation is involved in many initiatives important for Polish culture, such as the program "Recovery of Polish Art" conducted together with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. In cooperation with the ministry, two paintings were returned to their rightful owners: "Resting in a Tatra Shed" by Wojciech Gerson (2010) and "Negress" by Anna Bilińska-Bogdanowiczowa (2012). The Foundation also runs the program "Roots" to remember the life and achievements of Leopold Kronenberg (patron of the Foundation) and to document the history of Bank Handlowy.
