#FundacjaCitiHandlowy #150LatPostepu #NagrodaGieysztora
Authority figures are needed all the more, the more we are surrounded by information noise. We realize we should support those whose actions contribute to overcoming set patterns and provoke reflection. The Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award, granted annually by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation of Citi Handlowy, was established with the very aim of awarding distinguished, extraordinary persons who inspire us with their activity.
The need to have authority figures seems to unite generations. Especially now, when new personalities emerge every day and fight to be recognizable. It is difficult to find our way in this "insta-world", therefore I am certain that the importance of the Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award - along with its over 20-year history - becomes even more powerful. It allows us to support authority figures in a difficult field concerning protection of the cultural heritage of Poland. It may take some time before its laureates conquer social media, but I have no doubts that their work drives new creators and helps young people find their identity - emphasizes Sławomir S. Sikora, President of the Management Board of Citi Handlowy.
During the 21-year history of the Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award, it was granted to, among others, Elżbieta and Krzysztof Penderecki. They founded the European Centre for Music in Lusławice, which has become a place where young art students can develop their talent, artistic sensitivity and skills under the tutelage of the most prominent artists from all over the world. The Award was also granted to Anda Rottenberg for outstanding achievements in research and in exhibition and social activity as well as cultural animation concerning Polish and world art from the brisk of the 20th and 21st centuries. British historian, Professor Norman Davis, was awarded for his overall activity popularizing Polish cultural heritage abroad, and also for thorough and critical research demonstrating connotations of the Polish and CEE region's cultural heritage with the heritage of the whole continent. In turn, Krystyna Zachwatowicz and Andrzej Wajda were recognized for their outstanding achievements in the field of film and theater, which promote Polish culture, and for the promotion of the need to protect the cultural heritage in Poland and for their contribution to its strengthening and popularization. The Award Jury rewarded also Leon Tarasewicz for the many years of conscious efforts in building bridges between different ethnic, language and religious groups in the borderland of Poland, Belarus and Lithuania.
In previous years the award was presented to authors and animators. Outstanding initiatives were rewarded as well. In 2014, the Award was presented to Społeczny Komitet Opieki nad Starą Rossą (Public Maintenance Committee for the Rasos Cemetery), which has taken care of the oldest Polish necropolis in Vilnius since 1990. Over 60 monuments have been renovated thanks to the Committee. The last year's edition of the Award was won by bishop Waldemar Pytel, who was rewarded for more than 30 years of efforts to save, revitalize and restore the splendor of the Lutheran block of streets along with the Church of Peace in Świdnica - since 2001 a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"The Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award is considered to be the most prestigious distinction in its field," says Dorota Szostek-Rustecka, President of the Management Board of the Citi Handlowy Foundation. "This title and a financial award amounting to PLN 50,000 is our way of supporting persons actively protecting Polish cultural heritage both in Poland and abroad.
The Award has been presented since 1999 and, as many other initiatives of Citi Handlowy, aims at continuing the work of its founder, Leopold Kronenberg - a financier, entrepreneur, patron of culture and philanthropist, who supported many areas of social and cultural life through his activities. This year's Award is special as it has been 150 years since the establishment of Bank Handlowy w Warszawie S.A., the oldest uninterruptedly operating bank in Poland.
The name of this year's winner will be announced during the ceremonious Gala, which will be held on February 25 in the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The 21st edition of the Professor Aleksander Gieysztor Award is held under the honorary auspices of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda.
