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KamilaBarbaraStanek
ProfessorTadeuszMajda–BiographyofaScholar
InthisarticletheattemptwasmadetopresentthevarietyofProfessorMajda’sinterestsinnumerousbranchesofOrientalstudies,not
onlyinTurkology,butalsoinArabicstudiesandthefieldofIslamicart.TheversatilityofProfessor’sinterestsisaccompaniedbyenormous
passionwithwhichheundertakesnewchallengesanddevoteshimselftohiswork.ProfessorTadeuszMajdacancertainlybeproudofhis
richscholarlyachievements,numeroussuccessesinthefieldsofteachingandeducation,aswellashisactiveparticipationinthe
universitylifeinhiscapacityasHeadoftheDepartmentofTurkishStudies,DirectoroftheInstituteofOrientalStudiesandDeanofthe
FacultyofModernLanguages.NotonlyProfessor’sresearchactivities,butalsohispromotionofTurkishartandculture,aswellasIslamic
art,deserveaspecialattention.HisachievementsinthefieldofTurkishstudieshavebeenacknowledgedbytheSenateoftheAnkara
UniversitythatdistinguishedProfessorwiththetitleof
doctorhonoriscausa
in2003.Inthesameyear,theTurkishCulturalFoundation
awardedProfessorwithamedalforthepromotionoftheTurkishlanguageandculture.In2014,ProfessorTadeuszMajdawasgrantedthe
followingawardsandprizes:
–Knight’sCrossoftheOrderofPoloniaRestituta–bestowedbythePresidentofPolandonFebruary20th2014,
–BeneMeritoBadgeofHonour–bestowedbytheMinisterofForeignAffairsonMay26th2014,
–GloriaArtisGoldMedalforMerittoCulture–bestowedbytheMinisterofCultureandNationalHeritageonJune11th2014.
ThelistofpublicationsbyProfessorMajdawaspresentedin2006inthebook
OrientalStudiesinArtandCultureinHonourofProfessor
TadeuszMajda
(Warsaw,WydawnictwoAkademickieDialog,2006).Therefore,itwasnecessarytoincludetotheprsentvolumethe
amendedbibliographysupplementedwiththelatestdatafrom2012(
Szkicezdziejówpolskiejorientalistyki
[Essaysonthehistory
ofOrientalstudiesinPoland],WydawnictwaUniwersytetuWarszawskiego,Warsaw2012).Inthispartofthearticlethereisalsoprovided
informationaboutProfessor’steachingactivities,participationincongressesandconferences,lecturesdeliveredbyhimabroadandhis
workactivitiesintheNationalMuseuminWarsaw.
ProfessorTadeuszMajdawasbornin1930inSkolimównearWarsaw(presentdayKonstancin-Jeziorna)intoafamilyofschoolteachers.
AfterWorldWarIIhewasenrolledinahighschoolinSłupsk.HavingpassedhisA-levelexam,atthesuggestionofhisteachershedecided
topursueOrientalstudiesattheInstituteofOrientalStudiesattheUniversityofWarsaw,whichin1951announcedthelaunchofregular
full-timestudiesinninefields.
Afterpassingtheentranceexamandasuccessfulinterview,TadeuszMajdastartedTurkishstudiesunderthesupervisionofProfessors
AnaniaszZajączkowski,JanReychmanandJózefBielawski.ThechosencourseofstudiesincludedlearningthreelanguagesoftheMiddle
East:Turkish,ArabicandPersianaswellastheliteratureandhistoryofTurkey,ArabcountriesandIran.Interestsofhislecturers,andhis
master’sProfessorAnaniaszZajączkowskiinparticular,stronglyinfluencedProfessorTadeuszMajda’sscholarlypursuits,whichwere
mainlyconcentratedontheOttomanstudiesandthelanguagesoftheKipchakgroup.HisinterestinTurkishartand,furthermore,
inIslamicartcameinthe1970s,duringthepreparationofthecatalogueofPersianandTurkishmanuscripts.Thisinterestwas
consequentlyincreasedwhenProfessorTadeuszMajdaworkedwithMAAlinaMrozowskaonthealbumofminiaturesofTurkishcostumes
andgenrescenes.ThisalbumwaskeptintheUniversityofWarsawLibraryandoriginatedfromtheroyallibraryofthePolishking
StanisławAugustPoniatowski.
ProfessorTadeuszMajda’sMaster’sthesisfocusedonthelanguageofthecollectionofpoemsbySultanSüleymantheMagnificentwho
usedanartisticname
Muhibbi
[
Lover
].ThecollectionwasbasedonanearlycopyofamanuscriptfromtheUniversityofWarsawLibrary.
Professor’sPhDthesis
ThetopicofYusufileZüleyhainTurkishliteratureuntilthefifteenthcentury
(inPolish)wasdedicatedtooneofthe
mostwidespreadintheMiddleEastandCentralAsialiteraryplotsrootedintheKoranandcommentariestotheKoran.TadeuszMajda’s
habilitationdissertation
ThedevelopmentofTurkishlanguageintheseventeenthcentury
(inPolish)isastudyoftheseventeenthcentury
OttomanlanguageinSpanishlanguage,carriedoutonthebasisofthemanuscriptfromthecollectionoftheWroclawUniversityLibrary.
ProfessorTadeuszMajdaservedinvariousrolesattheUniversityofWarsaw.FormanyyearshewasHeadofTurkology,Directorofthe
OrientalInstitute(1981-1984),(nowFacultyofOrientalStudies)andDeanoftheFacultyofModernLanguages(1985-1986).Moreover,
ProfessorTadeuszMajdaheadedtheCentreforEastEuropeanandCentralAsiaStudiesattheInstituteofOrientalStudiesformorethan
20yearssince1990.
Professor’sacademicworkhasalwaysbeenlinkedtotheUniversityofWarsaw.Nevertheless,healsoactivelymaintainedcontactswith
institutionsdevotedtotheOrientalstudiesabroad,whereheconductedhisresearch,lecturedandparticipatedinsymposia,conferences
andresearchprojects.Asagrantholder,ProfessorTadeuszMajdacarriedoutresearchinEgyptianarchivesandlibrariesin1961.Healso
completednumerousstudyandresearchinternships–inTurkey(1968),Cambridge–thankstotheBritishCouncilscholarship(1974),
UniversityofVilnius(1974),UniversityofStrasbourg(1978),UniversityofSarajevo(1978)andUniversityofMinnesota(1988).Moreover,
ProfessorTadeuszMajdadidhisresearchinternshipinthefieldofIslamicartinthemuseumsofNewYork,BostonandWashington(1992),
andattheUniversityofVilnius(1993).ProfessorTadeuszMajdagavelecturesinthefollowinginstitutionsdevotedtotheOrientalstudies:
UniversityofCambridge,IndianaUniversityBloomington,“L’Orientale”UniversityofNaples,UniversityofStrasbourgandUniversity
ofBamberg.
ImportantdatesinProfessorTadeuszMajda’sacademiccareer:
–1955–employmentasanaide(inthefifthyearofstudies)intheInstituteofOrientalStudies–Turkology.
–1956–Master’sdegreeandemploymentasanassistantintheInstituteofOrientalStudies–Turkology.
–1965–PhDdegree.
–1990–HeadofCentreforEastEuropeanandCentralAsiaStudiesattheInstituteofOrientalStudies(nowCentreforEastEuropean
Studies)attheUniversityofWarsaw,whichwascalledtheSeminarforNationalityProblemsoftheSovietUnionandCentralEuropefrom
1988to1990.
–1982–Habilitateddoctordegree.
–1990–Associateprofessordegree.
–1998–Professordegree.
–2004–DoctorhonoriscausaoftheUniversityofAnkara.1
Althoughithasbeenalmost60years,sinceProfessorTadeuszMajdareceivedhisMaster’sdegree,hisworkandinterestintheresearch
onTurkishlanguage,literature,cultureandart,aswellasIslamicartingeneral,havebeenflourishingandresulteveryyearinnew
articles,books,exhibitionsandresearchprojects.
AwiderangeofProfessor’sinterestsisillustratedbyhisworkandactivities,showinghimasascholar(e.g.throughhisworkcarriedout
ontheOttomanandTurkishtexts,publications,reviews,participationinacademicsymposiaandorganizationofconferences),lecturer
(deliveringlectures,publishingacademichandbooksandanthologies,aswellassupervisionofMaster’sandPhDtheses),andcurator
oftheNationalMuseuminWarsaw(preparingexhibitions,workingonthecataloguesandarticlesaboutart).Ontheonehand,Professor’s
academicworkhasbeenmostlyconcentratedontheOttomanlanguageliteratureandTurkiclanguagesfromtheKipchakgroup(Mamluk-
Kipchak,thelanguageoftheGoldenHordeandChagatai).Ontheotherhand,itincludesdidacticmaterialsandlecturestoo.Lastbutnot
least,Professor’spublicationshavebeendevotedtotheIslamicartandculturewithaparticularfocusontheTurkishandPersian
art.InterviewsandmeetingswithhisstudentsonthenumerousoccasionshaveconfirmedProfessor’sbroadandmultifacetedknowledge
andhisabilitytoshareitwithothers.Therefore,itwillcertainlynotbeanexaggerationtocallProfessorTadeuszMajdatheRenaissance
Man.Indeed,veryfewresearchesundertakeasmanyvariouschallengesashim,startingwithpublishingworksonlanguage,literature,
translation,culture,theOrientalart,andendingwitharchitecture,costumesandweaponry.EvenasingleglanceatProfessor’s
bibliographygivesatestimonyofhisknowledgeandpassions.
Professor’sworkintheNationalMuseumofWarsawconstitutesanothersignificantpartofhisacademicandpromotionalactivities.
In1989hebecameHeadofOrientalArtsCollectionsthatincludeChinese,Japanese,BuddhistandIslamicart.Duringmorethan20years
thedepartmentorganizedseveraldozensofexhibitionsinWarsawandoneabroad(Istanbul1999),aswellaspreparedandpublished
morethan10exhibitionandcollectioncatalogues.IncooperationwithPhDMałgorzataRedlakandMAMaciejKwaśniewski,Professor