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PatrycjaMatusiak
mentaries,articlesandreviews.Between1955and1995,Professorpublished
440works,5by2005thenumberexceeded600,6andhekeptonworking.
IwasfirstintroducedtoProfessorKolendobyProfessorJerzyAxerinCentre
forStudiesontheClassicalTradition(OBTA,todayFacultyof“ArtesLiberales,”
UniversityofWarsaw).ProfessorAxerbelievedthatProfessorKolendo,histeach-
erandfriend,couldhelpmedefinethetopicofmyPhDdissertation,whichorigi-
nallywastodealwithRomanimperialism.ProfessorKolendobroughtthreeideas
toourmeeting-thefirstonebeingthestereotypeoftheCarthaginianinancient
literature.Ineverfoundoutwhatthetwootherswere.Weimmediatelygotcar-
riedawaybyour“Carthaginian”debate.ProfessorKolendosoonbecamemytutor
duringmyfour-yearstudiesintheStartingProgrammeofPhDInterdisciplinary
Studiesin“ArtesLiberales,”andlaterourcooperationbecamemoreformalafter
myproposalfordoctoraldissertationhadbeenreviewedandacceptedandheco-
promotedittogetherwithprofessorTadeuszAleksandrowiczoftheUniversityof
Silesia.
Weusedtomeetquitefrequently,mostlyinWarsaw,attheuniversityorinhis
book-filledflat,butalsoinJagiellonianLibraryinCracowwherehewouldcome
forquery.Everysuchoccasionwasintelectuallystimulatingbutalsoexhausting.
DebatingwithProfessorKolendowasalwaysendlesslyfascinating,highlyde-
manding,verylearnedandattimesSocratean,whenhetriedtogettheinterlocutor
ontotherighttrackwithoutgivingreadyanswershimself.Onoccasionwereached
thelevelsofmutualunderstandingandintellectualstimulationwhichIcouldnot
attainwithanyoneelse.Hewouldthenbecomeverypassionateandstressthe
weightinessoftheconclusionswearrivedatbyenthusiasticallyrepeating“yes,
yes,exactly.”EverytimeIgottheimpressionthathecouldworktowardsthesug-
gestedtopicaswellasanyoftheissuesthatturnedupduringourdiscussionsby
himself,withoutanypriorpreparation.
Henevershiedawayfromexpressingstrongopinionsbothaboutscientific
papersandtranslations.Oneofthecontemporarytranslatorsagitatedhimsomuch
hewantedtopointa(fortunately,onlyimaginary)gunathim.Hewasguidingme
withextremepatiencethroughgoodandbadpapers,canonicbooksandcritical
publications,throughforgottenandobscureauthorsandalsothroughmethodology
ofhistoricalresearchwhichwascompletelyforeigntome.Hisopinionsaboutall
thetextshehappenedtoread,includingmine,rangedfrom“trivial,boring”(the
aforementionedgun-pointinggesturewasaccompaniedby“embarrassing”)to“in-
teresting”and“absolutelygenius”andmanyin-betweensuchas“nice,charming,
clever,precious,curious”andaveryrare,thusmostvalued“verygood.”Every
5“BibliografiapracJerzegoKolendo1955-1995.”In:NvncdeSvebisdicendvmest…Studia
archeologicaethistoricaGeorgiiKolendoabamicietdiscipulidicata.Studiadedykowaneprofeso-
rowiJerzemuKolendow60-lecieurodzini40-leciepracynaukowej.Ed.A.Bursche,M.Miel-
czarek,W.Nowakowski.Warszawa1995,pp.7-28.
6Z.Kapera:“ProfesorJerzyKolendo(1933-2014).”NowyFilomata2014,no.1,p.13.
