Branch of the Polish Historical Society in Vilnius (1925–1939)

Abstract

After regaining independence, historians associated in scientific societies operating in the partitioned regions faced the challenge of their reorganization. It was the Historical Society, established in Lviv in 1886, which was the most important of these, above all bringing together all representatives of Klio. The adoption of a new statute by the Historical Society in 1924 and the changing the name into the Polish Historical Society, not only led to the unification of the institution, giving it a nation-wide character, but also regulated the principles of establishing branch offices. One of them, focused around the reactivated Stefan Batory University, was the branch of Polish Historical Society in Vilnius. The characteristics of its activities allow us to define the role that the Vilnius community played in the dissemination of knowledge, as well as to define the place and its rank in the structure of the Society. In the interwar period, the branch of the Polish Historical Society in Vilnius did not show much scientific activity. The focus was almost exclusively on the implementation of the statutory objectives, which was manifested in the organization of scientific meetings and participation in the General Meetings of Polish Historians, of which the most important for the local community was the Congress in Vilnius organized in 1935. Locally, the Society of Friends of Sciences in Vilnius, operating from 1907, enjoyed greater popularity, involving both the university community and local archivists, as well as librarians and history enthusiasts.