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The Ossolineum or Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich (ZNiO, National Ossoliński Institute) meritorious department for Polish science and culture (till 1939 it combined the Library, Publishing House and Lubomirski Museum), which was founded for Polish Nation in 1817 by Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński, and was opened in 1827 in Lviv.
It was one of the most important Polish culture centres, since it had extremely rich library collection, which was the second in the country when it comes to its size after the Jagiellonian Library.Incomes form the land estates of its founder, managed for life by curators, became the livelihood of the Institute.
Since the foundation of the department and up to 1945 the National Ossoliński Institute was located in the previous cloister and in the Church of Calced Carmelite Nuns on the 2 Ossolińscy Street in Lviv. After the first partition of Poland and dissolution of many cloisters by Joseph II, an Austrian emperor, the cloister building was in ruin. The restoration of that building was the work of Józef Bem. In 1823 to the Ossoliński Institute Museum Lubomirskich was attached, which was established by prince Henryk Lubomirski, as a separate part.
In times before the constitution, Ossolineum in Galicia was under Austrian rule concentrating Polish intellectual movement and was one of the most important centres of creating Polish culture in times of annexation and Germanization. During that time there were many persecutions in form of police searches and arrests of the employees of the centre.
In accordance to the intention of its founder it became one of the most important research centres on history and Polish literature due to the fact that it manages one of the biggest book collection in Poland as well as large collection of manuscripts and autographs in which there are manuscripts of medieval and the oldest prints.
Smaller archives and book collections are also connected with Ossolienum: Jabłonowski, Poniński, Pawlikowski, Skarbek,Balzer, Sapieh, Lubomirski, Mniszek.
The library has national character i.e. the Polish department is the biggest and it attempts to complete the whole Polish scientific and literary oeuvre. Ossolineum is the owner of manuscripts of the foremost Polish writers and poets:Mickiewicz, Ansyk, Sienkiewicz, Kasprowicz, Reymont, Żeromski, and above all Słowacki.
Before the Second World War the Ossolineum library consisted of 220 thousands works, over 6 thousands manuscripts, over 9 thousands autographs, over 2 thousands diplomas and over 3 thousands maps (the collection of J.M.Ossoliński from the year 1827 included 10.121 works, 19.055 volumes, duplicates, 567 manuscripts in 715 volumes, 133 maps, 1.445 figures)
Ossolineum had also the biggest in Poland, complete collection of Polish press from 19th and 20th centuries.
After the seizure of Lviv by the Soviet Union in September of 1939, a serious reorganisation took place in Ossolineum. In 1940 National Ossoliński Institute was closed down by the soviet invader. During the German occupation of Lviv (from 29th June 1941 to 27th July 1944), the library Ossolineum was incorporated into the structure of German Staatsbibilothek Lemberg. After another seizure of Lviv by the Soviet army, from August 1944 this library functioned as a so-called Polish Sector of Lviv Sciences Institute's library
At the beginning of 1944 German government decided to evacuate not only the collection of Lviv’s library, but also university and polytechnic library and Shevchenko Scientific Society.
According to German instructions two evacuation transports, which were prepared by professor Mieczysław Gębarowicz, who was managing Ossolineum during the war, suppose to include only German specialized literature and a reference book collection of a main reading room. However, it also consisted of the most valuable and carefully selected special collection and Ossolineum’s cimelias. Together there were 2300 manuscripts, cir. 2200 documents (diplomas), cir. 1700 old prints, cir. 2400 figures and drawings of an old collection of Lubomirsky’s Museum, the Pawlikowski’s collection and hundreds of old coins. Moreover, it also included cir. 170 of the most valuable manuscripts of the other Polish foundation library- Baworowscy Library, and the most valuable manuscripts and incunabulums of the University Library in Lviv. Among evacuated literature of 19th and 20th century there were the autographs of Pan Tadeusz of Adam Mickiewicz , the whole legacy of Juliusz Słowacki manuscripts (with autographs of Mazepa, Lilla Weneda, Król-Duch) and Aleksander Fredro (with autographs of Pan Jowialski, Śluby panieńskie, Zemsta and Dożywocie) and then autographs of works of Seweryn Goszczyński, Teofil Lenartowicz, Józef Conrad, Henryk Sienkiewicz (with autographs of The Deluge), Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, Jan Kasprowicz, Władysław Reymont (together with the autograph of Chłopi), Stefan Żeromski.
Furthermore, the manuscript legacy of Lviv’s scholars was evacuated: Wojciech Kętrzyński, Ludwik Bernacki,Balzer, Karol Szajnoch and the archive of the Galician activists of peasant movement of Bolesław and Maria Wysłouch. When it comes to documents, the oldest and the most valuable copies were selected, starting from documents of Pope Gregory IX from 1227 and the Silesian prince Henry I the Bearded from 1229.
This Ossolinem collection reached Cracow within March and April of 1944, where they supposed to outlast military actions in the cellar of Jagiellonian Library. Unexpectedly, this collection in the summer of 1944 was transferred by German further on the West and stored in the town Adelin (at present Zgrodno) near Złotoryja in Lower Silesia in the summer of 1944. Fortunately, they outlasted the whole war and in the year 1947 were incorporated into the collection of reactivated Ossolineum’s Library, which had been reactivated in Wrocław.
In 1946 collections of National Ossoliński Institute Library from Lviv arrived by means of two train shipments in the sealed carriages to Wrocław, which was still in the rubble at that time. These collections were opened to the readers in September 1947.
In 1946-1947 Ukrainians divided the collection of Lviv’s Ossolineum. The general rule which they followed was that all materials referred to or with origins in lands on the east of Curzon line especially those connected with (in Ukrainian commission opinion) the history and culture of West Ukraine, and those whatsoever connected with Russia, Belarus, Podolia, Volhynia (Wołyń), Lithuania, Turkey where were to remain in Lviv. This rule applied to even those materials, in which was only a one single mention about West Ukraine.
There was a case where a great scroll of papers containing Greater Poland and Silesian materials could not be returned to Poland, because it had only one page about Zhovkva (Żółkiew). The same happened to foreign materials which in Ukrainian commission opinion where not connected with Poland.
Originally Ukrainians planned to hand over only 30 thousands volumes from Ossolineum Library. The number of books was increased several times and in May 1946 it finally reached 150 thousand old prints, prints from XIX and XX century and manuscripts. It constituted only 15-20% of the entire collection due to the fact that graphical and cartographic collections, and almost whole collection of Polish periodicals from XIX-XX century were not taken into consideration.
Polish staff was only assigned to technical works, whereas Ukrainias were responsible for decisions, control and management. Offices where materials were packed were closed and Polish staff didn not have access to it. The whole work was conducted in a great hurry.
While dividing the collection quite unique criteria were applied. Among those which were questioned, were King's Stanisław August Poniatowski abdication act, because it was signed in Hrodna (Grodno), Leszczyński materials of John Amos Comenius as a bohemian, all materials about dissidents, materials about the Bar Confederation, and diplomatic correspondence concerning Partitions of Poland.
In Lviv stayed priceless collection of Polish press, which was unprotected and “temporarily” stored for 50 years in Church of Society of Jesus which was dedicated to the Saint Peter and Paul. W. Stefanyk Lviv`s National Scientific Ukraine Library replaced National Ossoliński Institute.
Since 1947 Ossolineum Library in Wrocław is being reactivated on the basis of the collection from Lviv’s Ossolineum which Poland succeeded in recovering from authorities of the Soviet Union. After nationalization of landed estates in 1945 the source of money for the Library's maintenance in new historical conditions became the Budget. Since 1953, which was the moment of establishing Polish Academy of Sciences, Ossolineum library and publishing house became members of Academy institutions as a two separate institutions, whereas the Lubomirscy Muzeum was closed down.
In accordance with the act form January 5 1995 National Ossoliński Institute obtained the status of foundation subsidized from the Budget, at the same time Ossolineum stopped being an institute subordinate to Polish Academy of Sciences. Relations between Ossolineum and Stefanyk Library were established in the early 90s, but for long time both parties offered proposals which excluded each other. In 1997 Poland put forward a proposal for return all Ossolineum collections from Lviv. In 2003 Ossolineum gained the option of full access to Polish collection stored in Stefanyk Library with possibility of copying (scanning and microfilming) and working out analysis by Polish specialists. In Wroclaw, there was agreement about mutually copying (scanning) Polish collection in Lviv and Ukrainian materials signed.
In 2006 in Lviv branch of Wrocław National Ossoliński Institute was open. It is situated in renovated with Polish help edifice of previous Baworowscy Library. It consists of exhibition hall and office for Ossolineum employee, who takes part in copying collection, preparing catalogue, signalling condition of collection and maintenance needs.
Szablon:Lviv
Category:Libraries in Poland Category:Ossoliński family Category:Lviv Category:Publishing companies of Poland
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