Notae Numismaticae - Zapiski Numizmatyczne (14.2019)

JAROSŁAW BODZEK
Jagiellonian University

STEFAN SKOWRONEK

Stefan Skowronek
(January 16, 1928-June 11,2019)
Prof. Dr. hab. Stefan Skowronek died on June 11,2019. A historian of antiquity,
a classical philologist, and an archaeologist, he was also the doyen of Polish
numismatics. During his bountiful career, he was a faculty member at the Pedagogical
University in Krakow as well as vice president of the university from 1984 to 1987.
He was also a lecturer at the Jagiellonian University, a long-standing employee
and head of the Numismatic Cabinet at the National Museum in Krakow, and,
finally, a member of the Scientific Committee at Notae Numismaticae - Zapiski
Numizmatyczne. This tribute will emphasize those elements from the professor's
prolific activity that were tied, above all, to the National Museum and to numismatics.
Stefan Skowronek was born on January 16, 1928 in Przeworsk. His father,
Józef, worked at the local sugar factory until an accident in 1935 limited the work
that he was able to do. Stefan’s mother, Anna, from the house of Strączek, was
a homemaker and spent her time raising the future professor and his two sisters,
Maria and Zofia. It was in Przeworsk during World War II that Skowronek finished
grade school, and then trade school - in 1941 and 1943, respectively. He spent
the last year of the German occupation, up until 1944, working as an assistant to an
installation electrician. In this way, he saved himself from being sent to Germany
to do forced labor. That same year, following liberation, he passed the so-called
small matura exam and began studying at the Liberal Arts High School in Przeworsk,
passing his school-leaving examinations in 1946. He then began studying in
the Faculty of the Humanities at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He studied
classical philology and then history and archaeology. He developed his historical
interests, which were concentrated on antiquity, under the eye of the one and only
Prof. Ludwik Piotrowicz (1886-1957). His guide to the world of Greek and Latin
was Prof. Tadeusz Sinko (1877-1966), and his classical archaeology teacher was
Prof. Stanislaw Jan Gąsiorowski (1897-1962). Among the lecturers working at
that time at the Jagiellonian University, Skowronek was strongly influenced by
the philosopher Prof. Roman Ingarden (1893-1970), the historian and professor
of Roman literature Seweryn Hamer (1883-1955), and the historian and professor of
culture Ryszard Gansiniec (1888-1958). During his years as a student, Skowronek

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