Rocznik Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie (1(37).2012/2013)

Dr Aleksandra Krzyżanowska (24 June 1928 - 11 April 2012)

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and in 1966-1986 was a member of the editorial board of Biuletyn Numizmatyczny and since
1981 of Prace i Materiały Muzeum Archeologicznego i Etnograficznego w Łodzi.
Dr Krzyżanowskas half-century of scholarly activity produced about 150 publications:
articles, monographs, catalogues and reviews.1 Her study of the Severus family tops the list
of her iconographie works. The subject of Roman minting in imperial Pisidian Antiochia
forms a whole separate category. Another important group in her bibliography are the coin
discoveries in Poland, such as hoards from Drzewicz or Golub on Drwęca, which she ana-
lyzed in articles and in longer publications. Vademecum historyka starożytnej Grecji i Rzymu
[Handbook for the historian of ancient Greece and Rome] included a history of minting in
ancient Greece.2

In her long professional career she attended many conferences, symposia and numis-
matic congresses in Poland and abroad, in Rome, Copenhagen, New York, Budapest and
Brno, where she presented her research findings about the coins of antiquity. She was also a
regular participant in Polish numismatic meetings in Nowa Sól and sessions about medals
in Gorzów Wielkopolski.
For many years Krzyżanowska also worked with the Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology
of the University of Warsaw. Their cooperation yielded analyses of coins uncovered outside
Poland, in Polish archaeological excavations in Myrmekion, Tell Atrib, Palmyra, Alexandria,
Nea Pafos, Carthage and Bidzhan, and in Strymen and Oderca in Bulgaria.
Dr Krzyżanowska participated in excavations in Palmyra in Syria and Tell Atrib in Egypt,
and for many years she researched minting in Palmyra and Roman Egypt. This research is
well-known and respected by the international numismatic community. Her expertise and
outstanding scholarly intuition yielded innovative approaches to minting in these regions. In
1999 she was invited to Damascus for an international conference devoted to Syrian minting,
where she gave a paper on the chronology and circulation of Palmyra coins.3
We must also remember Krzyżanowskas contribution in publicizing her research by
presenting numerous papers. Her admirable body of work shows what an exceptionally ac-
tive person she was. She divided her time between raising her four children and work, and
she often said that she would not have been able to do it without support from her dear ones.
She was rewarded for her activity and scholarly achievements. In 1978 the Minister of
Culture and the Arts decorated her with the Order of the Meritorious Cultural Activist, and in

1982 she received the Golden Badge for the Protection of Antiquities. The Polish Archaeological
and Numismatic Society awarded her the medal of the Distinguished Individual in Polish
Numismatics. In 1987 she received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for
her exceptional achievements in museum and scholarly work.

1 A complete bibliography of Krzyżanowskas works can be found in Tomasz Bylicki, “Czterdziestolecie
pracy numizmatycznej dr Aleksandry Krzyżanowskiej,” Wiadomości Numizmatyczne, 3-4, XXXII (1988), pp. 251- 4,
and in Ryszard Kiersnowski, Mariusz Mielczarek, “Złoty jubileusz Aleksandry Krzyżanowskiej,” Wiadomości
Numizmatyczne, i-2,XLIII (1999), pp. 4-6, recorded by Marta Męclewska.
2 Aleksandra Krzyżanowska, “Numizmatyka grecka,” in Vademecum histoiyka starożytnej Grecji i Rzymu,
Ewa Wipszycka, ed. (Warsaw: PWN, 2001), pp. 253-311.
3 Krzyżanowska, Les monnaies de Palmyre : leur chronologie et leur rôle dans la circulation monétaire de la
région, in Les monnayages syriens. Quel apport pour l’histoire du Proche-Orient hellénistique et romain ?, Actes de la
table ronde de Damas, 10-12 novembre 1999, Christian Augé and Frédérique Duyrat, eds (Beirut: IFAPO, 2002),
pp. 167-73. Institut français d’archéologie du Proche-Orient, Bibliothèque archéologique et historique, vol. 162.