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

Professor Jadwiga (“Jagoda”) Lipińska (29 November 1932 - 4 October 2009)

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job was to join together small fragments of splintered walls to recreate sequences of scenes
covering entire walls. This allowed for the theoretical reimagining of the decorations of most
of the temple’s rooms and the practical reconstruction of one of its walls. The mission, initially
made up of only four people, Professor Lipińska and three of her students, gradually grew
into a large team made up of Egyptologists, conservators, architects, artists and temporarily
engaged specialists from other disciplines.
The mission’s house in the Valley of the Monkeys, an enchanted rocky valley neighbour-
ing the Valley of the Kings and, across the mountains, Deir el-Bahari, became Jagoda’s second
home. We often had to scale steep cliffs to reach our workplace, a storeroom near Thutmosis’s
temple, after the mission’s faithful cars refused to start. The house was well-cared for, and its
decorations included finishing touches such as lampshades hand-woven by us out of palm
leaves, the walls we painted ourselves and gorgeous flower gardens at the entrance, not to
mention the dazzling views from its windows. The only thing missing for Jagoda’s total bliss
was a forest where she could pick mushrooms...
When the mission suspended its activity in 1996, the reconstruction of the temple stopped.
It was only fourteen years later, in 2008, that the mission was reopened, to Jagoda’s enormous
joy, albeit no longer under her leadership. But she continued to maintain a lively interest in
all news coming from Egypt.
Jagoda not only published more than 100 scholarly books and articles about Egyptian
culture, but she also popularized it. Thanks to her lively writing and to her professionalism,
many years later her books continue to be read by people interested in Egypt. They are sought
after and sometimes reappear in new editions, and they retain their freshness.
Jagoda had many close friends and extensive professional contacts in the international
community of Egyptologists. From its very beginning she was active in the International
Committee for Egyptology, under the auspices of the International Council of Museums,
and in other associations and organizations: she was a corresponding member of the German
Archaeological Institute, a member of the Council of the International Association of
Egyptologists, a member of the Society for Nubian Studies, the German Oriental Society,
Institute of Mediterranean Archaeology and the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities
in Toronto and the Polish Archaeological Society. She was also a member of the Polish
Mediterranean Archaeology Centre of the University of Warsaw, of the Council of the Research
Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology of the Polish Academy of Sciences and of the Council
of the National Museum in Warsaw.
Jagoda had the gift of a sparkling intelligence, a critical spirit, a lively sense of humour
and a large dose of malice. She travelled through life like a tornado, attracting friends but also
making enemies. She was one of those people who leave a deep, multihued imprint on the
reality that surrounds them.

Monika Dolińska