The Beginnings of PIASA by Feliks Gross, July 1989 – PART 1

The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA) was founded by Polish scientists and scholars who came to the United States as immigrants after the outbreak of World War II. Among them were prominent members of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (Polish Academy of Learning) in Kraków, including Oskar Halecki, Jan Kucharzewski, Wacław Lednicki, Bronisław Malinowski, Wojciech Świętosławski, and Rafał Taubenschlag. In 1942, they established the PIASA, an institution which they intended to continue the mission of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU) in exile. This Institute was to continue the research and scholarly work previously initiated and carried out by the PAU. The Polish government in London approved both the founding of this new organization and the candidature of Professor* Bronisław Malinowski for the President of the Institute’s Council, with Professor Oskar Halecki and Professor Rafał Taubenschlag appointed for the posts of Director and Deputy Director, respectively. At the same time, four scientific sections were established: historical-political, legal and socio-economic, historical-literary and artistic, and mathematical-naturalistic and educational. The Institute was registered in New York on May 1, 1942, with the inaugural meeting of the PIASA taking place at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York on May 15, 1942. The then Polish Ambassador to the United States Jan Ciechanowski at the opening ceremony of PIASA said: Great is the mission that the Institute has to fulfill. The duty of it will not only be the further development of Polish science, but also the cultivation of endangered culture. Today, in exile, you gentlemen are a living expression of Polish creative genius, Polish thought and Polish cultural inspiration. The day after this inaugural meeting, PIASA president, Professor Bronisław Malinowski, passed away suddenly. Professor Jan Kucharzewski became the new President of the Institute.