The Interuniversity Inauguration of the Academic Year 2026/2027 took place on 11 October. During the event, the Archbishop Andrzej Przybylski presented the annual Lux ex Silesia Award. This year, the laureate was Prof. Wojciech Świątkiewicz, a USil sociologist. The laudation was delivered by Rev. Prof. Janusz Mariański who mentioned the most significant events from the life and scientific activity of the award-winning.
Affiliated with the University of Silesia in Katowice since 1975, his distinguished career at the university includes serving as: Deputy Director for Education at the Institute of Sociology (1988–1991), Head of the Department of the Sociology of Knowledge (1990–2019), Deputy Director of the Inter-faculty Humanities Individual Studies (1998–2002), Deputy Dean for Science of the Faculty of Social Sciences (1999–2002), Vice-rector for Education (2002–2005), and the Director of the Institute of Sociology (2008–2016). He has also been associated with many research centres in Poland and abroad. Prof. Świątkiewicz’s research focuses on the sociology of culture, particularly the cultural identity, social integration, cultural capital, shifts in religious landscapes, and multicultural nature of Upper Silesia. Prof. Świątkiewicz is a member of the Committee on Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), the Commission on Silesian History of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU). At the PAN Branch in Katowice, he serves as Chair of the Commission for Polish-Czech and Polish-Slovak Relations and as a member of the Committee for the Studies on the Future of Upper Silesia. He is also Chair of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Regional Research at the Silesian Library in Katowice and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Upper Silesian Pantheon. He is a member of the Polish Sociological Association, the Polish Familiological Association, and the Slovak Sociological Association. In addition, he serves on the Social Council of the Polish Bishops’ Conference and the Scientific Council of the Institute for Catholic Church Statistics. He has also sat on a number of ecclesiastical advisory bodies, including the Charity Commission of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, the Pastoral Council of the Archdiocese of Katowice, and the Social Council to the Archbishop Metropolitan of Katowice.
The award’s name—Lux ex Silesia (Latin for Light from Silesia)—refers to the figure of Saint Hyacinth of Poland, the primary patron saint of the Archdiocese of Katowice, and Blessed Ceslaus—both of the House of Odrowąż—who were both historically described as Ex Silesia Lux. The award was established in 1994 by the then Metropolitan Archbishop of Katowice, Damian Zimoń. It is presented to people associated with Upper Silesia who have made a lasting and exceptional contribution to the region’s culture through their academic, artistic, or civic actions while exhibiting high moral values through their life and work.
Photo by Jula Agnieszka Szymala