On 17 August, the winner of the Lux ex Silesia Award was announced; this year, the award will be presented to Prof. Wojciech Świątkiewicz – a sociologist, professor of humanities and academic at the University of Silesia. The statuette will be presented during the Interuniversity Inauguration of the Academic Year 2026/2027 at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Katowice.
The award, established in 1994 by Archbishop Damian Zimoń, is presented to those associated with Upper Silesia who, through their scientific, artistic or social activities, make a special contribution to the culture of the region and are distinguished by high moral values.
Prof. Wojciech Świątkiewicz has been associated with the University of Silesia since 1975. In the years 1988–1991 he was the Deputy Director of the Institute of Sociology for Education, in the years 1990–2019 he was the Head of the Department of Sociology of Knowledge, in the years 1998–2002 he was the Deputy Director of Interfaculty Individual Studies in the Humanities, and in the years 1999–2002 the Deputy Dean for Science of the Faculty of Social Sciences. In the years 2002–2005 Prof. Świątkiewicz was the Vice-Rector for Education of the University of Silesia, and in the years 2008–2016 the Director of the Institute of Sociology of the University of Silesia.
In his academic work, Prof. Wojciech Świątkiewicz focuses, amongst other things, on issues of cultural integration and the role of culture as a factor in social integration; symbols of European cultural identity; the social determinants of the content and forms of participation in culture and lifestyles; as well as socio-cultural processes taking place in local and regional communities, using Upper Silesia as a case study, including the issue of multiculturalism in Upper Silesia and the socio-cultural determinants of patterns of religiosity.
Prof. Wojciech Świątkiewicz | private archive