On June 25, 2022, at 4:00 pm, the ceremony of awarding the VIII edition of the Benedict Pole Awards took place at the Kazimierzowski Palace in Warsaw, in the Senate Room of the University of Warsaw.
The Main Prize (in the category for a Pole) went to Dr. Joanna Bocheńska, an outstanding researcher and promoter of Kurdish culture, ex aequo with Prof. Dr. Janusz T. Pawęska, a well-known virologist working in the area of South Africa.
Meanwhile, the Grand Prize (in the category for Foreigner) went to a British astronomer of Polish origin, Prof. Dr. Jan Charles Zarnecki, working with, among others, the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The Benedict Pole Prize has been awarded annually since 2015, usually to two people (this year exceptionally to three), a Pole and a foreigner, for outstanding exploration and research achievements on the ground, in the sea, in the air, and space. The patron of the award is a Franciscan monk, Benedict Pole, who, together with his Italian confrere Giovanni da Pian del Carpine who, from 1245 to 1247, carried out an envoy mission to the Mongol Khan, who received them in the then capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum.
Upon their return from this more than a two-year expedition, during which they traveled some 20,000 kilometers on horseback, the Emissaries gave the Pope and European courts the first detailed description of Asia, 50 years before Marco Polo's famous work was written (read more about the award on the City of Leczyca website >> ).
As in previous editions, the ceremony received the Honorary Patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland Dr. Andrzej Duda, the prize pool was funded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, and the event was sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Science and the University of Warsaw. Polish Radio SA provided radio patronage of the ceremony.
The ceremony at the Kazimierzowski Palace, was attended by representatives of state authorities, local governments, and the scientific and cultural world.
After the official event, a chamber concert of classical music was performed by guitarist Mateusz Kowalski, accompanied by the Veloce String Quartet, followed by a cocktail in honor of the Laureates given by the JM Rector of Warsaw University.
Photo coverage of the ceremony is available on the City of Leczyca website >>
While the full video report is made available here >>
HONORARY PATRONAGE
the ceremony was assumed by the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda
Funder of the award: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
The event organizers
Media Patronage
