Józef Mianowski


Józef Mianowski was a Polish medical researcher and practitioner, academic, social and political activist, and rector of the "Main School" incarnation of Warsaw University.
In honor of Mianowski, after his death, in 1881, a foundation was inaugurated to support scientific and scholarly research, named Kasa imienia Józefa Mianowskiego — "the Józef Mianowski Fund" or, more simply, "the Mianowski Fund."

Life

In his youth, Mianowski graduated from Wilno University. He served as a clinical assistant to Jędrzej Śniadecki, was a friend of Polish Romantic poet Juliusz Słowacki, and in 1831 married.
A rising star in medicine, in 1838 Mianowski became an assistant professor at the Wilno Medical-Surgical Academy, then the only institution of higher learning in Russian Poland. The Main School was a reincarnation of the closed University of Warsaw. Mianowski gained popularity among students and faculty for his liberal views; his inaugural speech stressed the links between Polish and western cultures.
During the January 1863 Uprising, Mianowski lent clandestine support to the insurgents. In later stages of the uprising, he participated in the falsification of academic records to provide alibis of attendance to many students who took part in the uprising. He also supported enrollment of others for purposes of alibi. Thanks to his connections at the Saint Petersburg court, these efforts succeeded, and the Main School became a refuge for many insurgents.
In 1868 Mianowski won another victory, albeit a Pyrrhic one: the Main School was enlarged and regained the name "Warsaw University" — however, it was russified.
Mianowski, disappointed with this turn of events, emigrated to Italy, where he lived out the remainder of his life.

Mianowski Fund

In 1881, alumni of the Main School established a foundation, named after Józef Mianowski, to support scholarly activity in the sciences and humanities. The foundation was known as Kasa imienia Józefa Mianowskiego.
This institution became, in the late 19th century, the major Polish organization that sponsored research and publication of scholarly works, and it continued its activities after Poland regained independence in 1918.
Liquidated in the communist People's Republic of Poland, the Mianowski Fund was re-established after the fall of communism in 1991.