HERNAS Czesław

Born on 12 July 1928 in Sokal (now in the Lviv region of Ukraine); son of the railway worker Józef Hernas and Maria, née Nitkiewicz. He attended comprehensive school in Sokal. During the German occupation of World War II, he attended secret grammar school classes in 1943/44. After the war, he settled in Łańcut, where he continued his education at the Henryk Sienkiewicz Grammar and Secondary School. He started a degree in Polish philology at the University of Wroclaw (UWr) in 1947. During his studies, he occasionally worked at a post office and as an extra in the theatre. He made his debut in 1948 with the poems Kobieta pracująca kilofem (Woman using a pickaxe) and Miejska albada (Urban sunrise), which appeared in "Ekran Tygodnia" (nos 20 and 25). That same year, he started working professionally as secretary of the editorial office of the periodical "Zeszyty Wrocławskie" (to 1951), where he also published reviews from 1949. In 1950, he was appointed research assistant at UWr before graduating with a master's degree the following year. In 1951 he published Bibliografia literacka. Styczeń-czerwiec 1950 (Literary Bibliography: January-June 1950). From 1954, he was employed as a lecturer in the Section of the History of Old Polish Literature at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IBL PAN). From 1956 to 1957, he was a member of the editorial committee of "Nowe Sygnały". During this period, he also began publishing in periodicals including "Pamiętnik Literacki" (from 1952), "Odra" (from 1958), and "Sobótka" (from 1959). He was awarded a doctoral degree in humanities in 1960 for his study Hejnały polskie (Polish bugle-calls), which was supervised by Prof. Tadeusz Mikulski. In 1962, he joined the editorial committee working on Oskar Kolberg's complete works (Dzieła wszystkie), while continuing to collaborate with IBL PAN, where he had a part-time role. He was awarded a habilitation degree in 1964 for his study U źródeł folklorystyki polskiej (The roots of Polish folklore studies). The same year, he received the prize of the Minister of Education and Higher Education, third class, before being award the second class prize in 1966. Between 1964 and 1969, he was head of the Section (later Department) for the History of Old Polish Literature at IBL PAN. At the same time, he chaired the Commission for Culture and Art at Wroclaw Municipal National Council (equivalent of the city council). From 1965 to 1958, he chaired the National Committee of Polish Festivals of Contemporary Arts. In 1966, he joined the Scientific Council of IBL PAN (serving as deputy chair between 1978 and 1981), while also co-editing the Institute's publication series Studia Staropolskie (Old Polish Studies; he was editor-in-chief from 1972). In 1968, he was appointed to the editorial committee of the encyclopaedic guide Literatura polska (Polish literature), which was published by Polish Scientific Publishers (PWN), becoming chair of the committee in 1976. He was deputy director of the Institute of Polish Philology at UWr from 1970, becoming director the following year. In 1972, he became editor-in-chief of the bimonthly "Literatura Ludowa", the publication of the Polish Folklore Society. He was awarded the prize of the Minister of Science, Higher Education and Technology, first class, in 1973. From 1974, he served on the editorial board of the bi-monthly "Teksty", until the publication was barred from print in 1982. From 1975 to 1980, served as its editor-in-chief. From 1975, he served on the editorial committee of the yearbook "Odrodzenie i Reformacja w Polsce" (Renaissance and Reformation in Poland). From 1975 to 1982, he chaired the Polish Academy of Science's working group on the Key Issue Polska kultura narodowa, jej tendencje rozwojowe i percepcja (Polish national culture, trends in its development, and perceptions of it). In 1976, he was appointed full professor. The same year, he became chair of the editorial committee of Józef Ignacy Kraszewski's complete works (Dzieła). He joined the Polish PEN Club in 1976. The following year, he received the prize of the Voivode of the Wroclaw Voivodeship. He served on the Main Board for Science, Higher Education and Technology from 1978 to 1981. In 1980, he co-founded the unofficial University of the Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarity (Wszechnica Niezależnego Samorządnego Związku Zawodowego (NSZZ) Solidarność) in Wroclaw. In 1981, he became a member of the Society for the Support and Propagation of Science. During martial law, which was imposed in December 1981, he was held under arrest in Grodków in October and November 1982. In November 1985, he was removed from his post as director of the Institute of Polish Philology at UWr. From 1989 to 1991, he was a member of the Solidarity Citizens' Committee. He served on the editorial board of the New York-based "Slavic and East European Arts", while in 1990 he became a regular correspondent to "Teksty Drugie". He was made an active member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU) in 1991, while in 1993 he joined the association of the Institute of East-Central Europe in Lublin. Between 1991 and 1993, he chaired the Committee on Literary Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (KNoLP PAN). From 1995, he edited the yearbook "Wrocławskie Studia Wschodnie" and from 2000 Series Nova of Studia Staropolskie (Old Polish Studies). He received the prize of the New York-based A. Jurzykowski Foundation in 1997 before retiring the following year. He received the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1973 as well as the Meritorious Activist of Culture honour. He died on 15 December 2003 in Wroclaw and is buried at the city's Osobowice Cemetery.