Award ceremony of the Honorary Consul’s Prize of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Sopot

The presentation of the Honorary Consul’s Prize of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Sopot for the best doctoral thesis on French, German or Luxembourg literature, under the high patronage of His Excellency Paul Schmit, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Poland, took place on 4 April 2022.

Alongside the ambassador, who on that day also embellished the opening of the open-air exhibition “100 years of diplomatic relations between Luxembourg and Poland”, and the founder of the prize, Consul Tomasz Kopoczyński, the Consulate of Culture of Gdynia welcomed, among others, the Deputy Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship Leszek Bonna, the Deputy Mayor of Gdynia Katarzyna Gruszecka-Spychała, the jury of the Prize, numerous consuls, diplomats and personalities from the cultural and political world of Pomerania.

The ceremony highlighted voices related to the current global situation as well as the importance of initiatives such as the Consul’s Award. His Excellency Ambassador Paul Schmit mentioned this in his address, recalling the difficult history of our continent and the role of culture and literature in European integration. The chairman of the jury, Professor Marek Wilczyński, gave his speech in the same vein, discussing the thesis of Dr. Wacław Pagórski of Adam Mickiewicz University, entitled “Let those who live too well go to Poland.” Contribution to the image of Poland in the German-language travel literature of the ‘long’ 17th century, written under the direction of Professor Jerzy Kałążny and Dr. Anna Kochanowska-Nieborak. The ceremony was complemented by a lecture by Professor Piotr Salwa entitled “Text as a puzzle”, as well as a performance by violinist Karolina Vallo Sutt and pianist Michał Mossakowski.