On September 8, 2014, for the 16th time, a call for nominations went out for the Aleksander Gieysztor Award. This prize is awarded by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation to individuals and institutions active in protection and promotion of Polish culture heritage at home and abroad. Until October 12, nominations can be submitted by members of the Award Committee, previous winners of the Award, and cultural institutions
The winner of the 16th annual Aleksander Gieysztor Award will be announced in February 2015 during a gala ceremony at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. He or she will join an honored group of laureates, which includes such individuals as Prof. Norman Davies, the eminent British historian and insightful scholar of Polish history; Anda Rottenberg, esteemed art historian, critic, and exhibition curator; and Jan K .Ostrowski, longtime director of Wawel Royal Castle in Cracow. The Gieysztor Award is widely recognized as the most prestigious prize in the field of protection and popularization of Polish cultural heritage.
Until October 12, nominations for the Awards, for both individuals and institutions, can be submitted by members of the Award Committee, previous winners of the Award, and cultural institutions - state, local, and non-governmental. The prize is awarded in the following fields: museum, conservation, archival, and library activities; preservation and protection of Polish cultural heritage abroad. Also awarded are: local government projects designed to protect cultural heritage; individual and collective initiatives aimed at collecting and preserving remnants of cultural heritage, as well as disseminating knowledge about the need and methods for protecting cultural heritage in Poland.
Nominations should be made using the electronic application form accessible at www.nagrodagieysztora.pl. The selection is made by the Award Committee, convening under the chairmanship of Prof. Andrzej Rottermund.
The awarding of the annual Aleksander Gieysztor Award is one of the activities of The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation in the field of supporting and protecting cultural heritage. The Foundation is involved in many initiatives important for Polish culture, such as cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the program "Recovery of Polish Art". Thanks to the program, two paintings were returned to their rightful owners, "Resting in a Tatra Shed" by Wojciech Gerson (2010) and "Negress" by Anna Bilińska-Bogdanowiczowa (2012), as well as 42 prints and lithographs by the most outstanding Polish artists, including Józef Che³moński Jan Matejko, Juliusz Kossak, and Alexander Orlowski (2013).
