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Next Interview with Ancient Philosophy Scholar: Filip Karfik
We would like to invite you to watch the next interviews published on memoryclassics.eu website. The next interviews with historians of the Greek world (e.g. Cinzia Bearzot) are on the way, but we’d like to draw your attention to the conversation of Jaroslav Daneš, with whom we cooperated in the project Oral History and the Classics, with professor Filip Karfik (born 1963). Prof. Karfik is currently professor emeritus at the University of Fribourg and a former professor at Charles University in Prague.
First part of the interview is available here. Prof. Karfik shares his memories of his early interest in ancient languages and beginnings of his classical and philosophical studies. The video has English subtitles. The second part of this long and informative conversation is now under processing.
A. Habura’s Research Stay in Vilnius
We have already informed that the members of the Ancient Φilosophy Reception research group received a “Small Grant” from the Deputy Rector for Science and International Cooperation of the University of Zielona Góra. The aim of the AΦR team is to pursue research on the notes by Bohdan Zawadzki (1902-1966) from Władysław Tatarkiewicz’s (1886-1980) lectures on the philosophy of the Greeks. Now, we are glad to announce that the work is progressing.
The first phase of the research plan, that is, preliminary analysis of the manuscripts, has just been completed. It was thanks to the works of Adrian Habura, who travelled to Vilnius in May 2026 to assess the value of Zawadzki’s manuscripts and to identify the most significant issues that were emphasised by both, Zawadzki, the student, and Tatarkiewicz, the lecturing professor.
The next steps in the research plan include studies of the most important problems related to Tatarkiewicz’s lectures, as they were rendered by Zawadzki. The results will be presented in near future as conference or seminar papers and academic articles.
The Third Small Grant from the University of Zielona Góra
Prof. Justyna Patalas-Maliszewska, the Deputy Rector for Science and International Cooperation of the University of Zielona Góra, home institution of the AΦR, awarded Tomasz Mróz and Adrian Habura with a “Small Grant” (17th edition). These internal grants are distributed by the Rector annually among those researchers of UZ, who have submitted their proposals to the National Science Centre (NCN), received positive assessements from the experts, yet finally have not been granted funding.
The aim of the “Small Grant” for AΦR is to conduct preliminary research on extensive notes taken by Bohdan Zawadzki (1902-1966), later professor of psychology, during the lectures of Władysław Tatarkiewicz (1886-1980) on the philosophy of the Greeks, which were held at the University of Warsaw in the early twenties of the 20th century. Zawadzki’s manuscript is kept in one of the libraries in Vilnius.
The proposal received highest possible notes and funding will be spent on archival research and attending a conference.
The Interview with Professor Marian Wesoły Available with English Subtitles
We are very glad to announce that finally, after two years, the interview with Professor Marian Wesoły is available online with English subtitles on the website of the project Oral History and the Classics, here. We have already reported on shooting this interview here.
Professor Wesoły, at his desk at home, talked about his intellectual biography, his teachers, collaborators, colleagues, correspondents, about his academic adventures at research centres in Germany (Tübingen) and Italy (Naples), books and editions, and many other fascinating issues. Moreover, he shared his views on prospective developments of research in the field of ancient philosophy.
We want to encourage you, once again, to click here and watch the video.
An Interview with our Vilnius Colleagues
As we announced this autumn, Research Council of Lithuania had decided to fund a research project on the reception of ancient philosophy in Vilnius University in the 20th century. Doc. dr Jonas Čiurlionis (Vilnius University) is the PI in this project, who leads the team consisting of dr Mindaugas Stoškus (VU) and dr hab. Tomasz Mróz (University of Zielona Góra).
This post is to advertise the interview with M. Stoškus and J. Čiurlionis, who talked about the project, its premises and objectives. The interview in written form has been recently published on the VU Faculty website in Lithuanian.
Both, J. Čiurlionis and M. Stoškus, focusing on Lithuanian period in the history of VU (1940-now), emphasised the need of philosophers to confront their outlooks, methods, and the very understanding of what philosophy is with ancient philosophers. They both spoke about their lecturers and how they had referred to the Greeks. We cannot agree more with them regarding their views on significance of Greek philosophy for each Western philosopher, philosophical current and national philosophical tradition. Thus it is important to research and assess the impact of Greek ideas on more recent philosophers, for the history of philosophy is not a linear development, but a constant reference to the roots of philosophical thinking. And the core aim of the project is to research who of the VU philosophers in the 20th century, why and how referred to and reflected on ancient philosophers.
A Centenary of the Kosciuszko Foundation
This year a merited institution supporting the development of Polish sciences, arts and humanities, Kosciuszko Foundation, celebrates its centennial anniversary. A decade ago Tomasz Mróz was a Kosciuszko Fellow at the University of Iowa, in the Department of Classics, whose Head at that time was Professor John Finamore.
On October 21st, 2025, in lecturing hall of the university’s library in Zielona Góra, T. Mróz delivered a talk about the history of the Kosciuszko Foundation and exchange programs for Polish scholars to pursue research visits in American academic institutions. The talk was based on the presentation provided by The Kosciuszko Foundation Alumni, but its basic aim was to encourage prospective grantees to submit their project proposals and spend a couple of months in American universities. Moreover, Mróz shared his experience of preparing his proposal, of the interview and of many practical details of his 5 months research stay at the University of Iowa. The audience at the meeting was not numerous, yet highly motivated to develop their academic careers with support of the Foundation. A brief report from the meeting was published on the website of the University of Zielona Góra and on social media of the The Kosciuszko Foundation Alumni.
The talk induced Mróz to recall some memories of his stay in Iowa, in the Department of Classics. Financial support from the Foundation allowed him not only to cover flights, accomodation, and daily expenses, but also to undertake a research trip to the University of Chicago and the Joseph Regenstein Library, where essential manuscript collection for his research was preserved, that is, the legacy of Paul Shorey (1857-1934), an American Plato scholar…
…and Mróz’s project was focused, not surprisingly, on the reception of Plato, that is, on the controversy between Shorey and a Polish Plato scholar, Wincenty Lutosławski (1863-1954), over the methods of reading Plato’s dialogues, their chronological order, etc. During his stay Mróz delivered a paper on this topic at a seminar meeting in the Department of Classics.
It all would not have been possible without a kind invitation from Professor John Finamore (on the left) who was at that time the Head of the Department of Classics and was very helpful for Mróz to settle in Iowa City, feel comfortable in the Department and do his research work in accordance to the plan. Thank you, John! It was a beneficial semester.
A Successful Project Proposal in Vilnius!
We are very glad to announce that the project proposal submitted by doc. dr Jonas Čiurlionis of Vilnius University to Research Council of Lithuania turned out to be successful! The title of the project in Lithuanian is Antikinės filosofijos recepcija XX a. Vilniaus universitete what translates into English as Reception of Ancient Philosophy in the 20th century Vilnius University.
Project will be pursued at the Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University (FsF VU), in 2025-2029. The scope of the project covers reception of ancient philosophy among scholars of Vilnius University, starting with the interwar, Polish period of its history, followed by the Soviet times after the World War II, concluding with research on ancient philosophy in free Republic of Lithuania.
The plan of the project includes organising a mid-term seminar meeting in Zielona Góra, an international conference in Vilnius, not to mention conference presentations and journal papers by all the three researchers employed in the project. And they are doc. dr Jonas Čiurlionis, Ph.D., head of the project and senior researcher, dr Mindaugas Stoškus, Ph.D., researcher, both of FsF VU, accompanied by dr hab. Tomasz Mróz, Ph.D., as senior researcher (UZ).
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