News

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Professor Wojciech Michał Chlebda, an accomplished scholar, linguist, slavist and ethnolinguist, an authority due to his exceptional achievements, and often pioneering contributions to the Polish human sciences, a distinguished academic of the Opole University, who also collaborated with our Museum, passed away on Saturday, 1 October.

Wojciech M. Chlebda (born on 18 January 1950 in Głuchołazy) was a graduate of High School of Pedagogy in Opole, where, in 1972, he graduated with a degree in Russian philology, and where he had spent his life in academia. His received his Ph.D. in 1980, and an associate professor degree 11 years later. He was elected to the position of professor of human sciences in 1993. W. Chlebda was a member of many scientific institutions and societies, including The Polish Academy of Sciences. At his beloved university, for many years (until 2019), he headed t the Institute of Slavic Studies.

Professor Wojciech Chlebda was a son of Lieutenant Stanisław Chlebda (1909–1971), a prisoner-of-war in Oflags XI B Braunschweig and II C Woldenberg, and also the brother of Jacek Chlebda (1946–2017), the founder of the 107th Scout Troop "Powsinogi", educator and social activist, author of the "Ballad of Łambinowice". The Professor entrusted us with prisoner-of-war memorabilia of his late father. The cooperation with him resulted in, among other things, a lecture, 'Family memory in theory and personal practice', delivered by him during a meeting of the families of Polish prisoners-of-war in Warsaw, 2019, and also two fascinating meetings during the ''Łambinowice Museum Meetings” and ''Faces of Opole'' dedicated to his brother Jacek Chlebda, in 2017.

Our cooperation with the Professor lasted too short a time. We had promised ourself to make it frequent, but his serious illness made it impossible.

Thank you for everything, Professor!