The Polish Mathematical Society Was and Its Statute Changed)
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SOCIETIES TheThe PolishPolish MathematicalMathematical SocietySociety (PTM)(PTM) Janusz Kowalski (Warsaw) PTM in the early years headquarters had been moved to Warsaw The Polish Mathematical Society was and its statute changed). established in 1919. The Reader can find The number of members of the Polish information regarding the circumstances Mathematical Society equaled 49 persons of its rise, as well as a description of its in 1921 and 155 persons in 1939. The activity during the first year of its exis- Society was of a scientific character, as tence, in an article by Józef Piórek in the stated in the statute, where active and European Mathematical Society passive voting powers were given exclu- Newsletter ([4]). Stefan Banach, sively to authors of mathematical publi- Franciszek Leja, Otto Nikodym, Stanis³aw cations. A new statute, resolved in Lvov Zaremba and Kazimierz ¯orawski were in 1936, established a federal organization called into being by the government, the among its founder members, and of five sections with its headquarters in Polish Mathematical Society had been the Stanis³aw Zaremba was elected as the Warsaw. The General Meeting of PTM, only central institution representing Polish President of the Society. In 1921, the which included delegates from all sec- mathematics at home and abroad. Apart Mathematical Society in Cracow tions and the President of PTM, elected from assemblies of Polish mathematicians (Towarzystwo Matematyczne w Krakowie) a president, a secretary and a treasurer - organized by this right, PTM was in con- was transformed into a national Polish all of them constituting the General tact with public institutions, voiced opin- Mathematical Society (Polskie Management - as well as a Board of ions on subjects related to science and Towarzystwo Matematyczne; PTM) with Control. The General Management also education and issued its own periodical - its headquarters in Kraków (Cracow). automatically included the presidents of “Annales de la Société Polonaise de According to its first statute, the the sections, who held titles of “vice- Mathématique“ - distributed nationally presidents of PTM“. Sections held local and internationally. meetings, where local General Management members were elected as The post war years well as those of local boards of control In the years 1919-39, the time when the and delegates to the General Meeting of famous Polish mathematical school was PTM. The aforementioned statute of 1936 established, Polish mathematics was a substantially extended the aims of PTM. great success and met with a high esteem on the international forum. During the Second World War, when Poland fell under occupation, all official activity of the Polish Mathematical Society came to a standstill; only clandestine scientific sessions were held in Cracow and in Warsaw. The second period of PTM’s activity involves the years 1945-53, when Kazimierz Kuratowski acted as President. In 1945 the Cracow section was reacti- Stanis³aw Zaremba, vated and in 1946 sections in Poznañ and PTM’s first president Warsaw started to operate again. Within the period 1946-53, six new sections Society’s aim was “a comprehensive cul- were established. The number of mem- tivation of pure and applied mathematics bers of PTM grew from 144 persons in by means of scientific sessions combined Stefan Banach, elected president in 1939 1946 to 339 in 1953. with lectures“. The first change to the During the first years of the post-war statute - still in 1921 - resulted in the Apart from those adopted before, new period, the Polish Mathematical Society following insertion: “publication of a ones were added, among others to orga- was, similarly to the situation before periodical and maintenance of contacts nize competitions, to gather collections of 1936, the only institution actively cover- with the mathematical scientific move- publications, to improve work conditions ing the whole range of issues related to ment“. for mathematicians, to maintain contacts Polish mathematics. As such, it cooperat- Members not residing in Cracow were with scientific institutions both within the ed with Polish authorities on the recon- admitted to PTM through local sections. country and abroad and to invite mathe- struction of the 3rd level education sys- Within the period 1921-1939, the follow- maticians from abroad to give lectures. tem (among others, it prepared a reform ing sections existed: one in Lwów The basic rules under this statute have regarding mathematical studies and M.Sc. (Lvov), since 1921, and three others since been in force until present times. degrees in mathematics). PTM also coop- 1923 in Warszawa (Warsaw), Poznañ and Until 1936, when a Council for Exact erated on a regular basis with the Wilno (Vilnius). Since 1937, mathemati- and Applied Science (Rada Nauk Ministry of Education as well as other cians from Cracow have constituted part Œcis³ych i Stosowanych) and its organ educational authorities, being a founding of the Cracow section (after the Society’s called the Mathematical Committee were body of the first Olympic Games for sec- 24 EMS December 2004 SOCIETIES ondary school students in the country, i.e. the sections in Toruñ, Katowice and file to a Society involved in large-scale the Mathematical Olympic Games. The Szczecin - established in the years 1952- scientific and social activity, became Society was also an initiator of research 55 - and those in Bia³ystok, Rzeszów, reflected in the development of various work and systematically convened scien- S³upsk, Czêstochowa, Kielce, Olsztyn, organizational structures, created within Opole, Nowy S¹cz and Zielona Góra - the Society’s frame to fulfill defined established in the years 1970-75. The sat- assignments. By the end of 1975, six uration of big national scientific centres committees operated under the supervi- with specialist seminars made it necessary sion of PTM’s General Management: the to do research work within a much wider Committee for Popularization of scope that might be of interest to all Mathematics and Higher Education, the mathematicians. There was also a need to Committee for Mathematics at hold a council dedicated to social and Universities, the Committee for School organizational issues. This type of activ- Handbooks, the Committee for ity was conducted by successive sections, Application of Mathematics, the as well as by the General Management Committee for Publication and the of PTM, during section meetings, coun- Committee for an Information and cils, conferences and assemblies of Polish Service Centre. Apart from these, there mathematicians. The Polish Mathematical was a Main Committee for Mathematical Society also fulfilled important tasks Olympiads, which operated together with Kazimierz Kuratowski within the scope of cooperation with the its local committees, seven editorial com- educational authorities, and introduced mittees, one editorial board and four tific sessions. Within the years 1946-49, new forms of teaching young people with competition jury boards. Analogous teams four assemblies of Polish mathematicians a talent for mathematics. It also cooper- operated under the supervision of local took place, the last one together with ated with foreign mathematical centers General Managements. Czechoslovak counterparts. At the same and initiated new publications. An aspect Roman Sikorski, who in the years time, annual competitions for the best of significant value was PTM’s help to 1953-75 impacted PTM’s activity and works within the field of mathematics newly established sections, effectuated development the most, was the Society’s were organized. Editorial activities were mainly through delegating lecturers. President between 1965 and 1977. launched by PTM as early as in 1945, At the end of the 1960s, the Polish Another important character in those when the 18th volume of “Annales de la Mathematical Society got involved in a years was Tadeusz Iwiñski, Secretary in Société Polonaise de Mathématique“ was campaign to establish a new profession the years 1960-1981. published. for mathematicians working within vari- In 1948, the National Mathematical ous branches of science, economy and Conferences and Assemblies Institute (Pañstwowy Instytut Matema- state administration. This problem was Since the very beginning of PTM’s exis- tyczny) was established. That meant that the focus subject for the 10th Assembly tence, scientific lectures and discussions PTM ceased to be the only central math- of Polish Mathematicians - organized in during local meetings, conferences and ematical institution; therefore its activity Katowice in 1970, together with the assemblies have been the basic form of started to be gradually limited to the National Mathematical Committee of the activity. In the years 1919-39, as many profit of the Institute. After the Polish Polish Academy of Sciences. This Academy of Sciences (Polska Akademia Assembly, being the largest one in Nauk) had been called into being in 1952 PTM’s history as far as the number of (the National Mathematical Institute participants is concerned (547), formulat- becoming a part of it after being renamed ed new assignments for the Polish to: Mathematical Institute of the Polish Mathematical Society and desiderata Academy of Sciences - Instytut addressed to other institutions as well as Matematyczny PAN), a third national a definite activity program. In this way, mathematical institution came into being: PTM managed to be a focal point for the National Mathematical Committee of the majority of mathematicians working