2. INDIVIDUALS AND TERMS TO KNOW
Juliusz Slowacki
Poland's great
Romantic poet,
playwright and
visionary
philosopher. Born
1809 in Krzemieniec,
died 1849 in Paris.
3. INDIVIDUALS AND TERMS TO KNOW
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz
Polish poet, dramatist, essayist,
publicist, translator and political
activist.
He is regarded as national poet
in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus.
A principal figure in Polish Romanticism, he is one
of Poland's "Three Bards" and is widely regarded
as Poland's greatest poet.
4. INDIVIDUALS AND TERMS TO KNOW
Cyprian Kamil Norwid
a.k.a. Cyprian Konstanty Norwid,
was a nationally esteemed Polish
poet, dramatist, painter, and
sculptor.
born in the Masovian village of
Laskowo-Głuchy near Warsaw.
One of his maternal ancestors
was the Polish King John III
Sobieski.
5. INDIVIDUALS AND TERMS TO KNOW
Marcin Wadowita
was a Polish priest, theologian,
professor and the Deputy
Chancellor of the Jagiellonian
University.
He was born in Wadowice. He
later funded several buildings
there. He studied at the
Jagiellonian University in
Cracow and abroad - in Rome.
6. INDIVIDUALS AND TERMS TO KNOW
Neoclassical
a Western cultural
movement in the
decorative and visual
arts, literature, theatre,
music, and architecture
that drew inspiration
from the art and culture
of classical antiquity.
7. PRELIMINARIES
The young Karol Wojtyła
was an outgoing youth,
though always with a
serious side.
He excelled in academics
and dramatics, played
football (soccer), and,
under his father’s
guidance, lived a
disciplined life of routine
religious observance.
He regularly
assisted Father
Kazimierz Figlewicz,
his confessor and
first teacher in
Catholicism, in
Wadowice’s main
church, which was
next door to the
Wojtyła family’s tiny
apartment.
8. HE IS ALWAYS GRATEFUL TO HIS TEACHERS.
“What do I owe to the Polish school? It
is difficult to measure it, it is difficult
to balance it, because we carry it in us
so much that we simply identify with
it. That's us! It has been given to us. It
has been inculcated in us. A human
being can be himself through culture.
(...) I would like to kiss the hands of all
my teachers and all the catechists
who taught me in the primary school,
in the middle school, until the
graduation exam, laying the foundation
for the future of man.
10. MARCIN WADOWITA MALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
DATE: SEPTEMBER 15, 1926
The school was located in the
building of the town hall at
the main square in Wadowice.
The ground floor of the building
housed the municipal offices,
restaurant and confectionery
“Oaza” of Jan Hyłka, and the
school was located on upper
floors.
11. STATUS OF THE SCHOOL
At that time, the
learning conditions were
difficult because there
were a lot of children
and very few teachers
(there were 9 teachers
per 320 students).
In the interwar period, the classrooms were very
crowded and poorly ventilated, and often very
poorly lit.
12. CONT…
The school had to operate
double shifts.
The curriculum of the school at that time included
Polish language, history and geography.
Due to small financial
resources, the school
was missing adequate
school equipment.
After school, children spent little time playing,
because immediately afterwards they started to do
their homework and learn.
13. Karol was a slender,
pale and short-haired
boy, usually dressed in
shorts. He was also
always very polite and
well-behaved and
obedient to his parents
and older brother.
Maria Janina Kaczorowa
14. The death of his mother
did not affect Karol's
grades, but the little boy
was not as cheerful and
confident as before.
Out of 60 students in their
class, he got top grades from
day one and showed early on
the inquisitive,
contemplative, philosophical
bent that would be a hallmark
of his adult personality.
16. MARCIN WADOWITA PUBLIC MIDDLE
SCHOOL
Karol Wojtyła passed
his entrance exams at
the end of June 1930
and became a student
A few years earlier
(1924), his older brother
Edmund graduated with
honours from the same
school.
17. SITUATION OF THE SCHOOL
The level of teaching in
the middle school was
high.
The teachers were very
well prepared for their
profession, and among
them, there were
outstanding teachers.
The building at that time was smaller because it
had no gymnasium, and on the first floor, instead of
classrooms, there was a director's flat.
18. CONT…
Narrow and dark corridors
led to classrooms and
workshops, where tiled
stoves and rows of double
benches stood.
As there was no
gymnasium, young people
were taken to sports
activities to the “Sokół”
(“Falcon”) building.
19. THE ROUTINE OF KAROL WOJTYLA AS A
MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT
After breakfast, he went to the
parish church, then he went to
school, where he spent time
between 8.00 AM and 2.00 PM.
Then, he would come home for
dinner, after which he would
study and do his homework.
If he had to prepare a lot for the
next day, he studied until evening.
20. KAROL INITIALLY READ BOOKS SUGGESTED TO
HIM BY HIS FATHER AND FR. KAZIMIERZ
FIGLEWICZ, AND THEN HE STARTED TO CHOOSE
HIS OWN LITERATURE.
He reached for “top-shelf” works that were
difficult for his age. He also chose the
classics of the Polish literature, such as:
C. K. Norwid, A. B. Mickiewicz, and J.
Słowacki.
21. Because the humanities middle
school in Wadowice had a
neoclassical profile, the
curriculum included Latin and
Greek.
The students were taught not
only grammar, but also correct
pronunciation.
He had a philosophical disposition
and was a bit reserved that made
him respectable.
22. As a high school student in
his hometown of Wadowice,
in southern Poland, he
impressed classmates by
the intense way he would
pray in church, a habit of
deep meditation that
remained with him for life.
24. Karol was a distinguished
but modest student.
When no one in the class
could answer the professor's
question, Wojtyła was called
to answer it.
Both teachers and middle
school students had a great
influence on the formation of
young Wojtyła. He met
valuable people in each of
these groups.
26. he joined and soon
became president
of The Society of
Mary (a lay
society, not to be
confused with the
Marianists)
It is a group that was devoted to the
Virgin Mary. In those days, this position
was really a great honor for a young boy.
27. IN SUMMARY
Let us read the content of his speech when
Karol went back to his hometown during
His Apostolic Pilgrimage to Poland already
as a Pope.
It was a speech delivered last June 7, 1979
in his visit to His hometown Parish Church.
