thumb|[[Jan Zamojski]]

thumb|Main building of the Academy

The Zamojski Academy (; ; 1594–1784) was an academy founded in 1594 by Polish Crown Chancellor Jan Zamojski. It was the third institution of higher education to be founded in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. After his death it slowly lost its importance, and in 1784 it was downgraded to a lyceum. The present-day I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Hetmana Jana Zamoyskiego w Zamościu is one of several secondary schools in Zamość.

History

The Zamoyski Academy was designed to educate szlachta (noble) youth in Humanist culture and prepare them for work in the public interest—though, from its early years, most of the students were burghers, not nobles. It was founded in 1594 by Crown Chancellor Jan Zamoyski in Zamość (a city, also founded by Zamoyski) with the assistance of poet Szymon Szymonowic, aka Simon Simonides (who would be one of the Academy's lecturers). Its founding was approved in Rome by Pope Clement VIII (bull of October 29, 1594), The official opening ceremony took place on 15 March 1595.

The faculty included a number of outstanding Poles such as Szymon Szymonowic, Adam Burski (Bursius), Tomasz Drezner, Jan Niedźwiecki-Ursinus, Szymon (Simon) Birkowsk and Stanisław Staszic, as well as foreigners such as the English lawyer William Bruce, the Italian theologian Dominic Convalis and the Belgian mathematician Adriaan van Roomen.

See also

  • Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
  • Fables and Parables
  • Lubrański Academy

Notes

References

  • Encyklopedia Polski (Encyclopedia of Poland).
  • Encyklopedia powszechna PWN (PWN Universal Encyclopedia), vol. 1, Warsaw, Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1973.

Further reading

  • Poddębski, Henryk, Akademia Zamojska, 1930, Digital Library at Warsaw University
  • Jan Ambroży Wadowski, Anacephaleosis professorum Academiae Zamoscensis: manuscriptum saeculi XVII edidit ... Joannes Ambrosius Wadowski. Wiadomość o profesorach Akademii Zamojskiej; rękopis z w XVII, Druk. Gazety Rolniczej, Google Print (public domain)
  • Bogdan Szyszka, Akademia Zamojska, 1594-1994, 1988, Regionalna Pracownia Krajoznawcza (Zamość)
  • Akademia Zamojska , Encyklopedia WIEM
  • Akademia Zamojska , Encyklopedia PWN
  • Scholars and Literati at the University of Zamość (1594–1784) in Repertorium Eruditorum Totius Europae/RETE.