The Wrocław Mayor’s Award is a special distinction which – as one of three, along with the title of Civitate Wratislaviensi Donatus and the Wrocław Award – was formally established by the resolution of 16 January 1993 of Wrocław City Council of the 1st term, although it was first awarded in 1992. The Mayor of Wrocław Award is bestowed (after seeking the opinion of the Nominating Committee) to persons and institutions for their activities and achievements in the given year. Between 1992 and 2022, the Mayor of Wrocław honoured over 120 people and 40 institutions, organisations and associations with it. Nearly 20 people honoured with this award are deceased [as of 1 November 2022]. We would like to commemorate who they were and where they rest.
Ewa Bohdanowicz (1921-17/12/2021) – doctor of medical sciences, pediatrician, associated with the Department and Clinic of Bone Marrow Transplantation, Oncology and Hematology of the Pediatric Medical Academy (currently the Silesian Piasts Medical University). She was the oldest pediatrician in Poland. She was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2006.
Józef Cynar (1932-1996) – owner of an organ building workshop in Wrocław, a leading builder, reconstructor and renovator of organs in Poland and abroad. He rebuilt many organ instruments in destroyed parishes in Wrocław and Lower Silesia after World War II. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 1992.
Marek Danielak (1947-2021) – social activist, sports manager, originator of many tourism and recreational events, initiator and organiser of numerous marathons. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2002.
Stanisław Drożdż (1939-2009) – Wrocław artist and poet, with over three hundred domestic and foreign exhibitions among his achievements. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2007.
Józef Hałas (1927-2015) – painter, teacher, pupil of Eugeniusz Geppert, student and researcher at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław (formerly the State Higher School of Fine Arts) in the years 1958-2001, also associated with the Secondary School of Fine Arts in Wrocław, classic of Polish 20th century painting. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2014.
Mariusz Hermansdorfer (1940-2018) – art historian, critic and populariser of contemporary art, director of the National Museum in Wrocław (1983-2013), which he thoroughly modernised, making it a resilient and important institution in Poland. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 1993.
Tymoteusz Karpowicz (1921-2005) – poet, prose writer, playwright, translator, creator of linguistic poetry, professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago since 1978. Although he died in the United States, he was buried in Wrocław, with which he was associated in the years 1949-1973. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2000.
Roman Kołakowski (1957-2019) – Polish philologist, composer, playwright, author and translator of sung poetry, conducting artistic activity since the 1970s. He was the artistic director of Stage Song Review (1996-2005), and also ran the Song Theatre (2005-2019). He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2005.
Tomasz Merta (1965-2010) – historian of political thought, publicist, public official, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and general monument conservator (2005-2010), member of the first Program Council of the Wrocław “Remembrance and Future” Centre. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2010.
Rev. Prelate Zdzisław Peszkowski (23/08/1918-8/10/2007) – Catholic priest, doctor of philosophy, participant of the September Campaign, prisoner of Kozielsk, soldier of the Polish II Corps. He returned to Poland in 1989. For over 50 years he was the chaplain of Katyń Families and Those Murdered in the East. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2006.
Stefan Placek (1929-2015) – educator, cultural animator in Wrocław, from 1963 he headed the Music and Literature Club in Wrocław, making it a unique place on the cultural map of Wrocław. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 1998.
Marcin Płaza (1972-2019) – composer, pianist and independent music producer, collaborator of Wrocław theatres, participant of the Stage Song Reviews. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 1997.
Igor Przegrodzki (1926-2009) – actor, director, film and theatre artist, associated with the Polish Theatre in Wrocław for years. Educator and lecturer at the Academy of Music in Wrocław, rector of the State College of Acting in Kraków. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 1992.
Tadeusz Różewicz (1921-2014) – poet, playwright, prose writer and screenwriter, associated with Wrocław from 1968 until his death, repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, his works were translated into approximately fifty languages. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 1992.
Izabella Skrybant-Dziewiątkowska (1938-2019) – singer, soloist of the Wrocław Opera (1961-1964), and since 1963 – singer of the Wrocław music band Tercet Egzotyczny, which is one of the oldest operating music bands in Poland. She was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2017.
Jan Słowikowski (1915-2010) – professor and long-time head of the Department and Clinic of Pediatric Surgery of the Medical University of Wrocław, colonel of the Home Army, activist of the Home Army conspiracy during World War II. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2007.
Jerzy Woźniak (08/11/1923-12/04/2012) – pulmonologist, Home Army soldier, anti-communist opposition activist, long-time president of the Board of the Lower Silesian District of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 1994.
Final resting place: Osobowicki Cemetery in Wrocław [section 83R, grave 12, row 1. from section 79].
Hans Vontobel (1916-2016) – Swiss banker and financier, patron of the arts, founder of a foundation supporting young talented musicians. The bank he managed became one of the most important banking institutions in Switzerland. He financially supported the “Wratislavia Cantans” festival. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2003.
Mieczysław Zlat (1927-2014) – art historian, opposition activist during the Polish People’s Republic, long-time employee of the Institute of Art History of the University of Wrocław, vice-chairman of the Social Committee for the Reconstruction of the Racławice Panorama in the 1980s. He was honoured with the President of Wrocław Award in 2007.
Written and edited by: Kamilla Jasińska
Translated by: Fabryka Tłumaczeń
location data (numbers of sections rows and graves)
are given in accordance with the information provided by cemetery management