On 6 November 2023 the first Ludovika Prize award ceremony was held at the Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest. The award was presented to Professor Stanisław Sroka, Dean of the JU Faculty of History of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.
The Ludovika Prize is awarded in recognition of outstanding achievements in the academic, professional and public field, to highly esteemed and, as announced by the Senate of the Ludovika University of Public Service, to ‘internationally recognised individuals whose activities serve the cause of the "Central European thought," and the interests of Hungary and the Central European region’. The Prize was named after Maria Ludovika of Austria, Queen consort of Hungary, the founder of the Royal Hungarian Ludovica Defence Academy, whose tradition is continued by the Ludovika University of Public Service.
Professor Stanisław Sroka, Dean of the JU Faculty of History, became the first winner of the Prize. As stressed during the award ceremony by Dr Miklós Mitrovits from the Ludovika University of Public Service, ‘Professor Sroka's life path, professional work, and his work on mutual understanding of Hungarian and Polish culture and history are exemplary for the present and future generations’, also recalling his long-time relations with Hungarian higher education institutions. It was emphasised that Prof. Sroka’s research has been especially focused on Polish-Hungarian historical links and genealogy and his merits have long been recognised not only in Poland, but also in Hungary, as reflected by the 2014 award of the Officer’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit for his academic work related to the Hungarian medieval history and his contribution to the strengthening of Polish-Hungarian relations.
Stanisław Sroka is a medievalist, professor of the Chair in Medieval History at the JU Institute of History. Currently he is the Dean of the JU Faculty of History. As a scholar, he specialises in the history of Central Europe with special focus on Hungary and the presence of Polish students at Italian universities in the Middle Ages.
