On 19 April 2023 the Jagiellonian University was visited by the President of the Republic of Italy Sergio Mattarella, accompanied by his daughter Laura Mattarella. The programme of the visit included a meeting with the JU authorities and giving a lecture to JU students in Collegium Novum assembly hall.
Sergio and Laura Mattarella were received by the Rector of the Jagiellonian University Prof. Jacek Popiel. During a meeting in Collegium Novum Senate Room, which was also attended by the JU Vice-Rector for International Relations Prof. Dorota Malec and the Ambassador of Poland to Italy and San Marino Anna Maria Anders, the participants discussed the most important issues related to academic collaboration between the Jagiellonian University and Italian institutions of higher education and research. Then, the President of Italy paid tribute to the victims of Sonderaktion Krakau (a Nazi German operation against Kraków university professors) by laying a wreath under the plaque commemorating these tragic events.
The central part of the visit was the lecture delivered by the President of Italy to Jagiellonian University students gathered in Collegium Novum assembly hall. The talk was preceded by a short address of the JU Rector Prof. Jacek Popiel, who pointed out that the current international situation requires deep reflection on the issues vital for Europe and the World, and the voice of heads of state is of special importance in this context.
'This University and this city are a symbolic place for Poland, but also for the entire European culture as well. It is a place which brings back the image of Europe that had built a shared commonwealth of knowledge and values based on its national and institutional experiences', said Sergio Mattarella, arguing that the network of universities that emerged in the Middle Ages may be considered an early predecessor to the common European institutions. The head of Italian state stressed the importance of European unity in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In this context, he referred to Jean Monet’s opinion that the European integration will be shaped by solutions worked out in response to crisis situations; yet at the same time he also emphasised that the European Union should be primarily based on the attachment to common values and the spirit of solidarity. 'I wish you all the courage as well as the same defiant and noble spirit that you have shown throughout this past year, and perseverance in walking the path towards a peaceful future', said Sergio Mattarella at the end of his lecture.
After the lecture, the Italian delegation took a guided tour of the Jagiellonian University Museum Collegium Maius.
