Jagiellonian University
King Casimir III the Great issued a royal charter of foundation on the 12th of May 1364. This document granted permission to establish an institution of higher learning in Kraków. Pope Urban V had previously approved the plan, recognizing the nation's need for educated lawyers and administrators. The Studium Generale began holding lectures in various locations across the city. Professors taught from their private houses, within churches, and inside the cathedral school on Wawel Hill. Construction of a dedicated building started on Plac Wolnica in what is now the Kazimierz district. Financial struggles and low interest caused development to stall after Casimir III died.
Queen Jadwiga restored the institution during the 1390s. She purchased an existing edifice on Żydowska Street that had belonged to the Pęcherz family. The queen donated all her personal jewellery to fund the university. These funds allowed the school to enroll 203 students. Her husband, King Władysław II Jagiełło, reformed the university on the 26th of July 1400. They modeled the new structure on the Sorbonne University and established a Faculty of Theology. A Lithuanian student house opened around 1400 to support shared accommodation and education. Over three hundred Lithuanian students studied there between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Jonas Vaidutis became the second rector of the university in 1401.
The Collegium Maius emerged as the central hub for astronomy, law, and theology studies. Albert Brudzewski taught Nicolaus Copernicus from 1491 until 1495 within these halls. The building featured a quadrangle and a beautiful arcade that created a sheltered academic atmosphere. Seven reading rooms filled the main complex by the early 1500s. Six rooms bore names dedicated to ancient scholars like Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Galen, Ptolemy, and Pythagoras. The golden era spanned from 1500 to 1535 during the Polish Renaissance.
Attendance peaked at 3,215 students in the first decade of the 16th century. Foreigners made up over 40 percent of the student body during the second half of the 15th century. Students arrived from Lithuania, Russia, Hungary, Bohemia, Germany, and Spain. Greek philology entered the curriculum through Constanzo Claretti and Wenzel von Hirschberg in 1520. Hebrew instruction also began during this period. The library foundations were laid between 1500 and 1535, adding a floor to the Collegium Maius. Books remained chained to their cases to prevent theft in those original rooms.
Economic stagnation caused attendance numbers to fall sharply after the early 1500s. No one surpassed the early 16th-century record until the late 18th century. Many buildings fell into disrepair while serving other purposes. An archive entry noted that lecture halls could be rented out for laundry if refurbished. Poor governance and hostile neighbors contributed to the decline of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The institution faced its darkest hours when closure seemed imminent.
Austrian authorities removed furnishings from the Collegium Maius Auditorium Maximum to convert it into a grain store after 1846. Ferdinand I of Austria issued a decree maintaining the university despite initial hostility. Scholars returned by the 1870s as fortunes improved. Professors Zygmunt Wróblewski and Karol Olszewski demonstrated the liquefaction of nitrogen and oxygen in 1883. New neo-gothic buildings like the Collegium Novum opened in 1887 with Austrian funding.
Polish students destroyed a large painting of Kaiser Franz Joseph inside the Collegium Novum in 1918. They advocated for the reestablishment of an independent Polish state during this act. Construction began on the Jagiellonian Library's monumental building in 1931. The library moved its collections to the new home before the outbreak of war in 1939. Student numbers rose dramatically to almost 6,000 by the late 1930s.
On the 6th of November 1939, German forces arrested 184 professors and deported them to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This operation carried the codename Sonderaktion Krakau. The university closed for the remainder of World War II alongside all other higher education institutions. Faculty suppression occurred under Communist rule in 1954. The government invested in new facilities near Jordan Park starting in 1957. Poor management slowed construction work and left many goals unachieved.
Poland overthrew its Communist government in 1989. The Jagiellonian University purchased its first building plot in Pychowice that same year. Construction began in 2000 on a complex known as the Third Campus or 600th Anniversary Campus. Public funds earmarked for the project amounted to 946.5 million zlotys or 240 million euros. The LifeScience Park developed concurrently with this campus managed by the university's research consortium.
Poland joined the European Union in 2004, improving funding from central government and European authorities. Huge increases allowed the development of new departments and research centers. Better support reached students and academics through these financial injections. A new seat for the University Hospital opened at Prokocim in 2019 following more than 1.2 billion zloty investment projects. By 2022, the hospital became the biggest supra-regional public hospital in Poland. It comprises 37 clinical departments, 12 diagnostic and research institutes, and 71 out-patient units.
The Collegium Medicum relocated to a site just east of the center up to 1918. Modern teaching hospitals expanded this medical campus which remains today. New buildings like the Collegium Paderevianum were built using funds from Ignacy Paderewski's legacy.
The university employs roughly 4,000 academics who provide education to over 35,000 students. Students study across 166 fields with Polish as the main language of instruction. Around 30 degrees are offered in English and some in German. The institution divides into thirteen main faculties plus three composing the Collegium Medicum. Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science form one distinct faculty alongside Mathematics and Computer Science.
Scientists from the Collegium Medicum carry out pioneer studies in cardiac surgery, urology, and neurology. Their findings appear in international journals such as European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Medicine and The Lancet. UJ archaeologists lead explorations of ancient sites in Egypt, Cyprus, Central America, South Asia, and Altay. Astronomers participate in major projects including H.E.S.S. and VIPERS. Bio-technologists publish work in journals like Molecular Ecology Resources and European Journal of Human Genetics.
Four Nobel laureates have been affiliated with the university, all in literature. Ivo Andrić and Wisława Szymborska studied there while Czesław Miłosz and Olga Tokarczuk taught there. Faculty and graduates were elected to the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society, and the British Academy.
The library holds almost 6.5 million volumes making it one of Poland's largest collections. It serves as a constituent of the Polish National Libraries system. World-renowned medieval manuscripts include Copernicus' De Revolutionibus orbium coelestium and the Balthasar Behem Codex. An extensive collection of underground political literature exists from Poland's Communist rule between 1945 and 1989.
Various small libraries centralized into one public collection in Collegium Maius after 1775 during reforms by Komisja Edukacji Narodowej. The library became recognized as a legal deposit library in 1932 comparable to Oxford or Cambridge institutions. Workers cooperated with underground universities during the Second World War. A new building for the library finally opened in 1940 before subsequent expansions in 1995, 2001.
Collections have become increasingly digitized since the 1990s. The university maintains a large medical library alongside many other subject-specialized libraries. Archives date back to the foundation and record the entire history of development up to the present day.
Pope John Paul II studied at this institution while King John III Sobieski served as head of state. Andrzej Duda and Prime Ministers Beata Szydło and Józef Cyrankiewicz also graduated here. Cultural figures like Jan Kochanowski, Stanisław Lem, and Krzysztof Penderecki shaped Polish society through their work. Hugo Kołłątaj, Bronisław Malinowski, Carl Menger, Leo Sternbach, and Norman Davies led intellectual movements globally.
Stanisław Estreicher founded the Jagiellonian University Museum while Tadeusz Estreicher pioneered cryogenics. Marian Smoluchowski advanced statistical physics and Ludwik Rydygier became a general surgeon. Napoleon Cybulski worked as a pioneer in endocrinology. Adamkiewicz discovered the Artery of Adamkiewicz and the reaction bearing his name. Ryszard Gryglewski discovered prostacyclin during his career as a pharmacologist and physician.
Student associations promote scientific achievements through lecture sessions and science excursions. Over 70 student scientific associations exist today, mostly affiliated with Collegium Medicum. The International Workshop for Young Mathematicians organizes international conferences under the Zaremba Association.
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Common questions
When was the Jagiellonian University founded and by whom?
King Casimir III the Great issued a royal charter of foundation on the 12th of May 1364. This document granted permission to establish an institution of higher learning in Kraków.
Who restored the Jagiellonian University after its initial decline?
Queen Jadwiga restored the institution during the 1390s. Her husband King Władysław II Jagiełło reformed the university on the 26th of July 1400.
What famous scientists studied or taught at the Jagiellonian University?
Albert Brudzewski taught Nicolaus Copernicus from 1491 until 1495 within these halls. Four Nobel laureates have been affiliated with the university including Ivo Andrić, Wisława Szymborska, Czesław Miłosz, and Olga Tokarczuk.
How many students attend the Jagiellonian University today?
The university employs roughly 4,000 academics who provide education to over 35,000 students. Students study across 166 fields with Polish as the main language of instruction.
When did German forces arrest professors at the Jagiellonian University?
On the 6th of November 1939, German forces arrested 184 professors and deported them to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This operation carried the codename Sonderaktion Krakau.