It is with deep sorrow that we received the news that on 23 September 2026 there passed away in Białystok Dr WACŁAW SZERSZUNOWICZ (1935–2026) An outstanding academic teacher, East Slavic philologist and specialist in Russian studies, mentor to generations of Białystok translation scholars, a long-standing member of staff of the Białystok Branch of the University of Warsaw and the University of Białystok, a wonderful, warm and kind-hearted Man.
Dr Wacław Szerszunowicz was born on 16 December 1935 in Brzezina. He earned his master’s degree at the Faculty of Polish and Slavic Philology of the University of Warsaw. He then wrote and defended his doctoral dissertation at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, on Kazimierz Andrzej Jaworski’s translations of East Slavic poetry.
From 1953 he taught for five years at the state school in Zubry, then at the primary school on Lipowa Street in Białystok, and subsequently for ten years at the Food Industry School Complex (Zespół Szkół Spożywczych) in Białystok. He joined the Department of Russian Philology at the Białystok Branch of the University of Warsaw and continued his work at the University of Białystok until his retirement in 2001. He was widely respected as a lecturer and much loved as a warm, open person, kind to all. He taught several generations of Russian studies graduates in Białystok.
From 1993 he also ran a private post-secondary school offering part-time courses for technicians in hotel management, tourism services, catering, agribusiness and information technology. He was a member of the Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP), took part in meetings organised by the Civitas Christiana Association, and worked with the Society for Universal Knowledge (Towarzystwo Wiedzy Powszechnej) in Białystok.
The late Dr Wacław Szerszunowicz’s research interests included translation studies and the translation of specialised texts, official documents and advertising copy. He published sixty articles, studies and reviews on the translation of literary texts and funerary inscriptions.
We extend our deepest condolences to his Family and Loved Ones.
On behalf of the Academic Community
Prof. Jarosław Ławski
Dean of the Faculty of Philology
University of Białystok
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