Polish researcher, translator and promoter of Ukrainian culture Aleksandra Hnatiuk received this year’s Stanisław Vincenz Award “For Humanitarian Service and Contribution to Regional Development.” This was announced at the Ukrainian Catholic University during the VIII Forum Via Carpatia 2025.
The chapter kept the name of the laureate secret until the end of the event. Marek Radziwon, Consul General of Poland in Lviv, emphasised that the award symbolises the common cultural space of Ukraine and Poland.
The first winner of the award, human rights activist Myroslav Marynovych, emphasised the importance of intellectual work and the role of Via Carpatia as a platform for shaping a new vision of the world. He also welcomed the commission’s choice, noting that Hnatiuk is capable of responding to the challenges of today.
Aleksandra Hnatiuk is a professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a translator, and the author of significant scholarly works on Ukrainian culture. She expressed her gratitude for the award, emphasising the relevance of dialogue between Ukrainians and Poles, which Stanisław Vincenz himself advocated.
“Vincenz believed in the power of dialogue. Today, when it seems that Polish–Ukrainian dialogue has reached an impasse, we need to remember one of Vincenz’s parables and understand that no one has a monopoly on the truth. No nation has a monopoly on historical truth. Any attempt to impose one’s truth on an opponent is doomed to failure. And any attempt to pass it off as dialogue transports us to Orwell’s ‘1984’, to a world of enslaved minds and newspeak. I believe that small communities, societies and the international community are unthinkable without dialogue.”
Bishop Borys Gudziak also addressed the laureate with a welcoming speech, noting her long-standing role in strengthening Polish–Ukrainian relations and developing Ukrainian cultural identity.