The World of Czech Intellectuals in the Life of Roman Dyboski

Abstract

The paper discusses the role of Czech (Czechoslovakian) intellectuals in the life of Roman Dyboski (1885–1945), professor of English philology at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Dyboski was one of just a few Polish scholars who, despite the tense political relations between Czechoslovakia and Poland at that time, advocated the idea of mutual intellectual cooperation. Roman Dyboski’s position was quite specific. He grew up in the Polish-Czech border region and studied English language and literature. His chief aim was to bring closer Poland and the Anglo-Saxon world. To this purpose, he corresponded actively with scholars from Czechoslovakia, especially with experts on English studies, including Otokar Vočadlo. He also met many of them in person when he was in London as a lecturer at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of the University College London established by Tomáš G. Masaryk. Dyboski was also one of but a handful Polish experts who spoke Czech and published in Czechoslovakia not only on Polish but also on English matters, which given the considerable level of interest in Anglo-Saxon culture in both countries brought Poles and Czechs closer together.