In the magazine "Świat", 1924, no. 37, pp. 4-5 (public domain, reprinted after KUL University Library), there appeared an interview with the rector Alfons Parczewski on the situation in which Stefan Batory University in Vilnius was then. The rector focuses on the most important problems of the university, such as underfunding, the need for renovation and the replenishment of the library's book collection.

A modernised reading of the text

Around Stefan Batory University in Vilnius.

The needs of our University - Rector Parczewski begins the conversation - are greater than those of all other Polish universities. From the very beginning, our University was in unfavourable conditions. We inherited a beautiful tradition from the former Polish university, which was active a hundred years ago, and... nothing more. Even the main university building was given to us in a very dilapidated state and inadequate for today's university teaching conditions. Thanks to the former Commander-in-Chief, as head of the Eastern Territories, we received several other former university buildings in 1919, but even these were unfit for use as a result of their dilapidation; they required and still require adaptation to our needs.

The issue of university premises and facilities is of course of the utmost importance, especially at the present time with the enormous diversification of the natural and medical sciences. With budgetary difficulties, the necessary renovation has progressed very slowly and is still unfinished. In addition to the needs of the auditoriums and facilities, there is also, quite simply, the need for accommodation for professors. The local professorial staff was, with few exceptions, non-existent. The professorial staff had to be recruited from the visiting professors, for whom there was a lack of accommodation.

- What was the financial situation for so many needs?
- Simply disastrous. Already last year, our estimates for the most essential needs were cut. This calendar year, the situation is dire. In addition to this, at the request of the Treasury, an extremely awkward way of implementing the budget sums has been introduced. We only receive a monthly budget. In this respect, the university is in a worse position than secondary schools, as their Board of Trustees receives its budget quarterly. It is easy to imagine how our university could function in this situation. I'll put it to you more clearly: there were times when we couldn't afford to shovel the snow from the yard; there was often the fear that the magistrate would take away our right to use electricity for non-payment of bills. We lacked adequate funds for the most necessary repairs. The current renovation of the "Jura" building is thanks to a donation from Marshal Józef Piłsudski, who gave us dollars sent to him from Canada.

"As for the renovation of the professors' residences, we have not received any funds for this purpose. Last year, the Building Bank gave us a loan to secure half of the tuition fees due to the professors, and, thanks to this, modest premises were furnished. At this point, I must pay tribute to the management of the Building Bank for their civic-mindedness and activity, and at the same time emphasise the great energy of Vice-Chancellor Ehrenkreutz, who, in his capacity as chairman of the housing committee, managed and implemented the whole matter.".

- What does the university's development look like in terms of its teaching force?
- Of course, in such a difficult political situation as Vilnius was in, the filling of chairs was not an easy thing. The development was gradual. But even here the tragedy becomes apparent. In the last two years, just when a return to more normal political relations offered the hope of facilitating the recruitment of appropriate professorial staff, the Ministry of Education began to cancel the chairs one by one. Often this was done without asking the opinion of the academic senate or the faculty proper, which could have spoken out in favour of deleting this chair and not that one. It would have been the lesser of two evils. As a plus, the introduction of four chairs of agricultural studies into the budget must be noted. The donation of the estate of Żemłosław by Janina Umiastowska-Milewska served as an impetus for the establishment of the Faculty of Agriculture. Such a study is extremely important for the Vilnius region, which is exclusively agricultural and, as a result of protracted warfare, has a relatively low level of agricultural culture.

- What is the situation with female students?
- Here the figures will serve you best: we currently have 2209 people enrolled at the university, of whom 1460 are men and 749 are women. There are 1703 actual students and 506 free students. In terms of religion: 1556 Roman Catholics, 501 of the Mosaic faith, others 133. As for nationality, 1778 Poles, 350 Jews, 21 Russians, 13 Lithuanians, 36 Belorussians, others 11. The enjoyment of studies is greatly hampered by the material relations of most of the young people. Most lawyers and humanists work in offices and schools. This year is very momentous for the life of our university. Here are the first graduates now coming out of it. It is with real satisfaction that I can point out the first doctoral degree in the humanities of Mr Henryk Lowniański, whose doctoral thesis entitled "Elevations of Lithuanian towns", published in the Vilnius Athenaeum, allows the young doctoral candidate to look forward to a future as a serious historical researcher.

- And what about the university library?
- Oh, this is obviously one of the most important needs of Vilnius University. The Russian government created a book collection in Vilnius for Russification purposes, taking care of a special selection of books. This is also why, after the resurrection of the university, it was necessary to start assembling a proper university library, starting from scratch. The chronic lack of budget credits was not very conducive to this work. In that year, the Society of Friends of the Library was formed to support efforts to create a university book collection. The organisers contributed over one billion Polish marks. Naturally, in today's difficult publishing and bookselling environment, private funds are not enough. I will give the following example, little known to the general public, as a contribution to the various difficulties we have to struggle with. The library in Kórnik houses the book collections of Joachim Lelewel and the Democratic Society of Versailles. Several decades ago these collections were destined for the future University of Vilnius. At present, it is necessary to transport these collections. In this matter, the present owner of Kórnik, Count Zamoyski, is most sympathetic. Last year I requested the Ministry of Railways to transport these collections from Poznań to Vilnius by rail free of charge. So far, however, I have not received an answer.

- What importance do you, Rector, give to the University here?
- In view of the borderland location of Vilnius and the backdrop of hostile anti-Polish elements in the borderlands, acting from outside as well as from within, our University is an extremely important institution, not only for the development of science in general, but also for Polish culture and its development in these lands. The more it develops, the more students it has, the more and more thoroughly Polishness will develop in the borderlands.