The jubilee of Professor Magdalena Zowczak

In January 2026, we celebrate the jubilee of the scholarly career of Professor Magdalena Zowczak [1] at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Warsaw.

Professor Magdalena Zowczak [1] is a long-standing lecturer at the University of Warsaw; an outstanding scholar of religious cultures, borderlands, religious and national minorities, identity, and art; the author of groundbreaking works such as Biblia ludowa. Interpretacje wątków biblijnych w kulturze ludowej (The Folk Bible: Interpretations of Biblical Themes in Folk Culture) and Religijność na pogranicach. Eseje apokryficzne (Religiousness on the Borderlands: Apocryphal Essays); and a deeply engaged mentor who supports successive generations of anthropologists.

The jubilee meeting took place on 15 January 2026 in the Senate Hall and the Professors’ Club of the University of Warsaw (Kazimierzowski Palace). Professor Magdalena Zowczak [1] received numerous congratulations from representatives of Polish and international universities, the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the State Ethnographic Museum, as well as from colleagues with whom she has collaborated and whom she has taught. A special gift was the publication Kultury religijne, kultury pogranicza. Kolaże etnograficzne Profesor Magdalenie Zowczak podarowane [2] [Religious Cultures, Borderland Cultures: Ethnographic Collages Presented to Professor Magdalena Zowczak [1]] (Warsaw 2025). The celebrations were accompanied by a concert of Sephardic songs performed by the ensemble Kapela Zamorska.