Jagiellonian University

The Jagiellonian University is the oldest higher education institution in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe. It was founded on 12 May 1364 by the Polish king Casimir the Great. The Jubilee year 2014 marked the 650th anniversary of this remarkable event. Since its very beginning, the Jagiellonian University has been an international institution. Poles, Ruthenians, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Germans, Czechs, the Swiss, the English, the Dutch, the French the Spanish, Italians, and even Tatars studied here in the old days. Further development of the University has been inextricably bound with the turbulent and often tragic history of Poland. The institution managed to survive both the partitions of Poland by Russia, Prussia and Austria, and the two world wars, serving as a guardian of Polish culture and identity and educating successive generations of Poles, as well as members of other nations, significantly contributing to the intellectual heritage of Europe.