Page - 209 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

Chapter 5 ♦  209 Notably, the attitude toward Ruthenian scholars differed between the Cracow and L’viv universities. While polarization was dominant from the 1890s in L’viv, Cracow was more harmonious, allowing pro-Ruthenian demonstrations and accepting, in 1901, the Ruthenian students who had left the University of L’viv in a protest against Polish dominance. Cracow’s philosophical faculty also supported Studyns’kyj when he was denied ha- bilitation in L’viv. Cracow concessions to Ruthenian culture also included a chair in Ruthenian (ruski) literature, created in 1893. In the proposal, the faculty accentuated the reciprocity of both nationalities and the importance of knowledge of the Ruthenian language for Poles.163 The provincial govern- ment also supported this claim, with the minister of education Stanisław Poray-Madeyski stating finally that “in the course of centuries one can un- mistakably trace Ruthenian influences on the literature, life, and customs of the Polish population; therefore, from a didactic point of view, it is a necessity that at the Jagiellonian University students of Polish nationality should have the opportunity to learn the Ruthenian language and become acquainted with their literature.”164 In practice, Cracow’s chair of Ruthenian literature was confined to Polish topics. Józef Tretiak, appointed to the chair in 1893, wanted, in fact, to be transferred to the chair of Polish literature, and he conducted research predominantly on the most famous Polish poet, Adam Mickiewicz, and the influence he had gained in Russia. Nevertheless, Tretiak’s professorship and function symbolized his role as a broker dealing with national tensions. Political Differentiations With the control over universities in national hands, political conflicts be- gan to affect appointments, replacing previous tensions that had run along linguistic-national lines. These conflicts ran along generational lines as well but also divided scholars with a more internationalist outlook from those wanting the university to concentrate on a national agenda. While many scholars remained aloof from politics, the appointments in Bohemia and Galicia were clearly determined by political strategies. With a number of conservative Catholic scholars having been appointed in the 1850s, the University of Cracow stood for many years in defense of these values, opening up to liberal and socialist movements only in the