Minister Elżbieta Juńczyk-Ziomecka who represented the Polish President told Polish Market she supported the choices made by the Chapter. ‘The heritage that we have here is not only history, but also current events and people whose achievements go beyond Poland’s borders to become the heritage of Europe and the whole world. People like the famous opera singer Małgorzata Walewska, who sings in Vienna, in the US, anywhere in the world where people appreciate music, or historian Norman Davies, who writes about history in the way everyone can read. The stereotype is that business only concentrates on material things. It’s not true. Today’s event is an example that business supports culture. It supports people who have talent and who need the support of business. Businessmen enjoy culture. Together it fits very much’ Minister Juńczyk-Ziomecka said.
Tomasz Merta, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, thinks along the same lines. ‘The distance between economy and culture should not be too great, because culture needs continuous support and attention from the economy and the economy could use some cultural inspirations. The Honorary Pearls are a bridge linking both. I think it is marvellous that such award an exists.’
The winners of the Honorary Pearls took the opportunity to analyze the broader context of the award. Former Deputy Prime Minster Janusz Steinhoff active in the field of the economy said: ‘I am very happy that during my 20 years in public administration and parliament I have managed to work towards the transformation of Polish economy. Poland is a completely different country now than it was before 1989. We are a member of NATO and the EU. This means all our dreams, as anti-communist oppositionists, came true’.
Norman Davies, the historian and writer who explains Poland to the outside world spoke about what attracted him to Poland: ‘I came to Poland 46 years ago with a group of students who had been refused a Soviet visa entirely by accident. I was immediately struck when I came to Poland that I knew nothing about this country. Nobody had told us anything about Polish history. I realized that there was a big subject waiting for someone to explore. A lot of people in the West who have poor knowledge of Eastern Europe think that all countries in the region are small places. Poland is a middle-sized country now. It used to be the biggest country of Europe at one time. It was interesting that a country of this size could first be destroyed and then be reborn and that it could be forgotten. That’s really what interested me. Why so many of my colleagues writing about European history weren’t aware of Poland being more important that Estonia or Luxemburg. If what I do serves Polish interest in some way that’s OK by me. Poland is not doing enough to show itself to the outside world. There is in the world a competition for information. Who shouts loudest and who has the most sensational news. Poland’s competitors are large and vocal. Traditionally most news about Eastern Europe has reached the West via Germany or Russia, both of which were very hostile to Poland. Poland didn’t even exist as a country when the world learnt about its history. Poland has at least 200 years of information backlog to get over. But it’s getting better. Some Poles are doing it better than others.’
Others emphasized their satisfaction with the fact of being awarded a prize by an economic magazine. Geneticist Professor Jan Lubiński said: “For me this award is a sign that thinking about the economy we are not forgetting about something as important as research. I deeply believe that it is critical to make improvements based on progress achieved first in research, then protection of intellectual property and finally by commercialization based on these rights. In our research we have been able to show that the there is no cancer without genetic background, which was shown using a model of Polish breast cancer patients. This means that DNA testing detecting all kinds of abnormalities in genes is probably an extremely useful tool in prevention, surveillance and treatment. There are more and more examples of how contemporary medicine is completely changed when such information is used.” Opera diva Małgorzata Walewska couldn’t disguise her surprise: “I am touched. This is my first award from an economic magazine, which apparently remembers art’. Bożena Płatos, of the Foundation for Supporting the Development of Polish Pharmacy and Medicine agrees: “Our biggest achievement is the 40 grants earmarked for the implementation of research projects and the scholarship programme for young scientists. The Pearl awarded to the Foundation means that our endeavours have been noticed outside the academic environment for whose benefit we work’.