Polish Shakespeare scholar gets OBE
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
30.01.2015 12:58
The director of the Shakespearean Theatre in Gdansk Jerzy Limon has received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) from the hands of the British Ambassador in Warsaw Robin Barnett.
Jerzy Limon (C). Photo: Gdansk Shakespeare Threatre, Dawid Linkowski
He was one of nine people named Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth last year.
The honour speaks of his services for British-Polish cultural relations.
During the presentation ceremony in Warsaw on Thursday, the Ambassador praised Professor Jerzy Limon for his work as the founder and president of the Theatrum Gedanese Foundation, which, acting under the patronage of His Royal Highness, Prince of Wales, supervised the construction of a replica of the Shakespearean Theatre which existed in Gdańsk in the 17th century.
The theatre, which opened in September 2014, was described by the Ambassador as ‘the fruit of the Professor’s passion relating to British culture and the arts, a passion which has opened new prospects for the promotion and development of both cultures.’
Sixty-five-year-old Jerzy Limon is a professor at the University of Gdańsk. He has published extensively on drama and theatre. His literary output includes translations of several English plays into Polish as well as four novels.
It was in the early 1990s that Jerzy Limon discovered traces of a Shakespearean playhouse in Gdańsk which resembled the Fortune Theatre in London. He soon came up with the idea of reconstructing the theatre. The project won the support of the European Union. (mk)