22 Mostly Medieval Jacek also stressed the contribution of the Polish members of the Association, whose research and involvement stimulated the development of English Studies in Poland. Advertising the research of Polish Anglicists had been Jacek’s prerogative in all his activities, but he also thought about other disciplines. His endeavors in setting up the Poznań Chapter of Agder Academy of Sciences and Letters show him as a man with a vision, supporting scholars representing all Poznań universities as the best way to promote Poland abroad. Jacek had never denied his political views nor the fact that he remained a “leftist” throughout his life. Yet he had continuously had good relations with the American Embassy in Warsaw and the American Consulate in Poznań, and many of the Ambassadors and Consuls, such as Len Baldyga, remained his friends long after they left Poland, inviting him to various functions in Washington DC. He also maintained a close relationship with the British Embassy and the British Council. His efforts were recognized by Queen Elizabeth II, and in 1981 he received an OBE. When he became Minister of Education in 1988, he changed the face of Polish education by purging the overwhelming rule of Russian in Polish schools and adding French to the already existing English and German. Whenever I look at the display of prizes and medals, I see a life of hard work but also a life of numerous accomplishments. One of the more recent folders, for example, contains a print-out of an e-mail from Ernst Håkon Jahr (April 26, 2018) informing us that HM the King appointed Jacek Knight 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit; a note in Jacek’s handwriting says that we should notify the University authorities and the papers. The awarding ceremony took place in October of the same year in Poznań and was one of the last momentous occasions in Jacek’s life. On June 3, 2020, a year after his death, I decided to put some order into his books and papers. This is how I found his correspondence with one of his teachers, Professor Margaret Schlauch, who on February 28, 1961, was asking a not yet 25 year old MA holder …to review Part I of A Middle English Syntax by Tauno F. Mustanoja (Helsinki, 1960), recently sent to the Kwartalnik by the publishers. Our editors asked me to do it, but I don’t know when I can get at it. I am over-charged with other commitments. As I glanced through the book, I saw that the author was following very conventional, traditional methods in treating the problem of parts of speech. Here is a chance for you to challenge him—and I think he is a worthier antagonist than the elementary Clark.
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