Biblioteka arcybiskupa ormiańskiego Józefa Teodorowicza: jej losy w czasie II wojny światowej i w latach powojennych
LIBRARY OF ARMENIAN ARCHBISHOP JÓZEF TEODOROWICZ: ITS FATE DURING WORLD WAR II AND IN THE POSTWAR YEARS

Summary/Abstract: Archbishop Jozef Teodorowicz (1864–1938), Ordinary of the Armenian Archdiocese of Lviv, was a respected preacher, author of theological works and a patriot active in many areas of religious and social life in Poland. The hierarch amassed an impressive private library of several thousand volumes in Polish, Latin, German, French and other languages. The collection of old prints, including rare Armenianlanguage publications and manuscripts, was of particular value. The book collection constituted a workshop for the ambitious priest, preacher and writer, and later archbishop, as well as shaped his views on sociopolitical issues. The archbishop successively expanded and complemented the library’s resources throughout his life, keeping abreast of the book and antiquarian market both in Poland and abroad. The subject matter of the book collection varied. The largest group included religious publications, primarily representing various branches of theology: biblical studies, theology of spirituality, dogmatic theology, moral theology, liturgy, apologetics, and canon law. Several hundred works were devoted to the life of Jesus Christ, Mariology and hagiography. Interestingly, the authors of the theological works (mostly biblical commentaries) included representatives of various factions of Protestantism, Orthodox Christians and rabbis. J. Teodorowicz’s library also contained many publications of fiction by both Polish and foreign authors, as well as philosophical treatises, studies of Church history and general history, political science, culture, and art history. The book collection also included many works on psychology and the education and formation of youth. During World War II, the library of Archbishop J. Teodorowicz was fragmented and dispersed. Part of the collection was destroyed by Soviet soldiers quartered in the archbishop’s palace in Lviv, and the surviving books were deposited in 1940 at the Lviv branch of the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (the former Ossoliński National Institute). Fragments of the preserved book collection are currently in several institutions in Ukraine and Poland.

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