Siostra Maria Józef Franciszka od Miłości Bożej (Irena z Jezierskich) Tyszkiewiczowa (22 maja 1887 – 23 kwietnia 1964)
Sister Maria Józef Franciszka – Irena née Jezierska Tyszkiewicz (May 22, 1887 – April 23, 1964).

Summary/Abstract: Article devoted to the countess Irena Tyszkiewicz (1887–1964) – founder and creator of the Library of Religious Knowledge in Warsaw – private library functioned in the outbuilding of the palace belonging to her family at 6 Litewska Street in Warsaw. She collected about 20 thousand books, including 3 thousand books for children. The library were used also as a place for discussion meetings by the most important Catholic intellectuals of the interwar period in Poland. Library was opened between 1919 and 1939 and later operated underground until 1944, when was destroyed by the Germans. After the Second War library was renovated in 1956 also by Irena Tyszkiewicz (then she was already sister Maria Józef Franciszka in the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross) and began operating as the Primate’s Library of Religious Knowledge. This library, still operating in the Monastery belonging to the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross at 9/11 Piwna Street in Warsaw, has become a model for other religious libraries created in many cities in Poland. In the years 1919–1939, Irena Tyszkiewicz was also involved in the activities of the Society for the Care of the Blind founded by Mother Elżbieta Czacka and other related institutions. Among others, she was a co-founder of a bookshop and the „Verbum” Publishing House. In this article to trace her life archival materials collected in the archives of the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross (AFSK), Father Władysław Korniłowicz (AWK) and Mother Elżbieta Czacka (AMCz) were used.

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