„Jesteśmy szczęśliwemi wybrańcami losu”. Refleksje nad życiem i działalnością Marii Grzegorzewskiej

This article is dedicated to Maria Grzegorzewska – an outstanding creator of the Polish school of special pedagogy, initiator, founder, and long-time director of the oldest university in Poland training special educators, and one of the most outstanding women in psychology of the 20th century, honored by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Academy of Special Pedagogy with the honorable title of Patroness of the year 2022. It presents the most important facts about her life and activities, the origins of her scientific interests, the sources of her creativity that determined how to coped with the challenges related to realizingher vocation to serve people with disabilities, her contribution to the development of various areas of culture and science, and the extraordinary power of influence on colleagues and students, thanks to which the knowledge system she created remains valid today and can set the direction for the further development of pedagogy and related disciplines.