Akt urodzenia Heliodora Święcickiego odnaleziony. Uwagi do biografii i genealogii pierwszego rektora Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego

Heliodor Święcicki stands as a figure of considerable importance in the history of the University of Poznań, being one of its founders as well as its inaugural rector. His life has been the subject of numerous biographies, scholarly and popular alike, as well as a variety of studies focusing on, among other topics, the university’s history. His persona is widely documented in dictionaries, lexicons, and encyclopaedias, thereby serving as a crucial point of reference within the Polish academic milieu. Yet, for many years, one of the most significant aspects of Święcicki’s life, his birthplace, remained unidentified. Prior speculation suggested that he might have hailed either from Śrem or Poznań, but none of the earlier attempts to clarify this issue has been substantiated by sufficient evidence. Historians examining his life have not undertaken a comprehensive archive enquiry capable of dispelling these uncertainties. Following a thorough analysis of the primary historical sources, including parish registers, it has now been established that Święcicki was born in Poznań, more precisely in a tenement on the corner of Garbary and Woźna streets. This finding conclusively resolves the long-standing debate concerning his origins and definitively identifies his birthplace. Moreover, this article revisits and corrects other significant details pertaining to the genealogies of the Święcicki and Korytowski families. The revisions address the inaccuracies in the information regarding Święcicki’s parents but also clarify details concerning his sibling These corrections fill an important gap in the biography of this remarkable individual.