Dr Andrzej Bogusławski, one of the most important Polish linguists of recent decades, a full professor at the University of Warsaw since 1977 and an honorary doctor of our university since 1999, passed away on 6 January 2026 at the age of 94. He was awarded this honour by the then Faculty 11 of Literature and Linguistics . In 2012, our partner university, the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, also awarded him the title of doctor honoris causae .
Andrzej Bogusławski was a linguist, theoretical linguist and philosopher of language. As a universal scholar with an original and creative approach, his work encompassed almost all areas of linguistics and its border areas with other humanities. His work touched on the fields of semantics, lexicology, lexicography, pragmatics, syntax, inflection, word formation, phonology, philosophy of language, text and translation theory, semiotics and literary theory. They relate to numerous Indo-European languages, with a focus on the Slavic languages. His academic legacy comprises more than 400 publications, including 25 monographs. His last book was published two years ago, and he gave his last lecture in December 2025!
In addition to numerous research stays abroad, from Russia to across the Atlantic, he has held a number of visiting professorships, three of them at German universities. He has received numerous academic honours, including the Humboldt Foundation Research Award. He was a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAU).
Andrzej Bogusławski actively participated in the social upheavals in Poland at the end of the last century and was interned for several months as a member of Solidarność during martial law in Poland in the early 1980s. After the collapse of the communist regime, he became involved in the democratisation of scientific structures. Later, at an advanced age, he persistently polemicised in the media against neo-nationalist tendencies in the political landscape of his home country.
In the 1990s, he was actively involved in the co-operation between our university and the Nikolaus Korpenikus University, where his student Maciej Grochowski was head of Polish Studies. Both have contributed greatly to the successful development of Slavic linguistics in Oldenburg, not least in the area of promoting young academics.
The speeches and lectures on the occasion of the award of the honorary doctorate to Andrzej Bogusławski were published in the Oldenburg University Speeches No. 133 with the title Reflections on the Definability of Knowledge , including the speech given by the honouree with this very title (see oops.uni-oldenburg.de /1299/1/ur133.pdf).
The School III - School of Linguistics and Cultural Studies will honour Andrzej Bogusławski's memory.
Gerd Hentschel
Oldenburg, January 2026