Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS), founded in 1944 and named after the famous Polish Nobel laureate, is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.
On Monday, the university's Senate awarded an honorary doctorate to writer and journalist Anne Applebaum for her "masterful understanding of history, especially Eastern Europe and Poland, as well as her scholarly sensitivity to issues of democracy and media quality."
"This is not a war over land—Russia has 11 time zones. This is not a war over resources—Russia has the entire periodic table of elements just beneath its soil. This is a war for truth and freedom, for the right to memory and the right to the future, for the right to identity," Applebaum said in her speech, referencing the ongoing war in Ukraine, which is taking place just a short distance from UMCS in Lublin, a city that quickly became a hub for refugee assistance after Russia's invasion.
Applebaum, who is married to Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, received the honorary doctorate alongside world-renowned director Agnieszka Holland and writer and Nobel laureate in literature Olga Tokarczuk.
Author and journalist Anne Applebaum (2nd left) received an honorary doctorate alongside director Agnieszka Holland (3rd right) and Polish Nobel laureate in literature Olga Tokarczuk (right) on November 25, 2024 (photo: PAP/Wojtek Jargiło)
Source: IAR/PAP/UMCS
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