Dr Ewa Kaźmierczyk’s monograph „The Fallen Capital. Society and Space of Kraków in 18th Century” won the Main Prize of the Association of Higher Education Publishers named after Father Edward Pudełko during the Poznań Book Fair 2025.
The competition of the Association of Higer Education Publishers promotes university publishing houses and the excellence of scientific and didactic editing. The award commemorates Father Edward Pudełko - co-founder and first president of the Association. The Jury of the Competition, consisting of specialists from the world of science and representatives of the Polish Chamber of Books, the Association of Higher Education Publishers and the media also honored the University of Białystok Publishing House which was responsible for publishing the awarded publication, with a statuette.
Dr Kaźmierczyk's book is part of the dynamically developing trend of research on the society of cities in the modern era, focusing on the period of crisis in Kraków, often omitted in historiography, after the Great Northern War and the epidemic of the early 18th century. The author analyzes the social, spatial and demographic changes in the city, taking into account, among others, the state of development, the structure of property ownership and the wealth diversity of residents.
The publication is distinguished by its methodological approach - thanks to the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the results of archival research were linked to historical plans of Kraków which allowed for spatial analysis. The monograph is an extension of the doctoral dissertation which dr Ewa Kaźmierczyk defended at the Jagiellonian University under the supervision of prof. Konrad Wnęk.
