We now know the winners of the 2025 Pomeranian of the Year competition, organised by the editorial team of ‘Zawsze Pomorze’. The Top Ten honourees included prof. Stefan Chwin (awarded alongside his wife Krystyna in the CULTURE AND LOVE category) and prof. Natalia Marek-Trzonkowska (honoured in the SCIENCE category).
The competition’s gala ceremony took place on 27 April in the cellars of the Great Armoury at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk.
The Pomeranian of the Year is the most prestigious award presented by the editorial team of ‘Zawsze Pomorze’. It is announced every year in April. The timing is no coincidence, as it is in this month that World Press Freedom Day is celebrated, established by Reporters Without Borders in 1991. Each year, the competition honours individuals who, through their academic, social, cultural or economic activities, make a special contribution to the region’s development and promote Pomerania both at home and abroad.
In the fourth edition of the competition, 19 nominations were submitted, from which the Jury selected the so-called ‘Golden Ten’ - the most inspiring figures of the past year - representing the worlds of culture, science and social activism. Among them were individuals associated with the University of Gdańsk.
Krystyna and Stefan Chwin, awarded in the ‘CULTURE AND LOVE’ category, were recognised ‘for consistently offering Gdańsk and Pomerania a beautiful lesson in literature, life, and love’. Prof. Stefan Chwin (a long-standing member of staff at the Institute of Polish Philology at the University of Gdańsk) is a highly regarded writer, essayist and graphic artist. Krystyna Chwin is a poet, editor and publisher. Last year, they jointly published three books by Stefan Chwin: ‘Gombrowicz and the “Polish Soul”’, ‘A Diary Written in Gdańsk’, and ‘Pirates. The Adventures of Three Women on the Islands of the San Juan de la Cruz Archipelago’.
Prof. Natalia Marek-Trzonkowska, director of the International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science (ICCVS) at the University of Gdańsk, was honoured in the ‘SCIENCE’ category (‘There are people who look to the future. And those who shape it’). The competition jury commended prof. Marek-Trzonkowska ‘for her initiative in launching research into a lung cancer vaccine and for bringing together a multidisciplinary team of scientists from many countries in Gdańsk’, which was described as the creation of a Pomeranian equivalent of the medical Silicon Valley.
‘I am delighted to receive this award, as I see it not so much as a recognition of my team’s efforts, but rather as an appreciation of science in general. It is thanks to science that we live better, safer, healthier and longer lives. I am immensely pleased that we in Pomerania understand this well,’ said prof. Natalia Marek-Trzonkowska whilst receiving the award. ‘I would like to emphasise that building a team and conducting scientific research is never the work of a single person. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire ICCVS team, who carry out their daily tasks with great commitment, imagination and perseverance. Without your ideas and enthusiasm, we would not be here today.’
The main partner of the competition is the Local Government of the Pomeranian Province, and the partners are Ziaja, the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and the Justyna Garden Centre.
More about the Pomeranian of the Year 2025 awards ceremony and a full photo gallery in the article on the Zawsze Pomorze website:
READ THE ARTICLE (in Polish).