Annual open lecture in memory of Dr. Lena Kondratiewa-Bryzik

We would like to invite all interested parties to join us for the annual lecture organized in the memory of Dr. Lena Kondratiewa-Bryzik, who was one of the pillars of the Poznań Human Rights Center, a renowned academic teacher, and a researcher with an impressive track record, who have greatly contributed to the human rights law. The in-memoriam lecture “On the Rule of Law and Gender Equality in Law” will be delivered by Professor Susanne Baer, judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany and Professor in the Faculty of Law of the Humboldt University in Berlin. 

The meeting will be open by Professor Adam Bodnar, Dean of the Faculty of Law in Warsaw.

Remembering Dr. Lena Kondratiewa-Bryzik

“Dr. Lena Kondratiewa-Bryzik, as a person of exceptional qualities – wisdom, diligence, and empathy – was an inspiration for others. Her acclaimed research achievements, boundless energy, and engagement in the activities of many organizations were an example for all of us.

Lena graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Voronezh State University. She obtained her doctorate in Law from the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). From 2009 to March 2012, Lena was one of the pillars of the Poznań Human Rights Center. The number of her research projects and the quality of her research were highly impressive. Her doctoral dissertation on the genesis of the protection of human life received an honorable mention in the competition organized by Państwo i Prawo (The State and the Law), a Polish academic journal devoted to the matters of law, and was published in a book format. She also authored numerous articles, opinions, papers, and presentations at scientific conferences. She was a highly regarded academic teacher, who took great care to prepare for her classes and lectures. One of the proofs of her research achievements was a prestigious grant for young researchers, START 2011, awarded to her by the Foundation for Polish Science. Lena’s research focused on a broad range of issues related to international protection of human rights, such as protection of women’s rights, issues related to discrimination and violence against women, and bioethics.

Everyone lucky enough to have known Lena professionally or socially, was taken by her class, kindness and tactfulness. One of her traits was the care she extended towards others, to people who surrounded her, and her efforts to help them in various, often very difficult situations, something that is rather rarely encountered nowadays.

On March 3, 2012, Lena died tragically in a train crash near Szczekociny (south-central Poland), while she was on her way back from a seminar that she run at the Faculty of Law of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.

The annual lectures in memory of Lena provide an opportunity for an academic discussion on the topics that were important to her, and for a gathering of people for whom she was important.”

Roman Wieruszewski
Mirosław Wyrzykowski
Adam Bodnar
Anna Śledzińska-Simon
Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias