King John III Sobieski 2nd High School is a high school in Kraków, Poland. It was founded in 1883.
Contents
History
The school was founded as a tribute to King Jan III Sobieski and his victory at battle of Vienna. The new building, which is still the location of Jan III Sobieski High School was completed in 1887. The students took part in both World Wars, fighting for the independence of Poland.
During the Nazi occupation of Poland, the Germans made an office building of the school and destroyed the book collection. After the Wehrmacht left Kraków, the school was first in the city that started holding classes again.
Since 1969 the school has been an organizer of a theatrical contest Festiwal Małych Form Teatralnych (Small Theatrical Forms Festival), where many famous Polish actors started their careers.
A student of Sobieski High School, Przemysław Mazur, was awarded a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Sobieski High School is a member of Towarzystwo Szkół Twórczych (en. Society of Creative Schools) – movement of Polish schools willing to share experiences in order to increase students' development. Since 2009 it's also a part of international network of schools teaching German language Schulen: Partner der Zukunft (en. Schools: Partners of Future).
In the 2020 presidential election, two graduates of the school ran as candidates: Andrzej Duda and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, and the former won the election and was elected for a second term.
Facilities
The library holds approximately 20000 books, among which 10% are dated before 1939. Core of the collection is built of popular scientific positions covering all sciences. Students can also check out books published in foreign languages including English, German, French and Russian.
Sobieski High School officially opened a new athletic center with sports hall, two-level gym and fitness room in September 2008. Costs of the investment were around 2.5 mln USD (7.2 mln PLN).
Famous alumni
Jan Stanisław Bystroń – sociologist and ethnographer
Leon Chwistek – painter, philosopher
Andrzej Duda – President of Poland
Filip Eisenberg – bacteriologist
Wlastimil Hofman – painter
Tadeusz Hołuj – writer
Marian Jedlicki – historian
Zdzisław Krygowski – mathematician
Józef Lustgarten – soccer player
Franciszek Macharski – archbishop of Kraków
Bronisław Malinowski – anthropologist
Tadeusz Peiper – poet
Edward Raczyński – president of Poland in exile
Henryk Reyman – soccer player
Maciej Stuhr – actor, comedian
Jan Marcin Szancer – illustrator
Tomasz Szczypiński – politician
Jan Sztaudynger – poet, satirist
Jerzy Turowicz – journalist
Mariusz Ziółko – professor of electronics
Jerzy Zubrzycki – sociologist
Famous tutors
Leon Chwistek (also an alumnus)
Władysław Czapliński
Agata Kornhauser-Duda
Bolesław Faron (1958–1964)
Cultural references
The semi-biographical movie Mała matura 1947 by Janusz Majewski released in 2010 tells a story of a young boy, Ludwik, who moved along with his family from Lviv to Kraków and attended Sobieski High School. The film won an honorary Special Award at the 35th Polish Film Festival.