Polish Library in Paris
Founded in 1838 and run by the Polish Historical and Literary Society, the Polish Library in Paris is one of the largest in exile institutions devoted to Polish culture in the world. Occupying a 17th-century palace on the island of St Louis, it houses a rich archive and library collection, temporary exhibition halls and three permanent exhibitions, including the first Adam Mickiewicz Museum, the Bolesław Biegas Museum and the only Fryderyk Chopin Salon in France. Open to visitors and scholars alike, it allows visitors to immerse themselves in the history of Polish-French relations involving the Great Emigration and to discover unknown pages of Polish history and the activities of its eminent representatives in exile. From its inception, the Polish Historical and Literary Society has been a centre for the dissemination of knowledge of Polish history, culture and art, particularly through the development of dialogue with France and Europe at large. Its members included: Marie Joseph de La Fayette, Charles de Montalembert, Frederic Chopin, Adam Mickiewicz, Henri Mazeaud, Marie Curie-Skłodowska, Paul Cazin, André Gide, Henri de Monfort, Czesław Miłosz and Andrzej Wajda. Mention must also be made of Father Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, one of the co-founders of the Library and its first life president, who lived in the nearby Hotel Lambert, so important to Poles. It was here that his daughter Izabella grew up, who, after her marriage to Jan Działyński, moved to the Wielkopolska town of Gołuchów, turning the former Leszczyński castle into a magnificent residence-museum of European class.
Since 1979, the Polish Historical and Literary Society and the Polish Library have been members of the Permanent Conference of Polish Museums, Archives and Libraries outside Poland, which includes the Château de Montrésor.
Since 2013, the Library, the Society and the Adam Mickiewicz Museum have been included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
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