Pastel on paper, signed p.d. "WiktorZin".
Dimensions in frame: 57x76 cm (40x60 cm)
Wiktor Zin (Hrubieszow 1925 - 2007 Rzeszow) - Polish architect, professor at the Cracow University of Technology, general conservator of monuments (1977-1981), president of the Society of Lovers of the History and Monuments of Cracow; popularizer of knowledge about the history of Polish art, columnist, author of the television program "With Pen and Carbon". He studied architecture in Cracow at the AGH University of Science and Technology, where he was a student of the Polytechnic Faculties, from which the Cracow University of Technology originated. He received his doctorate in 1952, his habilitated doctorate in 1959, the title of associate professor in 1967 and full professor in 1979. In addition to his academic work, he was also active in Krakow and the architecture and monuments of the entire country. He was the chief architect of Krakow (1958-64), head of the study of the Old Town Complex of Krakow (1960-1975), chairman of the Krakow Preservation Commission (1970-1978), president and vice-president of the Society of Lovers of Krakow History and Monuments. In 1977-1981 he held the position of General Conservator of Monuments with the rank of Deputy Minister of Culture and Art. In 1978-1983 he was chairman of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Revitalization of Historic Urban Complexes. In the 1980s he was a lecturer at the University of Zagreb. Member of the Council of the Association of Architects of the Republic of Poland, Society for the Care of Monuments (1975-1983 as President of the Board of Directors), member of the Mexican Academy of Architecture. In 1986-1989 he was a member of the National Grunwald Committee. In 1986-1988 member of the Social Committee for the Restoration of the Old Town of Zamość. On January 28, 1998, the Cracow University of Technology awarded him an honorary doctorate. His activities as General Conservator of Monuments resonated with the public. In the early 1980s, he signed an agreement to return by the end of April 1982, all Danzig art objects held at the National Museum in Warsaw. The agreed-upon schedule of returns was interrupted by martial law, and it was not until 1985 that the first monuments were returned to Gdansk; nevertheless, to this day many of Gdansk's monuments remain in Warsaw. He was also a creator of stage designs for plays and operas, author of artwork and numerous scientific, book and press publications. Wiktor Zin wrote poetry. In 2007 he donated a poem entitled "If Fish" to the Cracow group Püdelsi, to which the group composed music. Toward the end of his life, he held the positions of pro-rector of the European Academy of Arts in Warsaw, head of the All-Polish Study of Conservation of Urbanism and Architecture at the Cracow University of Technology, head of the Department of History of Art and Culture at the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszow, academic teacher at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, and chancellor of the chapter of the "Polonia Mater Nostra est" decoration. He remained active until the end of his life - he died suddenly while preparing to teach students at the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszow, where he headed the Department of Cultural Heritage and Business Humanization.
