„POLSKI PAPINIAN” ‘REDIVIVUS’. CZY WARTO DZISIAJ TŁUMACZYĆ I WYDAWAĆ STANISŁAWA WRÓBLEWSKIEGO ZA GRANICą?

This paper presents an outline of the life and scholarly achievements of the eminent Polish lawyer Stanisław Wróblewski (1868-1938), professor of Roman and civil law at the Jagiellonian University. He wrote a series of brilliant studies on legal issues, but few of them are known in the international milieu of law scholars, because he published in Polish. In 1899 he published Posiadanie na tle prawa rzymskiego, on ownership and usucaption in the light of Roman law, where he presented the opinion that usucaption deserved the status of a right, just like ownership. In 1916 and 1919 Wróblewski published his unfinished opus magnum, Zarys wykładu prawa rzymskiego (An Outline of Roman Law), which is regarded as a major intellectual achievement in the legal sciences, but remains largely unknown because it was published in Polish. This paper concludes with an appeal for an English edition of Wróblewski’s works as part of the world’s heritage of legal culture.

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