Foundation of the Banach Center and its 30-year history
On January 13, 1972, an agreement was signed in Warsaw by the Academies of Sciences of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and USSR, establishing the Banach Center. Later on, the Academies of Sciences of Vietnam (1979), Cuba (1984) and North Korea (1986) joined the agreement.
From the very beginning, the Banach Center was part of the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, headed by the Director of the Institute together with the International Scientific Council of the Banach Center. The aim of the Center has always been promotion and stimulation of international co-operation in mathematics, especially between the East and West. In the '70s and '80s, the contacts between the East and West constantly gained in importance, and Poland, with its geographic location, cultural and mathematical traditions, served as a natural meeting place.
During the first 20 years of its existence (1972-1992), under the leadership of Professor Czesław Olech, the Banach Center gained world-wide recognition as a center of collaboration of mathematicians from all over the world.
For the next 10 years (1993-2002) Professor Bogdan Bojarski had been the Director of the Banach Center. In this period the agreement of the Academies was terminated (1993), but new prespectives to the activities of the Center were open based on the cooperation with the European Mathematical Society. New forms of activity are continually added, including condensed workshops and symposia, conference, and research groups in addition to the existing form of semesters. Special emphasis is laid on the interaction of different fields of mathematics and interdisciplinary meetings.
Professor Stanisław Janeczko, the Director of the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences has been the Director of the Banach Center since 2002. Professor Łukasz Stettner was the acting Deputy Director responsible for activities of the Center until 2006, when Prof. S. Janeczko nominated Prof. Janusz Grabowski to be the Scientific Secretary of the Banach Center.During 1972-1993, the Scientific Council of the Banach Center consisted of two representatives of each signatory academy of sciences plus the Director of the Center. The Council determines the scientific program of the Center. Since 1993, the Council has had three representatives from the EMS, three representatives from the founding countries and four representatives from Poland.
Former Chairmen of the Scientific Council (1972-2005)
- Lubomir Iliev (Bulgaria) 1972-1976
- Ákos Császár (Hungary) 1977-1980
- Klaus Matthes (East Germany)1981-1982
- Kazimierz Urbanik (Poland) 1983-1986
- Romulus Cristescu (Romania) 1987-1989
- Sergeĭ M. Nikol'skiĭ (USRR) 1990-1992
- Friedrich Hirzebruch (Germany) 1993-2001
- Rolf Jeltsch (Zürich) - 2002-2005
Scientific Council for the 2002–2005 term
- Piotr Biler (Wrocław)
- Andreĭ Bolibrukh (Moscow) - died in 2004
- Sabir Gusein-Zade (Moscow) - since 2004
- Stefan Jackowski (Warszawa)
- Rolf Jeltsch (Zürich) - chairman
- Jerzy Kaczorowski (Poznań)
- Olli Martio (Helsinki), 2001 - 2004
- Marta Sanz Solé (Barcelona)
- Carlo Sbordone (Napoli) - since 2005
- Jan Slovák (Brno)
- Verá T. Sós (Budapest)
- Łukasz Stettner (Warszawa) - Scientific Director of the Institute
Scientific Council for the 1998–2001 term
- Friedrich Hirzebruch (Bonn) - Chairman
- Andreĭ Bolibrukh (Moscow)
- Pavol Brunovskę (Bratislava)
- Roman Dwilewicz (Warszawa) - Scientific Director of the Institute (to March 2000)
- Bronisław Jakubczyk (Warszawa)
- Tadeusz Januszkiewicz (Wrocław)
- Gyula O. H. Katona (Budapest)
- Stanisław Kwapień (Warszawa)
- Marta Sanz Solé (Barcelona)
- Łukasz Stettner (Warszawa) - Scientific Director of the Institute (from March 2000)
- David A. R. Wallace (Glasgow) - resigned in 2001
- Olli Martio (Helsinki) - from April 2001
Scientific Council for the 1993-1997 term
- Friedrich Hirzebruch (Bonn) — Chairman
- Eva Bayer-Fluckiger (Besançon)
- Pavol Brunovskę (Bratislava)
- Ludvig D. Faddeev (St. Petersburg)
- Andrzej Hulanicki (Wrocław)
- Bronisław Jakubczyk (Warszawa) — Scientific Director of the Institute
- Stanisław Janeczko (Warszawa)
- Gyula O. H. Katona (Budapest)
- Aatos Lahtinen (Helsinki)
- Bogdan Ziemian (Warszawa) — Secretary
Members of the Scientific Council (1972-1992)
- Bulgaria: R. Denchev, B. Dymitrov, M. Gavrilov, L. G. Iliev, P. Kenderov, A. N. Mateev, G. Skordev
- Cuba: L. Alvarez, G. Lopez, I. R. Shulcloper
- Czechoslovakia: A. Kufner, L. Mičik, J. Novák, A. Pázman, S. Schwabik
- East Germany: F. Kuhnert, K. Matthes
- Hungary: M. Arató, Á. Császár, E. T. Szmidt
- North Korea: Ho Gon
- Poland: Z. Ciesielski, C. Olech, W. Orlicz, K. Urbanik
- Romania: D. Burghelea, R. Cristescu, G. C. Moisil, T. Postelnicu, E. Radu
- USSR: S. M. Nikol'skiĭ, S. V. Yablonskiĭ
- Vietnam: Phan Dinh Dieu, Hoang Tuy, Pham Huu Sach
