Początki Olimpiady Języka Łacińskiego

The author commences with presenting the attempts of the Polish Society of Philology to convince the Ministry of Education to officially recognize the National Competition in Latin language, among a number of similar secondary school competitions. The initial years of the Competition are then recounted. The author also reminds eminent organizers of the Competition, next she describes the formation of the Competition’s Grand Committee, the design of the program and difficulty of material arrangements in the early 1980s when Poland was under the martial law. Finally, the author recollects the organizers’ initial anxiety as to whether the Competition would find favour among Latin teachers and secondary level students. It soon turned out, however, that the response from the secondary education community was tremendous, as illustrated by the success of the initial one and all subsequent rounds of the Competition. A sure confirmation of this fact were the successes of the Competition’s winners in the international Certamen Ciceronianum Arpinas – annual competition organized in Italy. In conclusion, the author lists the Competition’s many benefactors, especially Latin teachers, who educated many of its laureates over the last twenty-five years, as well as the members of the Society of particular merit in organizing the Competition at all its levels.