Last September, Her Majesty The Queen appointed Professor Jerzy Limon to be an Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in recognition of his valuable services to British-Polish cultural relations. On 29 January, I had the pleasure and honour to present Professor Limon with the badge of the Order at a small ceremony. Professor Limon has played an important part in developing cultural relations through his organisation of many cultural events, often with a close British connection. His love of British culture and plays is well known.
Jerzy Limon’s story is a remarkable one. In 1990, he set up the Thetraum Gedanese Foundation with the aim of building the Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre, as a centre of cultural and artistic excellence. Many of us thought it a wonderful idea but were unsure whether it could be implemented given the many challenges it faced. One of those who believed in the project was HRH the Prince of Wales, who granted the Foundation his patronage. In September 2014, the professor’s passion, determination and commitment bore fruit as the impressive new Theatre was formally opened. It will now become the centre for the annual Gdansk Shakespeare Festival.
This is truly an occasion for Anglo-Polish celebration and I am very much looking forward to visiting the theatre again soon.
