President of Poland Andrzej Duda, giving a speech at an event dedicated to the 650th anniversary of the establishment of the Armenian community of Poland on March 29, called Armenians the first Polish intellectuals. This was reported by Polish Radio.
The Polish president remarked that the Armenian community began to form in Poland in the second half of the 14th century when King of Poland Casimir III the Great gave Armenians certain privileges and allowed them to establish the first Armenian diocese in Poland.
In 2015, one of the squares of the city of Wroclaw received the name “Armenian”.
“The contribution of Armenians to the formation of the Polish statehood is difficult to overestimate because it affects almost all spheres of public life. Armenians have been excellent farmers, founders of the Polish intelligentsia, remarkable craftsmen, merchants, and so on,” said Duda.
It should be noted that the majority of Armenians who now live in Poland are the descendants of post-Soviet emigrants, not the members of the original Armenian community. After the collapse of the USSR, many Armenians moved to Poland in search of a better life.
