EN
Interest in the Iberian aspect of the biography of Eugeniusz Frankowski (1884-1962), one of the most eminent Polish ethnologists of the first half of the 20th century, originated unexpectedly, thanks to a personal contact of the author with Professor Maria Frankowska, the widow of Eugeniusz. The author thus terms himself an 'occasional biographer', while the subject of his academic investigations he calls 'Iberica Frankowsciana'. The essay raises a number of questions concerning usefulness of biographical writings for the history of scholarship. It also deals with establishing limits to the biographer's inquires and a hierarchy of the detailed information he is gathering. The author believes that the biographer's duty is to present a portrait as complete as possible; moreover, biographies should be readable. Biographical writings on scholars belong to the history of scholarship sensu largo, including not only the history of ideas but also of people and institutions. Frankowski's career deserves an interpretation both in the frame of historiography of Polish-Spanish contacts and relations, and in the context of the history of Polish ethnology and Iberian studies.