EN
Professor Stanislaw Latour, an outstanding architect, researcher, and teacher of several generations, died on 20 October 2007. He was held in high regard not only for concrete conservation accomplishments but also for his exceptional personality: courage, modesty, 'joie de vivre', and the urge to render help to others. A graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw Universiry of Technology (1952), he devoted the majority of his professional life to the protection and documentation of the cultural heritage of Szczecin and the Western Territories. During the 1950s he organised in Szczecin the first project studio of the State Enterprise Ateliers for the Conservation of Historical Monuments and played a prominent part in the reconstruction of the Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes. His conservation achievements include i. a. the cathedral of St. James the Apostle in Szczecin and the adjoining Vicarage, the church of St. John the Evangelist, and the Podzamcze quarter as well as the preservation, renovation and modernisation of small towns in Western Pomerania. St. Latour also designed new buildings such as the residential-catechesis complex next to the church of St. John the Evangelist or the sacral complex of St. John Bosco. For over thirty years he was connected with the Technical University of Szczecin, where he performed assorted duties, including that of Pro-Rector. A member of numerous organisations and institutions i. a. Association of Polish Architects, ICOMOS, as well as an expert for the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Professor Latour was an unquestioned authority for Polish conservators and all people involved in the protection of Polish historical monuments, teaching them how to experience and protect beauty and how to speak about it.