Dr Dagmara Budzioch, the author of a two-volume publication on the scrolls of Esther from the collection of the Jewish Historical Institute, won the main prize in the competition for the best scientific book on Jewish history and culture in Poland.

The Józef A. Gierowski and Chona Shmeruk prize of 20 thousand PLN was established on the initiative of academic societies related to Jewish studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, with the financial support of the Marcella and Maria Roth Foundation.

The main prize was won by Dr Dagmara Budzioch, who presented her doctorate at the Jagiellonian University, for her book “Decorated scrolls of Esther from the collections of the Jewish Historical Institute in the tradition of decorating the Ester megilot in the 17th and 18th centuries”.

For describing the tradition of decorating the Book of Esther, the author studied around 300 manuscripts from private and public collections around the world, incl. New York, London, Tel Aviv or Zurich.