11th International Congress on Deterioration and Conservation of Stone. 15-20 september 2008, Toruń, Poland. Proceedings, vol. 1

Scientific approach to conservation and restoration dates back to the 50ties of the 20th c. In early 60ties first conferences were organized, particularly in Italy, to gather specialists in many fields of arts and sciences working on the causes of deterioration and methods of conservation of stone historical objects. It was Professor Vsevelode Romanovsky who launched the idea of cyclic congresses and organized the 1st International Symposium on the Deterioration of Stone in La Rochelle in 1972 r. He was also the initiator of setting up the Permanent Scientific Committee of Stone Congresses, the task of which is to organize conferences in various countries of the world. V. Romanovsky headed the Committee for many years and cared about effective organization of conferences and high scientific level of contributions. His name will be preserved in our gracious memory forever. The Congresses were first organized every second year, now every four years, in many places of the world as: Athens, Venice, Louisville, Lausanne, Lisbon, Berlin, Stockholm. In 1988 r. the 6th International Congress on Deterioration and Conservation of Stone was held in Poland for the first time, right here in Torun. The head of the Organizing Committee was Professor Wieslaw Domaslowski, the founder and for many years the director of the Department for Conservation and Restoration of Architectonic Elements and Details, where research is carried out and students are trained in the field of restoration of stone historical objects.

Jadwiga W. Łukaszewicz

Piotr Niemcewicz