At Shevchenko Avenue, 27 in the interwar period there was a cafe “Scottish”, now known throughout the world. Beau monde of scientific mathematics of Lviv gathered here after 1930. The scholars resembled slightly mad people. As a rule, the scenario was as follows: somebody was working on a task, and the whole company was silently thinking about solving it. Professor Stefan Banach (“Banach space”, “Banach algebra”) moderated. The solutions were written directly on marble tables. Early in the morning a cleaning lady came and washed away the ingenious graffiti with water. Later Banach’s wife Luсia bought a notebook and handed it to the cashier asking to give it to her husband for notes. Since then the tasks have been written on paper. Awards were also announced. Mostly it was coffee or lunch at the George Hotel but sometimes it was possible to win a live goose in this way. The sessions lasted for hours. This is how the famous “Scottish Book” came about. When the cafe closed, the company could move to the buffet of the main railway station, open 24 hours a day, and switch from coffee and vodka with wine to beer. One meeting lasted a record 17 hours. In 1958 the “Scottish Book” was presented at the Mathematical Congress in Edinburgh, which caused sensation and furor among the Scots. Now here is a hotel.
Want to know more? Book a tour!
Photo: https://www.kawiarniany.pl/
