The Cracow Academic Society was established in 1815. In its early days it was closely linked to the Jagiellonian University of Cracow. These links were broken in 1856. In 1872 the Society was transformed into Academy of Sciences and Letters. Throughout its history, 39 botanists became members of the Society. Most of them lived in Cracow and in the Congress Kingdom of Poland. The botanical collections of the Society included books and herbaria. In 1856 the Society started its own library. It was expanded mainly by way of book exchanges, and several botanists made bequests of theirs own books. During the meetings of the Society 23 papers in botany were presented. Such a small portion of papers in botany may either meant that botanists were less active or that this branch of science was less popular at that time. The Society announced several competitions. Papers in botany were awarded prizes in the J. Jakubowski competition and in the W. Siemieński competition. These two played a major role in the development of botany in the research centre of Cracow. The competitions provided stimuli for field studies, and hence led to the publication of the first modern studies of flora. The Society played also a special role in the organization of botanical research. His Physiographical Commission was one of the first institutions in Europe carrying out planned research projects using grants awarded annually
