The article focuses on an analysis of the level of knowledge of contemporary British, Germans, French, Italians and Poles about Nicolaus Copernicus the person and his scientific achievements. The analysis is based on the results of an international quantitative survey concerning this historical figure that was carried out in 2022 in the countries mentioned. Despite happily associating Nicolaus Copernicus with the cultural heritage of their own countries, it turned out that the respondents knew little of the astronomer’s achievements. A comparison of the recognisability of this figure in the three countries with which he was most associated, that is, with Poland, Germany and Italy, also shows that Italians more often than Germans associate the cultural heritage of their country with this figure. This may prove that it is not in Germany but in contemporary Italy that stronger or more effective processes of discursive and symbolic elaboration of the past take place in the context of the legacy of Nicolaus Copernicus.
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