Andrzej Nowak (historian)


Andrzej Nowak is a Polish historian and opinion journalist.

Life and work

He is a professor at Jagiellonian University and at the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, where he is the head of the Section for the History of Eastern Europe and the Empires of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Before that he was visiting professor at Rice University. He was the co-founder and for many years chief editor of the prestigious conservative cultural-political magazine Arcana. He cooperates with the monthly Wpis regularly and is one of the main authors of the publishing house Biały Kruk.
Andrzej Nowak has published over 40 books and more than 200 historical publications in scientific periodicals and dozens of articles, reviews and interviews.
His main research areas are: cultural and political history of Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th century; political philosophy; international political relations; modern mass-media. He has published several books about the Polish-Russian relations. He is currently the president of the Advisory Council of The Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding, as well as a member of the Council of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance. Due to his expertise in history and modern politics he is a frequent guest of radio programs and talk-shows. Nowak was invited to speak at the most prestigious universities all over the world, e.g. in Harvard, Cambridge, Columbia, Simon Fraser, Toronto, Tokyo, McGill, Alberta.
Between 1980 and 1988 Andrzej Nowak was involved in anti-Communist journalistic and educational activities, publishing many articles in so-called underground magazines, such as Arka, Miesięcznik Małopolski, Alternatywy, Tumult. He also participated in a system of alternative lectures of history for workers organized during the martial law in Poland by the catholic priest Kazimierz Jankowski in Krakow-Nowa Huta and in the so called Free Jagiellonian University. He took part in two international conferences on human rights. Between 1989 and 1991 he worked in the international section of the independent daily "Czas Krakowski". After that he concentrated on his academic career and transferred to the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw and then to the Jagiellonian University.
Andrzej Nowak is known for his monumental History of Poland. As of January 2020, he has finished four volumes of the planned eleven.
He has received several awards and honors, including the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state distinction.
Andrzej Nowak is married and has two kids.

Main works