Anna Maria Cienciala (November 8, 1929 – December 24, 2014) was a

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

historian and author. She specialized in modern Polish and Russian history. Graduating with a history doctorate in 1962, she taught at two

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

universities for a few years before joining the history faculty at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 1965. She retired in 2002.

Biography

Anna Cienciala was born in the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...

(now

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

) on November 8, 1929. She was educated in Poland and France. Cienciala received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

in 1952, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

in 1955, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from

Indiana University at Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest campu ...

in 1962, where she wrote her dissertation under the supervision of

Piotr S. Wandycz Piotr Stefan Wandycz (September 20, 1923 – July 29, 2017) was a Polish-American historian. He was also the President of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, and professor emeritus at Yale University, specializing in Eastern a ...

. She taught courses in Eastern European history, with a focus on modern Polish and Russian history, at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in Canada, before landing a long-term career in the U.S. at the

in 1965. As an author, Cienciala published two books, edited four books and wrote around forty academic articles in various American, German, and Polish historical journals. She retired as

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

in June, 2002. In 2007 Cienciala published, together with two other historians, ''A Crime without Punishment'', which explores the

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

of the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

. Cienciala was a member of a number of professional associations in Poland, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She has received awards from the

NEH The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

, IREX, ACLS and the Hall Center at K.U.Anna Cienciala , the

Department of History, 2014 She was a member of the Board of Directors of the

Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA) is a Polish-American scholarly institution headquartered in Manhattan (New York City), at 208 East 30th Street. History The Institute was founded during the height of World War II, in 1 ...

, and received the

Polish Cross of Merit The Cross of Merit () is a Polish civil state decoration established on 23 June 1923, to recognize services to the state. History At the time of its establishment in 1923, the Cross of Merit was the highest civilian award in Poland. It was aw ...

. Recipient of the Union of Polish Writers Abroad award (London, 2012). A book published in 2000 by

Gdańsk University Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

and edited by Marek Andrzejewski was dedicated to her honor. ''Gdańsk - Gdynia - Europa - Stany Zjednoczone w XIX i XX wieku : księga pamiątkowa dedykowana profesor Annie Cienciale''
edited by Marek Andrzejewski,

, 2000, Professor Cienciala died on December 24, 2014, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Anna M. Cienciala. Obituary.
Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved December 27, 2014.

Selected works

* Anna M. Cienciala, ''Poland and the Western Powers, 1938–1939. A Study in the Interdependence of Eastern and Western Europe'', London, Toronto, 196
online
* Anna M. Cienciala and Titus Komarnicki, ''From Versailles to Locarno, Keys to Polish Foreign Policy, 1919–1925'', Lawrence, KS, 198
online
* Anna M. Cienciala, ''The Battle of Danzig and the Polish Corridor at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919,'' ch. 5, in: Paul Latawski, ed., ''THE RECONSTRUCTION OF POLAND, 1914-23'', Basingstoke, London, UK, 1992 * Anna M. Cienciala, ''Wilsonian East Central Europe: The British View with Reference to Poland,'' in: John S. Micgiel, ed., ''Wilsonian East Central Europe. Current Perspectives'', New York, 1995 * Anna M. Cienciala, "The Foreign Policy of the Polish Government-in-Exile, 1939–1945: Political and Military Realities versus Polish Psychological Reality" in: John S. Micgiel and Piotr S. Wandycz eds., ''Reflections on Polish Foreign Policy,'' New York: 2005
online
* Anna M. Cienciala, Natalia S. Lebedeva, Wojciech Materski, ''Katyn: A Crime Without Punishment'', Yale University Press, 2007, * Anna M. Cienciala, "The Foreign Policy of Józef Piłsudski and Józef Beck, 1926-1939: Misconceptions and Interpretations," ''The Polish Review'' (2011) 56#1 pp. 111–15
in JSTOR

References

Bibliography

* Michał Kozłowski, ''Anna Maria Cienciała (8 XI 1929-24 XII 2014)'', "Rocznik Instytutu Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej" 13 (2015), no 1, p. 267-27

* Mieczysław Nurek, ''Anna Maria Cienciała jako świadek i badacz dziejów najnowszych'' n:''Gdańsk - Gdynia - Europa - Stany Zjednoczone w XIX i XX wieku. Księga pamiątkowa dedykowana profesor Annie Cienciale'', pod red. Marka Andrzejewskiego, Gdańsk 2000, p. 10-17. * Jacek Tebinka, ''Bibliografia prac Anny Cienciały za lata 1953-2000'' n:''Gdańsk - Gdynia - Europa - Stany Zjednoczone w XIX i XX wieku. Księga pamiątkowa dedykowana profesor Annie Cienciale'', pod red. Marka Andrzejewskiego, Gdańsk 2000, p. 18-38. * Piotr Semków, ''Operacja "Stypendystka". Służba bezpieczeństwa a kwerenda archiwalna Profesor Anny Cienciały w Gdańsku'', "Niepodległość" 53/54 (2002/2003), p. 317-323. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cienciala, Anna M. 1929 births 2014 deaths Polish emigrants to the United States Historians of Russia McGill University alumni People from the Free City of Danzig American women historians 21st-century American women People associated with the magazine "Kultura"