Eugene Francis Vincent Kusielewicz (October 12, 1930 – December 10, 1996) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, author, educator, and a leading spokesperson on Polish and Polish-American affairs in the United States.

Life and recognition

Born on October 12, 1930 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Kusielewicz attended

St. John's University St John's University may refer to: *St. John's University (New York City) **St. John's University School of Law **St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus *College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and Col ...

(B.A., 1952) and

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

(M.A., 1954; Ph.D., 1963), where he studied under

Oskar Halecki Oskar Halecki (26 May 1891, Vienna, Cisleithania, Austria-Hungary – 17 September 1973, White Plains, New York, United States of America) was a Polish historian, social and Catholic activist. Life and career Halecki, whose first name is sometim ...

, the Polish historian. Under Halecki's guidance, he wrote his Master's thesis on "Woodrow Wilson, Ignacy Paderewski, and the Rebirth of Poland." His doctoral dissertation was on "The Teschen Question at the Paris Peace Conference: A Re-examination in the Light of Materials in the Archives of the United States." Kusielewicz began his teaching career in 1953 and worked at both public and private schools, before receiving a faculty appointment in the History Department at

in 1955. He taught at St. John's until his retirement and reached the rank of Associate Professor. At St. John's, he supervised the doctoral dissertations of the Rev. Zdzisław M. Musialik, a Catholic priest and historian affiliated with the

Józef Piłsudski Institute of America The Józef Piłsudski Institute of America (full name: Józef Piłsudski Institute of America for Research in the Modern History of Poland) was created in New York City in July 1943. It is an archive, museum and research center devoted to the stud ...

, Stanley S. Seidner, and Zofia Sywak. He was also thanked by Francis A. Ierace for being his mentor in his 1978 book ''America and the Nazi-Soviet Pact'', which was based on his master's thesis. Aside from his teaching duties, Kusielewicz was involved in numerous Polish-American groups. He was President of the

Polish American Historical Association The Polish American Historical Association (PAHA), founded in 1942, is a scholarly not-for-profit association dedicated to the study of Polish American history and culture. Originally a section of the larger Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in ...

from 1964-1966, and also editor of the organization's scholarly journal, ''Polish American Studies'', from 1964-1968. He also spent two decades as an officer of the

Kosciuszko Foundation The Kosciuszko Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City. It was created by Stephen Mizwa to fund programs that promote Polish-American intellectual and artistic exchange. History The Polish American Scholarship Committee was ...

, first as Assistant to the President ( Stephen Mizwa) from 1963-1965, then Vice President (1965-1970), and then President (1970-1979). Kusielewicz also served as the editor of the Foundation's ''Monthly Newsletter'', and had earlier written a weekly column for the ''Polish American World'', a newspaper that he had helped to found. In later years, he contributed columns to the ''Polish-American Journal''. Kusielewicz received the Haiman Medal from the Polish American Historical Association for "outstanding contributions in the field of Polish American Studies," and received Distinguished Service awards from the Polish government as well as from local civic organizations. He was appointed as a Trustee of the

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...

, and was inducted in 1988 into the

Knights of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

Scholarship

Kusielewicz specialized in the rebirth of Poland at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and contributed numerous articles on aspects of that to both the ''

Polish Review ''The Polish Review'' is an English-language academic journal published quarterly in New York City by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America. ''The Polish Review'' was established in 1956. Editors-in-chief The following persons hav ...

'' and ''

Polish American Studies The Polish American Historical Association (PAHA), founded in 1942, is a scholarly not-for-profit association dedicated to the study of Polish American history and culture. Originally a section of the larger Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in ...

''. He contributed book reviews to ''

American Slavic and East European Review American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

'', ''

Catholic Historical Review ''The Catholic Historical Review'' (CHR) is the official organ of the American Catholic Historical Association. It was established at The Catholic University of America in 1915 by Thomas Joseph Shahan and Peter Guilday and is published quarterly by ...

'', ''Polish Review'', ''Catholic Educator'', ''Journal of Central European Affairs'', ''East Europe'', and ''Perspectives''. Kusielewicz served as editor of Twayne Publishers' Library of Polish Studies, which brought several important works back into print and made others available to English readers. He was e writer and chief historical consultant for a series of seventeen half-hour films on Polish American life produced by Polish Television to celebrate the American Bicentennial. Kusielewicz was also critical of the often negative ways that Poles and Polish Americans were portrayed in the media, which was a topic for a few of his essays and book chapters. He was also an outspoken defender of the

Carmelite nuns , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Ca ...

whose convent at the

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

death camp had provoked widespread controversy. Kusielewicz appeared on both the

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program "''McLaughlin''" and the

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show "''

John McLaughlin's One on One ''John McLaughlin's One on One'' is a weekly TV interview show that aired on American public broadcaster PBS. It was hosted by John McLaughlin, also the host of ''The McLaughlin Group ''The McLaughlin Group'' was a syndicated half-hour weekly ...

''" to defend the nuns.John A. Drobnicki, "Eugene Kusielewicz: Scholar and Teacher," ''Polish-American Journal'' (Feb. 1997): 8; Stanislaus A. Blejwas, "Eugene F. Kusielewicz as a Leader of Polonia," ''Polish American Studies'', Vol. 56, no. 1 (Spring 1999): 82.

Publications

Books authored/edited by Kusielewicz: *''Reflections on the Cultural Condition of the Polish American Community'' (Czas Publishing Co., 1969). *''A Tribute to Stephen P. Mizwa'' (Czas Publishing Co., 1972). *(co-editor) ''Polonia Amerykańska: Przeszłość i Współczesność'' (Zakład Narodowy Imienia Ossolińskich Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 1988). *(co-editor) ''Polonia Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki 1910-1918: Wybór documentów'' (Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza, 1989).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kusielewicz, Eugene 1930 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Historians of Poland St. John's University (New York City) alumni Fordham University alumni St. John's University (New York City) faculty Knights of Malta Writers from Brooklyn American people of Polish descent Historians from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers

Life and recognition

Scholarship

Publications

Further reading

References