Hanna Maria Świda-Ziemba (September 19, 1930 – January 11, 2012) was Polish sociologist, scholar and opposition activist in the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

Biography

Her father was professor Witold Świda, and her sister was professor Zofia Świda. She grew up in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

and started keeping a diary from the age of ten, describing life in

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-occupied Vilnius, and documenting the post-war period of creating a new socio-political reality in

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 ...

. She became interested in the mechanisms of

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...

states and would later expand on her observations in her academic studies. In 1952 she graduated with a degree in sociology from the University of Łódź, in 1960 she obtained a doctoral degree, and in 1969 her habilitation. She began working the University of Warsaw in 1954. She was a member of the presidium of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...

and also lectured at the

SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities , latin_name = , former_names = Szkoła Wyższa Psychologii Społecznej , president = , established = 1996 , type = Private , founder = Piotr Voelkel, Andrzej Eliasz, Zbigniew Pietrasiński and Janusz Reykowski , rector = Associate Profe ...

. She has published a number of academic papers, mainly in the field of sociology on the topic of totalitarian systems. She was co-founder of the Institute of Applied Social Sciences as well as the Institute of Social Prevention and Rehabilitation of the University of Warsaw and in the years 1991-1993 she was member of the State Tribunal. In 2010 she published ''Youth of the People's Republic of Poland: portraits of generations in historical context,'' a culmination of many years of research for which she received the Jan Długosz award in 2011. President Bronisław Komorowski awarded Świda-Ziemba the Commander's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

for outstanding achievements in research and teaching. She died on January 11, 2012, in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and was buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery (section D 31-tuje-6).Jerzy S. Majewski, Tomasz Urzykowski. Narodowy Panteon na Powązkach. Sławne osoby pochowane w latach 2007–2017. "Gazeta Stołeczna", p. 11, 27 October 2017.

Publications

* ''Człowiek wewnętrznie zniewolony. Mechanizmy i konsekwencje minionej formacji – analiza psychologiczna'', Warszawa 1997 * ''Młodzi w nowym świecie'', Kraków 2005 * ''Młodzież licealna: analiza wybranych klas warszawskich w latach 1956–58'', Warszawa 1963 * ''Obraz świata i bycia w świecie. Z badań młodzieży licealnej'', Warszawa 2000 * ''Osobowość jako problem pedagogiki'', Wrocław 1970 * ''Stalinizm i społeczeństwo polskie'', Warszawa 1991 * ''Urwany lot. Pokolenie inteligenckiej młodzieży powojennej w świetle listów i pamiętników z lat 1945–1948'', Kraków 2003 * ''Wartości egzystencjalne młodzieży lat dziewięćdziesiątych'', Warszawa 1995 * ''Młodzież PRL. Portrety pokoleń w kontekście historii'', Kraków 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swida-Ziemba, Hanna Polish sociologists Academic staff of the University of Warsaw 1930 births 2012 deaths Polish women academics 20th-century Polish women Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta