Jacek Purchla (born 1954 in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

) – Polish

Art Historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and

Economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, Professor of Humanities, founder and director of the International Cultural Centre in

. He specialises in

urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

social history Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...

and

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the theory and protection of

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...

Education and employment

Jacek Purchla graduated in Economics and Art History. He received his PhD (1983) and habilitation (second doctoral degree) from the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

. He has been a titular professor since 1994 and full professor of humanities (professor ordinarius) since 1997. He is a member of the

Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning ( pl, Polska Akademia Umiejętności), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of scien ...

. He is the head of the Department of Economic and Social History and the UNESCO Chair for Heritage and Urban Studies at the Krakow University of Economics, as well as the head of the Centre of European Heritage, Institute of European Studies at the

. From 1990 to 1991 he was a vice-mayor of the city of

. He has been the founder and director of the International Cultural Centre in

since its inception in 1991. From 1995 to 2001 he was a professor in the Institute of Art History at the

. Since 2015 he has been the President of the Polish National Commission for UNESCO (previously, 2012–2015, its Vice-president). In 2016, has been elected the Chairperson of the 41st session of the

World Heritage Committee The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance ...

Research areas

Jacek Purchla's scholarly activities are of interdisciplinary character, and his interests focus primarily on widely understood urban issues and problems connected with the development of

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. He managed to create a modern technique of an “urbanologist”, considering a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

to be a complex organism, composed of social, economic, political and cultural processes. In his activities, another important emphasis was placed on research into the 19th and 20th century

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, which he pioneered already in the mid-1970s, and in which he analysed, in an innovative way, such factors as construction law, the role of public patronage, education, political, social and economic issues. In recent years, he has initiated interdisciplinary studies in the theory of

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

and historic city management. Since 2005, he has been the founder and head of the first Polish European Heritage Department.

Functions

Selection of various functions: an editor of the “Rocznik Krakowski” rakow Yearly(with

Jerzy Wyrozumski Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. People ...

) since 1989; a member of the Art Studies Committee at 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 ...

; a member of the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA). He is a member of many organisations and associations, including the Europa Nostra Council in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. He is an expert member of the

ICOMOS The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS; french: links=no, Conseil international des monuments et des sites) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the worl ...

International Scientific Committee on the Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, an expert of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

in the

European Heritage Label The European Heritage Label is a recognition awarded by the European Union to buildings, documents, museums, archives, monuments or events which are seen as milestones in the creation of today's Europe. The program is managed by the European Commis ...

project, a member of the Advisory Council of

Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures The Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures is a network of civil society organisations dedicated to promoting intercultural dialogue in the Mediterranean region. It was set up in 2005 by the governments of the ...

. He was the chairmen of the Monument Preservation Council at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland (2000-2016).

Fellowships

Jacek Purchla's major foreign fellowships include Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships Programme (1991); Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung (1992-1993, 1997, 2005, 2015); the University of Leuven (1995); Salzburg Seminar (1995, 2000); the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

(1996); Australian Institute for Polish Affairs (2003);

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

(2004). He also took part in extended fellowship programmes in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

(the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universit ...

(

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, USA) and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Orders and distinctions (selection)

* Knight's Cross, Officer's Cross and Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta * Golden Order of Merit of the Republic of Austria * Golden Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary * Knight's Cross of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) * Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany * Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of Norway * Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary * Rheinlandtaler (Cologne) * Aleksander Gieysztor Award * Mitteleuropapreis * Prize of Economic Forum in Krynica New Culture of the New Europe''Prof. Jacek Purchla laureatem Nagrody im. Vincenza'', Magiczny Kraków, 8.09.2015, http://krakow.pl/aktualnosci/193934,33,komunikat,prof__jacek_purchla_laureatem_nagrody_im__vincenza.html (access: 29.05.2017).

Publications (selection)

* ''Jak powstał nowoczesny Krakow'' ow modern Krakow originated Krakow, 1979; 2nd edition, Krakow, 1990. * ''Wien-Krakau im 19. Jahrhundert'', Vienna, 1985. * ''Jan Zawiejski – architekt przełomu XIX i XX wieku'' an Zawiejski – an architect of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries Warsaw, 1986. * ''Dom pod Globusem'' house under globe Krakow, 1988; 2nd edition, Krakow, 1997 – co-author with Zbigniew Beiersdorf. * ''Matecznik Polski. Pozaekonomiczne czynniki rozwoju Krakowa w okresie autonomii galicyjskiej'' he cradle of Poland. Non-economic factors of Krakow's development in the period of Galician autonomy Krakow, 1990; 2nd edition, Krakow, 1992. * ''Krakau unter österreichischer Herrschaft 1846–1918. Faktoren seiner Entwicklung'', Vienna-Cologne-Weimar, 1993. * ''Das Theater und sein Architekt'', Krakow, 1993) * ''Krakow – prowincja czy metropolia?'' rakow – provinces or metropolis? Krakow, 1996. * ''Krakow in the European Core'', Krakow, 2000, 2nd edition Krakow 2016, and various language versions (Kraków w Europie Środka, Krakau Mitten in Europa, Cracovia nell’Europa centrale, Cracovia en Europa Central, Cracovie dans l’Europe du Centre) * ''Historia architektury Krakowa w zarysie'' he outline of the architectural history of Krakow Krakow, 2001 – co-author with Marcin Fabianski. * ''Heritage vs. Transformation'', Krakow, 2005. * ''Gry w miasto'' laying a city Krakow, 2011. * ''Międzynarodowe Centrum Kultury. Początek'' nternational Cultural Centre. The Beginning Kraków 2015. * ''Budúcnosť minulosti. Kultúrne dedičstvo strednej Európy dnes'', Bratislava 2017. Jacek Purchla is also a scientific editor of over 40 collective works and the author of over 400 articles published in many languages.

References

Bibliography

* Władysław Tyrański ''Kto jest kim w Krakowie'', Kraków 2000.

External links

Biographical note on the website of the International Cultural Centre

Biographical note on the website of the Krakow University of Economics

Biographical note on the website of the Jagiellonian University

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purchla, Jacek 1954 births Living people 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Members of the Polish Academy of Learning Academic staff of Jagiellonian University 21st-century Polish historians