Jan Tadeusz Tombiński (born 4 October 1958,

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

) is a Polish historian and diplomat, Poland ambassador to

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

(1996–1998),

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(2001–2006), permanent representative to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(2007–2012), and EU ambassador to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

(2012–2016) and the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

(2016–2020).

Life

Tombiński in his youth, he was practicing

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

. In 1978, he was Poland junior vice champion in

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

. He received his Master titles from

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

(1984) and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

(1985) at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

, Kraków. Shortly after graduation he was employed by the university library, since 1987 he was lecturer at the Jagiellonian University Institute of History. During 1980s, he was active member of Poland dissident movement. Between 1981 and 1984 he was deputy head of the Jagiellonian University Independent Students’ Association. For a short period of time he was there head of the

students' union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizat ...

. He was also editor of the illegal self-publishing magazines. In 1990, Tombiński joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. He began his career as the

Third Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

at the embassy in Prague. In 1995, he was posted at the newly formed embassy in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, following year being nominated ambassador to Slovenia, accredited also to

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. From 1998 to 2001 he was director of the MFA Department of Europe. Later, he was ambassador to France (2001–2006) and permanent representative to the European Union (2007–2012). Later, he joined the

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service in charge of executing all Foreign relations of the European Union, international relations of the European Union. The EEAS is led by the Vice-President of the European Co ...

, serving as an EU ambassador to Ukraine (2012–2016) and the Holy See (2016–2020). From 2022 he served as EU High Level Advisers in the Republic of

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

. On 20 August 2024, he took the post of

Chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

of Poland to Germany. Besides Polish, Tombiński speaks English,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, French, Slovene,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

, and Ukrainian. He is married to Agnieszka Tombińska, with ten children.

Honours

* Commander of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) 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 alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

, Poland, 2012 * Officer of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

, France, 2005

Works

* ''Hitler and the Swiss neutrality 1933–35'', Kraków 1989 * ''Austria and European integration 1926–32'', Graz 1989 * ''Debate on the project of the European Union in the League of Nations'', Kraków 1991 * ''The response of Austria to the Briand Plan'', Genewa 1994 * ''The Polish election law'', Praga 1992 * ''Polish-German Relations 1945–1991'', Praga 1994 * ''Poland – six months after the elections'', Bonn 1989 * ''Polish television towards choice'', Stuttgart 1990

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tombinski, Jan 1958 births Ambassadors of Poland to Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassadors of Poland to France Ambassadors of Poland to Slovenia Ambassadors of the European Union to the Holy See Ambassadors of the European Union to Ukraine Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Jagiellonian University alumni Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Living people Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Diplomats from Kraków Permanent representatives of Poland to the European Union Polish dissidents 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Polish officials of the European Union