Jan Władysław Woś (born April 19, 1939, in Warsaw) is a Polish historian, essayist, as well as fiction writer, bibliophile and book collector. He graduated from the University of Warsaw discussing a thesis on Dante's philosophical system (''De amore in Dantis Divina Comoedia quaestiones''). He studied later in Milan, Louvain, Florence,

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, Bonn, and Heidelberg. He has taught History of the Eastern Europe at the Universities of Pisa (1976-1987), Heidelberg (1985–86), Trento (1987-2009), and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

(1990–91), also contributing to anthropological research in both Africa and Amazonia. His fields of interest are Polish history in the Sixteenth Century and History of the Roman Church, particularly regarding Italian/Polish relations. Having obtained his Italian citizenship in 1987, he was awarded a “laurea honoris causa” from the

Polish University Abroad The Polish University Abroad, or Polish University in Exile ( pl, Polski Uniwersytet na Obczyźnie, abbreviated PUNO), was initially established in London in 1949 (de facto 1952). The Polish University Abroad has a B.A. programme and does resea ...

of London. He is a Member of the Société Historique et Littéraire Polonaise de Paris, and of the Polish Society of Arts and Sciences Abroad in London. He owns remarkable collections of rare books, prints, engravings, parchments from the 10th to the 16th centuries, and topographical maps, all related to Polish history and culture. He contributes to international periodicals, and is in the course of publishing largely informative and intellectually stimulating excerpts from his memoires and diaries.Jan Władysław Woś, ''Dziennik 1955-1956'', Trento, Editrice Università degli Studi di Trento, 1997; ''Id.'', ''Londra 2006. Taccuino di viaggio'', Trento, Editrice Università degli Studi di Trento, 2007; ''Id.'', ''Zapiski rzymskie. Wybrane fragmenty z roku 1974'', “Odra”, 2010, 12 (586), pages 48-59; ''Id.'', ''Dziennik włoski'', “Twórczość”, 2012, 8 (801), pages 52-88.

References

Living people 1939 births 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers University of Warsaw alumni Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the University of Trento {{Poland-bio-stub