Karol Cyryl Modzelewski (23 November 1937 – 28 April 2019) was a Polish
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 ...
,
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
,
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
and academic of Russian origin, one of the leading figures of the democratic opposition 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 ...
from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Life and career
He was the adopted son of
Zygmunt Modzelewski
Zygmunt Modzelewski (15 April 1900, Częstochowa – 18 June 1954, Warsaw) was a Polish communist politician, professor, economist, and diplomat.
Life and career
He was a member of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania a ...
. A professor at the
University of Wrocław
, ''Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau'' (before 1945)
, free_label = Specialty programs
, free =
, colors = Blue
, website uni.wroc.pl
The University of Wrocław ( pl, Uniwersytet Wrocławski, U ...
and the
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...
, he was a member of the
Polish United Workers Party
The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...
but was expelled from it in 1964 for opposition to some policies of the party. With
Jacek Kuroń
Jacek Jan Kuroń (; 3 March 1934 – 17 June 2004) was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. He was widely known as the "godfather of the Polish opposition," not unlike Václav Havel in Czechoslovakia. Ku ...
he co-wrote the Open Letter to the Party, for which he was imprisoned for three years. He took part in the
Polish 1968 political crisis
The Polish 1968 political crisis, also known in Poland as March 1968, Students' March, or March events ( pl, Marzec 1968; studencki Marzec; wydarzenia marcowe), was a series of major student, intellectual and other protests against the ruling Poli ...
, and for his activities he was again imprisoned for three and a half years.
During the 1980 strikes he came up with the name of '
Solidarity
''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
'. He was one of the Solidarity press contacts, and a member of the Solidarity region in
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
. He was interned with many others during the
martial law in Poland. From 1989 to 1991 he was a member of the
Polish Senat
The Senate ( pl, Senat) is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe ...
(
Solidarity Citizens' Committee
The Solidarity Citizens' Committee (''Komitet Obywatelski "Solidarność"'', KO "S"), also known as Citizens' Electoral Committee (''Obywatelski Komitet Wyborczy'') and previously named the Citizens' Committee with Lech Wałęsa (''Komitet Obywate ...
), supporting the
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
, particularly the
Labour Union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
party and later
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (, born 13 September 1950) is a Polish left-wing politician who served as Prime Minister of Poland for a year from 7 February 1996 to 31 October 1997, after being defeated in the Parliamentary elections by the Solidarity ...
.
He died on 28 April 2019 in Warsaw.
Awards and distinctions
In 1998, he was awarded Poland's highest distinction
Order of White Eagle. In 2007, he won the
Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science
The Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science () is the most prestigious scientific award in Poland given every year from 1992 by a non-governmental non-profit Polish organization, Foundation for Polish Science (). The prize is widely regarded a ...
for his research on the emergence of the European identity revealing the importance of pre-Christian and
multicultural
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...
tradition for the contemporary concept of Europe, presented in his work ''Barbarzyńska Europa'' ("Barbarian Europe").
In 2009, he received an
honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
at the
Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz
Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz ( pl, Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy; UKW), also known as the Casimir the Great University, is a state-funded university in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It was named after Casimir III the Great ('' ...
, and in 2014 he was the winner of the prestigious
Nike Award
The Nike Literary Award ( pl, Nagroda Literacka „Nike") is a literary prize awarded each year for the best book of a single living author writing in Polish and published the previous year. It is widely considered the most important award for ...
for his
autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
entitled ''Zajeździmy kobyłę historii: wyznania poobijanego jeźdźca'' ("We'll Ride the Mare of History to the Ground: Confessions of a Bruised Rider") as well as the
Kazimierz Moczarski
Kazimierz Damazy Moczarski (21 July 1907 – 27 September 1975) was a Polish writer and journalist, an officer of the Polish Home Army (''noms de guerre'': Borsuk, Grawer, Maurycy, and Rafał; active in anti-Nazi resistance). Kazimierz Moczars ...
History Award and the
Józef Tischner
Józef Stanisław Tischner (12 March 1931 – 28 June 2000) was a Polish priest and philosopher. The first chaplain of the trade union, " Solidarity" (Polish ''Solidarność'').
Life
Tischner was born in Stary Sącz to a Góral family and gr ...
Award. In 2016, he became an honorary citizen of the city of
Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
and together with
Róża Thun
Róża Maria Thun (Róża Maria Barbara Fürstin von Thun und Hohenstein, ''née'' Woźniakowska, born 13 April 1954), is a Polish politician, more usually known as Róża Thun than by her formal style of Countess and from 1990 her style changed ...
received the Order of
Legion d'Honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
.
Selected works
* ''Zajeździmy kobyłę historii. Wyznania poobijanego jeźdźca'' ("We'll Ride the Mare of History to the Ground: Confessions of a Bruised Rider"), Warsaw 2013
* ''Scènes de grèves en Pologne'', Lausanne 2006
* ''Barbarzyńska Europa'' ("Barbarian Europe"), Warsaw 2004
* ''Życiodajny impuls chuligaństwa. Notatki z lat 1993–2002'', Kraków 2003
* ''Opole, centena, pagus. Versuch einer komparativen Auffassung der Langemeinde und Territorialverwaltung'',
n:"Das Reich und Polen", Constance 2003
* ''La stirpe e la legge'',
n:"Studi sulle societa e le culture del Medioevo per Girolamo Arnaldi", Rome 2002
* ''Zemsta, okup i podmiot moralny w prawach barbarzyńskich'',
n:"Aetas media, aetas moderna. Studia ofiarowane profesorowi Henrykowi Samsonowiczowi w siedemdziesiątą rocznicę urodzin", Warsaw 2000
* ''Organizacja gospodarcza państwa piastowskiego X-XIII wiek'', Wrocław 1975, Poznań 2000
* ''Liber homo sub tutela nobilis'',
n:"Kościół, kultura, społeczeństwo. Studia z dziejów średniowiecza i czasów nowożytnych", Warsaw 2000
* ''Dokąd od komunizmu?'', Warsaw 1993
* ''Między umową a wojną'', Warsaw 1989
* ''Chłopi w społeczeństwie polskim'' ("Peasants in Polish Society"), Wrocław 1987
* ''Revolutionary marxist students in Poland speak out (1964–1968)'', New York 1969
* ''List otwarty do partii'' ("Open Letter to the Party") (co-written by
Jacek Kuroń
Jacek Jan Kuroń (; 3 March 1934 – 17 June 2004) was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. He was widely known as the "godfather of the Polish opposition," not unlike Václav Havel in Czechoslovakia. Ku ...
), Paris 1966
See also
*
Nike Award
The Nike Literary Award ( pl, Nagroda Literacka „Nike") is a literary prize awarded each year for the best book of a single living author writing in Polish and published the previous year. It is widely considered the most important award for ...
*
History of Poland
The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, ...
*
Polish literature
Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Latin, ...
*
List of Polish-language authors
Notable Polish novelists, poets, playwrights, historians and philosophers, listed in chronological order by year of birth:
* (''ca.''1465–after 1529) Biernat of Lublin
* (1482–1537) Andrzej Krzycki
* (1503–1572) Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
* ...
Notes
References
*
Karol Modzelewskiin Encyklopedia Solidarności
External links
"A Life in Solidarity,"by Irena Grudzinska Gross, The Daily Star, May 8, 2019.
Article on Modzelewski“I Didn’t Sit Eight and a Half Years in Jail to Build Capitalism” - A Karol Modzelewski profile by David Ost
{{DEFAULTSORT:Modzelewski, Karol
1937 births
2019 deaths
Writers from Moscow
20th-century Polish historians
Polish male non-fiction writers
Polish male writers
University of Warsaw alumni
Polish United Workers' Party members
Members of the Senate of Poland 1989–1991
Solidarity (Polish trade union) activists
Polish dissidents
Polish atheists
Nike Award winners
Polish people of Russian descent
21st-century Polish historians