Szymon Askenazy (December 24, 1865,

Zawichost Zawichost is a small town (ca. 1,800 inhabitants ) in Sandomierz County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland. It is located by the Vistula River in Lesser Poland, near Sandomierz. It is first mentioned in historical documents from around 1148. I ...

– June 22, 1935,

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 ...

) was a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

historian, educator, statesman and diplomat, founder of the Askenazy school. He was the first Polish representative at the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. His work as a historian was influential in defining the creation and history of the

Polish nation Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Cen ...

Biography

Persuaded by his father, Askenazy studied law at the

Imperial 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 ...

in the 1880s. After graduation, he worked as a lawyer; however, all the spare time he devoted to reading books in various languages. In April 1893, he went to

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

to study history. He was influenced by the professor of medieval and modern history Max Lehmann under whose supervision he wrote doctoral dissertation ''Die letzte Polnische Koenigswahl'' (1894). Commencing in 1902, he served as a professor at the

University of Lwów The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

till November 1919. In 1909 he was inducted into the

Polish Academy of Learning 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 ...

(''Polska Akademia Umiejętności''). One of his main books "Gdańsk a Polska" was published in 1919 and translated into English (''Danzig & Poland'', 1921), French (''Dantzig et la Pologne'', 1919) and German (''Danzig und Polen'', 1919). Askenazy planned to join

Warsaw University 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 ...

, however on his way there stood Bronisław Dembiński and

Marceli Handelsman Marceli Handelsman (1882–1945) was a Polish historian, a Warsaw University professor, medievalist, modern historian, and historical methodologist. Life Marceli Handelsman was born on 8 July 1882, in Warsaw, to a family of distant Jewish ances ...

, who blocked his nomination to become a professor of this university. Famous Poles supported Askenazy:

Stefan Żeromski Stefan Żeromski ( ; 14 October 1864 – 20 November 1925) was a Polish novelist and dramatist belonging to the Young Poland movement at the turn of the 20th century. He was called the "conscience of Polish literature". He also wrote under t ...

Zofia Nałkowska Zofia Nałkowska (, Warsaw, Congress Poland, 10 November 1884 – 17 December 1954, Warsaw) was a Polish prose writer, dramatist, and prolific essayist. She served as the executive member of the prestigious Polish Academy of Literature (1933–1939 ...

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 6 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early works show the inf ...

Leopold Staff Leopold Henryk Staff (November 14, 1878 – May 31, 1957) was a Polish poet; an artist of European modernism twice granted the Degree of Doctor honoris causa by universities in Warsaw and in Kraków. He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize i ...

, Andrzej Strug,

Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Leon Iwaszkiewicz, also known under his literary pseudonym Eleuter (20 February 1894 – 2 March 1980), was a Polish writer, poet, essayist, dramatist and translator.Bartłomiej Szleszyński, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. 2003 Culture.plJaros ...

Antoni Słonimski Antoni Słonimski (15 November 1895 – 4 July 1976) was a Polish poet, artist, journalist, playwright and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justic ...

Wacław Sieroszewski Wacław Kajetan Sieroszewski (24 August 1858 – 20 April 1945) was a Polish writer, Polish Socialist Party activist, and soldier in the World War I-era Polish Legions (decorated with the Virtuti Militari). For activities subversive of the Rus ...

who signed an appeal (published in ''Robotnik'', 2 March 1920) for a place for Askenazy at Warsaw University, however in vain. After Poland regained independence, Askenazy was chosen to be the first Polish representative at the

(1920–23). His candidacy for this post was supported by

Józef Piłsudski ), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) , death_date = , death_place = Warsaw, Poland , constituency = , party = None (formerly PPS) , spouse = , children = Wan ...

and nomination was signed by the Foreign Minister of Poland,

Eustachy Sapieha Eustachy Kajetan Sapieha (2 August 1881 – 20 February 1963) was a Polish nobleman, prince of the Sapieha family, politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, and deputy to the Polish parliament (Sejm). Politics In 1900–04, he studied f ...

in May 1920. He cooperated later with other Polish Foreign Ministers:

Konstanty Skirmunt Konstanty Skirmunt (russian: Константи́н Ге́нрихович Ски́рмунт) (30 August 1866 – 24 July 1949) was a Polish politician. During 1907—1914 he was a member of the State Council of the Russian Empire. He was a mem ...

Gabriel Narutowicz Gabriel Józef Narutowicz (; 29 March 1865 – 16 December 1922) was a Polish professor of hydroelectric engineering and politician who served as the first President of Poland from 11 December 1922 until his assassination on 16 December, five d ...

and

Aleksander Skrzyński Aleksander Józef Skrzyński (; 19 March 1882 – 25 September 1931) was a Polish politician, from Zagórzany, Gorlice, Galicia, who served as the 13th Prime Minister of Poland from 1925 to 1926. He was the first Polish Ambassador to Romania ...

. In May 1923,

Marian Seyda Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensla ...

from, the

Popular National Union Związek Ludowo-Narodowy (ZLN; en, Popular National Union}was a Polish political party aligned with the National Democracy (Poland), National Democracy political movement during the Second Polish Republic, gathering together right-wing politicians ...

(a Polish political party of the

National Democracy National Democracy may refer to: * National Democracy (Czech Republic) * National Democracy (Italy) * National Democracy (Philippines) * National Democracy (Poland) * National Democracy (Spain) See also * Civic nationalism, a general concept * ...

political camp) became the Foreign Minister of Poland after

Lanckorona Pact Lanckorona Pact ( pl, Pakt lanckoroński) was an agreement between Polish center (Polish People's Party "Piast" (1913–31), Polish People's Party "Piast") and right wing parties (primarily Związek Ludowo-Narodowy and Polskie Stronnictwo Chrześcij ...

agreement was introduced. Askenazy saw this as a sign to step down.

Jerzy Jan Lerski Jerzy Jan Lerski (''nom de guerre'': Jur; also known as George Jan Lerski; 1917-1992); was a Polish lawyer, soldier, historian, political scientist and politician. After World War II he emigrated to the United States, where he became a full profes ...

(1996) ''Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945'', p.19 He resigned from the post and in July 1923 came back to Poland. Askenazy never joined any political party. In his studies, he focused chiefly on Poland's political and economic history in the 18th and 19th centuries. He thus laid the foundations for the Lwów-Warsaw School of History (also known as the " Askenazy school"). He was the first historian to emphasize the

Partitions Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

period as crucially important to the creation of the modern Polish nation. Askenazy's idea of describing a nation's history through its social and economic development, as well as its international and diplomatic backdrop, remains influential in modern Polish historical studies. William J. Rose, an English translator of Askenazy's book " Danzig & Poland"'','' wrote in the obituary published in

The Slavonic and East European Review ''The Slavonic and East European Review'', the journal of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (University College London), is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Slavonic and East European Studies. It was estab ...

that with the death of Professor Askenazy "Polish learning lost one of its most distinguished ornaments".

Works

Ministeryum Wielhorskiego 1815-1816 : dodatek 1812-1813-1814
(1898) * Wczasy historyczn
Tom 1
(1902
Tom 2
(1904)
Sto lat zarządu w Królestwie Polskiem : 1800-1900
(1903)
Uniwersytet Warszawski
(1905) * Łukasińsk
Tom 1
(1908
Tom 2
(1908) * Dwa stulecia : XVIII i XIX : badania i przyczynk
Tom 1
(1901
Tom 2
(1910)
Przymierze polsko-pruskie
(1918)
Nauka uniwersytecka a kolejność studjów w uniwersyteckiej nauce prawa
(1921)
Książę Józef Poniatowski 1763-1813
(1922)
Gdańsk a Polska
(1923)
Uwagi
(1924)
Szkice i portrety
(1937)

Works in English

*
Dantzig"> Dantzig
& Poland Danzig'' (Published by George Allen & Unwin. London 1921. Translated by William_J._Rose._The_original_Polish_title:_''Gdańsk_a_Polska'') *_''Tadeusz_Kościuszko.html" "title="Gdańsk.html" ;"title="William J. Rose. The original Polish title: ''Gdańsk">William J. Rose. The original Polish title: ''Gdańsk a Polska'') * ''Tadeusz Kościuszko">Thaddeus Kosciuszko Thaddeus (Latin ''Thaddaeus'', Ancient Greek Θαδδαῖος ''Thaddaĩos'', from Aramaic תדי ''Ṯaday'') is a male given name. As of the 1990 United States census, 1990 Census, ''Thaddeus'' was the 611th most popular male name in the Unit ...

Biography

Works

Works in English

Bibliography

References

Further reading