Hanna Maria Świda-Ziemba (September 19, 1930 – January 11, 2012) was a Polish sociologist, scholar and opposition activist in the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

Biography

Her father was professor Witold Świda, and her sister was professor Zofia Świda. She grew up in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and started keeping a diary from the age of ten, describing life in

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-occupied Vilnius, and documenting the post-war period of creating a new socio-political reality in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. She became interested in the mechanisms of

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

states and would later expand on her observations in her academic studies. In 1952 she graduated with a degree in sociology from the

University of Łódź The University of Łódź (, ) is a public research university founded in 1945 in Łódź, Poland, as a continuation of three higher education institutions functioning in Łódź in the interwar period — the Teacher Training Institute (192 ...

, in 1960 she obtained a doctoral degree, and in 1969 her habilitation. She began working the University of Warsaw in 1954. She was a member of the presidium of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, 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 distinguished scholars a ...

and also lectured at the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities. She has published a number of academic papers, mainly in the field of sociology on the topic of totalitarian systems. She was co-founder of the Institute of Applied Social Sciences as well as the Institute of Social Prevention and Rehabilitation of the University of Warsaw and in the years 1991-1993 she was member of the State Tribunal. In 2010 she published ''Youth of the People's Republic of Poland: portraits of generations in historical context,'' a culmination of many years of research for which she received the Jan Długosz award in 2011. President

Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who was the fifth president of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski previously served as Ministry of National Defence (Poland), Minister of National Defence ...

awarded Świda-Ziemba the Commander's Cross 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 ...

for outstanding achievements in research and teaching. She died on January 11, 2012, in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and was buried at the

Powązki Military Cemetery Powązki Military Cemetery (; ) is an old military cemetery located in the Żoliborz district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquially as "Old Powązki". The Old Pową ...

(section D 31-tuje-6).Jerzy S. Majewski, Tomasz Urzykowski. Narodowy Panteon na Powązkach. Sławne osoby pochowane w latach 2007–2017. "Gazeta Stołeczna", p. 11, 27 October 2017.

Publications

* ''Człowiek wewnętrznie zniewolony. Mechanizmy i konsekwencje minionej formacji – analiza psychologiczna'', Warszawa 1997 * ''Młodzi w nowym świecie'', Kraków 2005 * ''Młodzież licealna: analiza wybranych klas warszawskich w latach 1956–58'', Warszawa 1963 * ''Obraz świata i bycia w świecie. Z badań młodzieży licealnej'', Warszawa 2000 * ''Osobowość jako problem pedagogiki'', Wrocław 1970 * ''Stalinizm i społeczeństwo polskie'', Warszawa 1991 * ''Urwany lot. Pokolenie inteligenckiej młodzieży powojennej w świetle listów i pamiętników z lat 1945–1948'', Kraków 2003 * ''Wartości egzystencjalne młodzieży lat dziewięćdziesiątych'', Warszawa 1995 * ''Młodzież PRL. Portrety pokoleń w kontekście historii'', Kraków 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swida-Ziemba, Hanna Polish sociologists Academic staff of the University of Warsaw 1930 births 2012 deaths Polish women academics 20th-century Polish women Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta