The University of Warsaw (, ) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

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 ...

, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well as 100 specializations in

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

technical Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match * Technical advisor, a person who ...

, and

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s. The University of Warsaw consists of 126 buildings and educational complexes with over 18 faculties:

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, medicine,

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

, regional studies,

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

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 ...

, applied

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, applied

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

, management,

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

, and

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

. Among the university's notable alumni are heads of state, prime ministers,

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

laureates, including Sir Joseph Rotblat and Olga Tokarczuk, as well as several historically important individuals in their respective fields, such as

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

, Hilary Koprowski, Bohdan Paczyński, Bolesław Prus,

Wacław Sierpiński Wacław Franciszek Sierpiński (; 14 March 1882 – 21 October 1969) was a Polish mathematician. He was known for contributions to set theory (research on the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis), number theory, theory of functions ...

Alfred Tarski Alfred Tarski (; ; born Alfred Teitelbaum;School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews ''School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews''. January 14, 1901 – October 26, 1983) was a Polish-American logician ...

, L. L. Zamenhof and

Florian Znaniecki Florian Witold Znaniecki (; 15 January 1882 – 23 March 1958) was a Polish-born American philosopher and sociologist who taught and wrote in Poland and in the United States. Over the course of his work, he shifted his focus from philosoph ...

History

Beginnings under Alexander I (1816–1918)

In 1795, the

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

left

with access only to the Academy of Vilnius when the oldest and most influential Polish academic center, 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 , 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 ...

, became part of the Austrian

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. In 1815, the newly established semi-autonomous

polity A polity is a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of political Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any group of people org ...

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

found itself without a university at all, as Vilnius was incorporated into the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. In 1816, Alexander I permitted the Polish authorities to create a university, comprising five departments: Law and Administration, Medicine, Philosophy, Theology, and Art and Humanities. The university soon grew to 800 students and 50 professors. After most of the students and professors took part in the November 1830 Uprising the university was closed down; it was again closed after the failed

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

of 1863. As a consequence, all Polish-language schools were prohibited by the Imperial Russian government which controlled Congress Poland. During its short existence, the university educated thousands of students, many of whom became part of the backbone of the Polish

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

. In 1915, during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Warsaw was seized by the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

and the occupying German authorities allowed a certain degree of liberalization to gain military support from the Poles. In accordance with the concept of '' Mitteleuropa'', the Germans permitted several Polish social and educational societies to be recreated, including the University of Warsaw. The Polish language was reintroduced, but, in order to maintain Polish patriotic movement in control, the number of lecturers was kept low. No limits on the number of students; between 1915 and 1918 the number of alumni rose from a mere 1,000 to over 4,500.

Second Polish Republic (1918–1939)

After Poland regained its independence in 1918, the University of Warsaw began to grow very quickly. It was reformed; all the important posts (the rector,

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, deans and councils) became democratically elected, and the state spent considerable amounts of money to modernize and equip it. Many professors returned from exile and cooperated in the effort. By the late 1920s the level of education in Warsaw had reached that of western Europe. By the beginning of the 1930s the University of Warsaw had become the largest university in Poland, with over 250 lecturers and 10,000 students. However, the financial problems of the newly reborn state did not allow for free education, and students had to pay a tuition fee for their studies (an average monthly salary, for a year). Also, the number of

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

s was very limited, and only approximately 3% of students were able to get one. Despite these economic problems, the University of Warsaw grew rapidly. New

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

were opened, and the main

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

was expanded. After the death of

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

the Senate of the University of Warsaw changed its name to "Józef Piłsudski University of Warsaw" (''Uniwersytet Warszawski im. Józefa Piłsudskiego''). The '' Sanacja'' government proceeded to limit the autonomy of the universities. Professors and students remained divided for the rest of the 1930s as the system of segregated seating for Jewish students, known as ghetto benches, was introduced.

World War II (1939–1945)

After the Polish Defensive War of 1939 the German authorities of the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

closed all the institutions of higher education in Poland. The equipment and most of the laboratories were taken to Germany and divided amongst the German universities while the main campus of the University of Warsaw was turned into military barracks. German racial theories assumed that no education of Poles was needed and the whole nation was to be turned into uneducated

serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

s of the German race. Education in Polish was banned and punished with death. However, many professors organized the so-called "Secret University of Warsaw" (''Tajny Uniwersytet Warszawski''). The lectures were held in small groups in private apartments and the attendants were constantly risking discovery and death. However, the net of underground faculties spread rapidly and by 1944 there were more than 300 lecturers and 3,500 students at various courses. Many students took part in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

as soldiers of the Armia Krajowa and Szare Szeregi. The German-held campus of the university was turned into a fortified area with bunkers and machine gun nests. It was located close to the buildings occupied by the German garrison of Warsaw. Heavy fights for the campus started on the first day of the Uprising, but the partisans were not able to break through the gates. Several assaults were bloodily repelled and the campus remained in German hands until the end of the fights. During the uprising and the occupation 63 professors were killed, either during fights or as an effect of German policy of extermination of Polish

. The university lost 60% of its buildings during the fighting in 1944. A large part of the collection of priceless works of art and books donated to the university was either destroyed or transported to Germany, never to return.

Post-war and the People's Republic (1945–1989)

Warsaw University Astronomical Observatory

After World War II it was not clear whether the university would be restored or whether Warsaw itself would be rebuilt. However, many professors who had survived the war returned, and began organizing the university from scratch. In December 1945, lectures resumed for almost 4,000 students in the ruins of the campus, and the buildings were gradually rebuilt. Until the late 1940s the university remained relatively independent. However, soon the communist authorities started to impose political controls, and the period of

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

started. Many professors were arrested by the Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (Secret Police), the books were censored and ideological criteria in employment of new lecturers and admission of students were introduced. On the other hand, education in Poland became free of charge and the number of young people to receive the state

s reached 60% of all the students. After

Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish Communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of Polish People's Republic, post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948, and again from 1956 to 1970. Born in 1905 in ...

's rise to power in 1956, a brief period of liberalization ensued, though communist ideology still played a major role in most faculties (especially in such faculties as history, law, economics, and political science). International cooperation was resumed and the level of education rose. By the mid-1960s the government started to suppress freedom of thought, which led to increasing unrest among the students. A political struggle within the communist party prompted Zenon Kliszko to ban the production of '' Dziady'' by Mickiewicz at the Teatr Narodowy, leading to 1968 Polish political crisis coupled with anti-Zionist and anti-democratic campaign and the outbreak of student demonstrations in Warsaw, which were brutally crushed – not by police, but by the ORMO ''reserve militia'' squads of plain-clothed workers. As a result, a large number of students and professors were expelled from the university. Nonetheless, the university remained the centre of free thought and education. What professors could not say during lectures, they expressed during informal meetings with their students. Many of them became leaders and prominent members of the

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

movement and other societies of the democratic opposition which led to the collapse of communism. The scientists working at the University of Warsaw were also among the most prominent printers of books forbidden by

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

Third Polish Republic (1989–present)

Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Warszawie 2018

In 1999, a new University of Warsaw Library building was opened in Powiśle. After Poland joined 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 ...

in 2004, the university obtained additional funds from the

European Structural and Investment Funds The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds, ESIFs) are financial tools governed by a common rulebook, set up to implement the regional policy of the European Union, as well as the structural policy pillars of the Common Agricultu ...

for the construction of additional buildings including the Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Centre of New Technologies, and a new building for the Faculty of Physics. In recent years, the University of Warsaw has been ranked among best Polish universities. It was ranked by '' Perspektywy'' magazine as the best Polish university in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2022. ARWU ranked the university as the best Polish higher level institution in 2012, 2017, 2018, and 2020. The university is especially well-regarded in science. ARWU ranked the mathematics and physics branches of the institution in the global top 150 and top 75, respectively, in 2022.

2025 axe attack

On 7 May 2025, at 18:40, a 53-year-old porter was decapitated at Auditorium Maximum, the university's biggest lecture hall, and two others, a 39-year-old security guard who tackled the perpetrator and tried to help the porter and the perpetrator, were injured in an

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

mass stabbing attack. The security guard was transported to hospital in critical condition while the perpetrator was taken to hospital in serious condition. A 22-year-old Polish citizen not from Warsaw, identified as Mieszko R., was arrested by police and was charged with murder, attempted murder and desecration of a corpse. His motive is unknown but police are investigating the attack. Gazeta Wyborcza reported the man was a third-year law student. The Rector of the university, Alojzy Nowak, called the attack a "huge tragedy" and said in a statement that 8 May would be a day of mourning at the institution as well as he expresses great sorrow and sympathy to the family and loved ones. The university said everyone was shocked by the attack. Justice Minister Adam Bodnar took part in a panel discussion in a nearby lecture theatre. He said he had not seen the attack but was told by his state protection officers what had happened. He praised one of his officers who he said ran to the scene to help the university guard. Warsaw Mayor

Rafał Trzaskowski Rafał Kazimierz Trzaskowski (born 17 January 1972) is a Polish politician and political scientist specializing in European studies who has served as List of city mayors of Warsaw, Mayor of Warsaw since 22 November 2018. He served as a Member ...

expressed shock and called it a " macabre crime". He also said "This brutal attack must be severely punished". The university cancelled the annual Juwenalia music festival which was set to take place from 9-10 May.

Campus

University of Warsaw owns a total of 126 buildings. Further construction and a vigorous renovation program are underway at the main campus. The university is spread out over the city, though most of the buildings are concentrated in two areas.

Main campus

The main campus of the University of Warsaw is in the city center, adjacent to the Krakowskie Przedmieście street. It comprises several historic

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

s, most of which had been nationalized in the 19th century. The chief buildings include: * Casimir Palace (''Pałac Kazimierzowski'') – the seat of the rector and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

; * Uruski Palace (''Pałac Uruskich'') – left side of main gate entrance, houses the Department of Geography and Regional Studies * the Old Library (''Stary BUW'') – since recent refurbishment, a secondary lecture building; * the Main School (''Szkoła Główna'') – former seat of the Main School until the January 1863 Uprising, later the faculty of biology; now, since its refurbishment, the seat of the Institute of archaeology; * '' Auditorium Maximum'' – the main lecture hall, with seats for several hundred students. The Warsaw University Library building is a short walk downhill from the main campus, in the Powiśle neighborhood.

Natural sciences campus

The second important campus is located near Banacha and Pasteura streets. It is home to the departments of chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, computer science, and geology, and contains several other university buildings such as the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling, the Environmental Heavy Ion Laboratory that houses a cyclotron and a facility for the production of PET radiopharmaceuticals, and a sports facility. Several new buildings have been constructed within this campus in recent years, and the Department of Physics moved here from its previous location at Hoża Street. Together with buildings of other institutions, such as the Institute of Experimental Biology, Radium Institute and the Medical University of Warsaw, the campus is part of an almost contiguous area of scientific and educational facilities covering approximately .

Organization

Faculties

There are 25 following faculties: * Faculty of Applied Linguistics * Faculty of Applied Social Sciences and Resocialisation * Faculty of Archaeology * Faculty of “Artes Liberales” * Faculty of Biology * Faculty of Chemistry * Faculty of Culture and Arts * Faculty of Economic Sciences * Faculty of Education * Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies * Faculty of Geology * Faculty of History * Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies * Faculty of Law and Administration * Faculty of Management * Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics * Faculty of Medicine * Faculty of Modern Languages * Faculty of Oriental Studies * Faculty of Sociology * Faculty of Philosophy * Faculty of Physics * Faculty of Polish Studies * Faculty of Political Science and International Studies * Faculty of Psychology

Doctoral schools

* Doctoral School of Humanities * Doctoral School of Social Sciences * Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences * Interdisciplinary Doctoral School

Other academic units

* Antiquity of Southeastern Europe Research Center * Biological and Chemical Research Centre * Center for Forensic Science * Centre for French Culture and Francophone Studies () * University Centre for Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development * Centre for Europe * Centre for Foreign Language Teacher Training and European Education * Centre for Foreign Language Teaching * Digital Competence Centre * Centre of Migration Research * Centre of New Technologies * Centre for Political Analysis * UNESCO Chair Of Sustainable Development () * College of Inter-faculty Individual Studies in the Humanities * College of Inter-faculty Individual Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences * Digital Economy Lab * Erasmus of Rotterdam Chair * Heavy Ion Laboratory * Institute of Americas and Europe * Centre for European Regional and Local Studies * American Studies Centre * Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling * Robert Zajonc Institute for Social Studies * Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology * Tadeusz Mazowiecki Chair

Other institutions

* "Kampus" Radio * University of Warsaw Archives * University of Warsaw Library * Center for Dialogue and Cooperation * University of Warsaw Choir * University of Warsaw Incubator * University of Warsaw Museum * "Hybrydy" Theatre * Dance Theatre, run by the University of Warsaw Song and Dance Ensemble "Warszawianka" * Friends of the University of Warsaw Association * Volunteer Centre of the University of Warsaw * University of Warsaw Press

In popular culture

* In

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

's 1961 novel '' Thunderball'', the ninth book in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

series, one of the main characters, Ernst Stavro Blofeld who is the head of the global criminal organisation SPECTRE, is said to be a graduate of the University of Warsaw. * In 2016, the Polish Post issued commemorative stamps on the 200th anniversary of the founding of the university depicting the Column Hall of the building of the Faculty of History.

Notable people

Alumni

* Franciszek Adamczak (1927–2000), Polish-Swedish paleontologist * Jerzy Andrzejewski (1909–1983), author * Szymon Askenazy (1865-1935), Polish jurist, historian, educator, first Polish representative to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) 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 (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, (; nom de guerre: Jan Bugaj; 22 January 1921 – 4 August 1944) was a Polish poet and Home Army soldier, one of the most well known of the Generation of Columbuses, the young generation of Polish poets, of whom several ...

(1921–1944), poet,

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

soldier killed in the

* Joachim Bartoszewicz (1867-1938), nationalist, politician *

Zygmunt Bauman Zygmunt Bauman (; ; 19 November 1925 – 9 January 2017) was a Polish–British sociologist and philosopher. He was driven out of the Polish People's Republic during the 1968 Polish political crisis and forced to give up his Polish citizenship. ...

(1925–2017), Polish–British sociologist and philosopher *

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...

(1913–1992), 6th

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviations, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the Israel, State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a President of Isra ...

(1977–1983),

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

winner (1978) * Małgosia Bela (born 1977), fashion model and actress * Marek Bieńczyk (born 1956), writer, historian of literature, essayist and translator, Nike Award winner (2012) * Adam Bodnar (born 1977), lawyer, human rights activist, Polish Ombudsman, Minister of Justice *

Tadeusz Borowski Tadeusz Borowski (; 12 November 1922 – 3 July 1951) was a Polish writer and journalist. His wartime poetry and stories dealing with his experiences as a prisoner at Auschwitz are recognized as classics of Polish literature. Early life Boro ...

(1922–1951), poet, writer * Karol Borsuk (1905–1982), mathematician * Kazimierz Brandys (1916–2000), writer * Jan Brzechwa (1898–1966), poet, author * Andrzej Buras (born 1946), Danish physicist, recipient of 2020

Max Planck Medal The Max Planck Medal is the highest award of the German Physical Society , the world's largest organization of physicists, for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics. The prize has been awarded annually since 1929, with few exceptions ...

(1810–1849), pianist, composer * Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (born 1950), politician,

Prime Minister of Poland A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only wa ...

(1996–1997), Marshal of the Sejm (2005) * Tomasz Dietl (born 1950), physicist * Roman Dmowski (1864–1939), politician, statesman * Adam Dziewonski (1936–2016), Polish-American geophysicist * Samuel Eilenberg (1913–1998), Polish-American mathematician, computer scientist, art collector * Barbara Engelking (born 1962), sociologist * Joseph Epstein (1911–1944), communist leader of French resistance * Anna Frajlich (born 1942), Polish-American poet * Lech Gardocki (born 1944) lawyer, judge, former First President of the

Supreme Court of Poland The Supreme Court ( ) is the highest court in the Poland, Republic of Poland. It is located in the Krasiński Square, Warsaw. The legal basis for the competence and activities of the Supreme Court is the Constitution of Poland, Polish Consti ...

* Ghalia Garelnabi, archaeologist and museum director * Krzysztof Gawędzki (1947–2022), mathematical physicist * Marek Gazdzicki (born 1956), nuclear physicist * Bronisław Geremek (1932–2008), historian, politician * Małgorzata Gersdorf (born 1952), lawyer, first President of the

Maciej Gliwicz Maciej Gliwicz (; born Zbigniew Maciej Gliwicz; 21 February 1939 – 2 June 2024) was a Polish biologist, evolutionism, evolutionist and professor at the University of Warsaw who specialised in the field of hydrobiology. Life and scientific car ...

(1939–2024), biologist *

Witold Gombrowicz Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 – July 24, 1969) was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalism, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937, ...

(1904–1969), writer * Jan Grabowski (born 1962), Polish-Canadian professor of history * Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (born 1952), politician, President of the National Bank of Poland (1992–2001),

Mayor of Warsaw The Mayor of Warsaw (officially in ) is the head of the executive of the capital of Poland elected directly during local elections for a term of five years. Overview The first city mayor of Warsaw was Jan Andrzej Menich (1695–1696). Th ...

(2006–2018) * Jan T. Gross (born 1947), Polish-American historian, writer,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

professor * Jarek Gryz, computer scientist, data analyst *

Taco Hemingway Filip Tadeusz Szcześniak (born 29 July 1990), better known by the stage name Taco Hemingway (earlier FV), is a Polish rapper. He began recording in 2011, at which time he released - under the pseudonym Foodvillain - an English-language mixtape e ...

(born 1990), rapper, songwriter, and musician *

Gustaw Herling-Grudziński Gustaw Herling-Grudziński (; May 20, 1919 − July 4, 2000) was a Polish writer, journalist, essayist, World War II underground fighter, and political dissident abroad during the period of Soviet and communist rule. He is best known for writing ...

(1919–2000), journalist, writer,

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

survivor * Richard B. Hetnarski (1928–2024), Polish-American engineer *

Leonid Hurwicz Leonid Hurwicz (; August 21, 1917 – June 24, 2008) was a Polish–American economist and mathematician, known for his work in game theory and mechanism design. He originated the concept of incentive compatibility, and showed how desired outcom ...

(1917–2008), economist, mathematician, Nobel Prize in Economics (2007) * Maria Janion (1926–2020), literary critic * Monika Jaruzelska (born 1963) fashion designer, journalist, daughter of former Polish President

Wojciech Jaruzelski Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski ( ; ; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military general, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party ...

* Jerzy Jedlicki (1930–2018), historian of ideas, anti-communist activist * Jarosław Kaczyński (born 1949), politician,

(2006–2007) * Lech Kaczyński (1949–2010), politician,

(2002–2005),

President of Poland The president of Poland ( ), officially the president of the Republic of Poland (), is the head of state of Poland. His or her prerogatives and duties are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president jointly exercises the executive ...

(2005–2010) * Andrzej Kalwas (born 1936), lawyer, businessman, and former Polish Minister of Justice *

Aleksander Kamiński Aleksander Kamiński, assumed name: ''Aleksander Kędzierski''. Also known under Pseudonym, aliases such as ''Dąbrowski'', ''J. Dąbrowski, Fabrykant, Faktor, Juliusz Górecki, Hubert, Kamyk, Kaźmierczak, Bambaju'' (28 January 1903 - 15 March ...

(1903–1978), writer, leader of Polish Scouting and Guiding Association * Ryszard Kapuściński (1932–2007), writer and journalist * Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876–1909), composer and conductor * Jan Karski (1914–2000), Polish resistance fighter * Katarzyna Kasia (born 1978), philosopher * Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska (born 1957), politician, lawyer, and sociologist, 14th Marshal of the Sejm * Ryszard Kole, pharmacologist, 2019 Massry Prize winner *

Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska Zofia Emilia Kielan-Jaworowska (25 April 1925 – 13 March 2015) was a Polish paleobiologist. In the mid-1960s, she led a series of Polish-Mongolian paleontological expeditions to the Gobi Desert. She was the first woman to serve on the executi ...

(1925–2015), paleobiologist *

Leszek Kołakowski Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analysis of Marxism, Marxist thought, as in his three-volume history of Marxist philosophy ''Main Current ...

(1927–2009), philosopher, historian of philosophy *

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 ...

(born 1952), politician, Marshal of the Sejm (2007–2010), 5th

(2010–2015) * Alpha Oumar Konaré, (born 1946), 3rd President of Mali (1992–2002) * Hilary Koprowski (1916–2013), virologist and immunologist *

Janusz Korwin-Mikke Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke (; born 27 October 1942), also known by his initials JKM or simply as Korwin, is a Polish far-right politician, paleolibertarian and author. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2014 until 2018. He was the ...

(born 1942), conservative-liberal politician and journalist * Yga Kostrzewa (born 1973), economist, LGBTQ+ rights activist and writer * Marek Kotański (1942–2002), psychologist and streetworker * Adrian Kubicki (born 1987), Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York City * Jacek Kuroń (1934–2004), historian, author, social worker, and politician * Irena Lasiecka (born 1948), mathematician *

Jacek Leociak Jacek Leociak (born 2 June 1957, in Warsaw) is a Polish literary scholar and historian as well as author. He is a professor of humanities and an employee of the Institute of Literary Research at the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Ce ...

(born 1957), literary scholar and historian * Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), painter, illustrator and art critic *

Maciej Lewenstein Maciej Lewenstein (born September 21, 1955 in Warsaw), is a Polish theoretical physicist, currently an ICREA professor at ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences in Castelldefels near Barcelona. He is an author of over 800 scientific artic ...

(born 1955), theoretical physicist * Jan Józef Lipski (1926–1991), literature historian, politician * Michał Lityński (1906-1989),

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

* Ewa Łętowska (born 1940), lawyer, first Polish Ombudsman for Citizen Rights *

Olga Malinkiewicz Olga Malinkiewicz (Polish pronunciation: ; born 26 November 1982) is a Polish physicist, inventor and entrepreneur. She is known for inventing a method of producing solar cells based on perovskites using inkjet printing. She is a co-founder an ...

(born 1982), physicist * Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1927–2013), author, social worker, journalist,

(1989–1991) * Adam Michnik (born 1946), journalist, historian, public intellectual * Maria Irena Mileska (1908–1988), Polish educator, war resister, scoutmaster and doctor of geography * Wladek Minor (born 1946), Polish-American biophysicist * Karol Modzelewski (1937–2019), historian, politician *

Jerzy Neyman Jerzy Spława-Neyman (April 16, 1894 – August 5, 1981; ) was a Polish mathematician and statistician who first introduced the modern concept of a confidence interval into statistical hypothesis testing and, with Egon Pearson, revised Ronald Fis ...

(1894–1981), mathematician, statistician,

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

professor * Jan Olszewski (1930-2019), lawyer, politician,

(1991–1992) * Janusz Onyszkiewicz (born 1937), politician * Maria Ossowska (1896–1974), sociologist * Bohdan Paczyński (1940–2007), astronomer * Rafał Pankowski (born 1976), sociologist and political scientist * Longin Pastusiak (1935–2025), politician, Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland (2001–2005) *

Bolesław Piasecki Bolesław Bogdan Piasecki, Pseudonym, alias Leon Całka, Wojciech z Królewca, Sablewski (18 February 1915 – 1 January 1979) was a Polish people, Polish writer, politician and Political Theorist, political theorist. During the war, he was acti ...

(1915–1979), politician * Krzysztof Piesiewicz (born 1945), lawyer, screenwriter * Marian Pilot (1936–2024), writer, journalist and screenwriter, Nike Award winner (2011) *

Jerzy Pniewski Jerzy Pniewski (Polish: ; June 1, 1913 – June 16, 1989) was a Polish physicist, professor at the University of Warsaw and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is best known for discovering the hypernucleus together with Marian Danys ...

(1913–1989), physicist * Bohdan Pociej (1933–2011), musicologist *

Moshe Prywes Moshe Prywes (; January 3, 1914 - March 1998) was a Polish-Israeli physician and educator. He was the first President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (1973-1975). Biography Prywes was born in Warsaw, Poland. He studied medicine for two year ...

(1914–1998), Israeli physician and educator; first President of

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...

* Adam Przeworski (born 1940), political scientist,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

professor * Bolesław Prus (1847–1912), writer * Mikhail Reisner (1868-1928), Russian and Soviet jurist, historian and academic. * Emanuel Ringelblum (1900–1944), historian, founder Emanuel Ringelblum Archives of

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...

Emanuel Ringelblum: The Creator of "Oneg Shabbat"
Holocaust Research Project. * Kazimierz Romaniuk (1927–2025), Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Warszawa-Praga * Ireneusz Roszkowski (1910–1996), precursor of prenatal medicine * Józef Rotblat (1908–2005), physicist,

(1995) * Agata Różańska (born 1968), astronomer and astrophysicist * Irena Sendler (1910-2008), humanitarian, social worker, and nurse * Yitzhak Shamir (born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; 1915–2012), 7th

(1983–1984 and 1986–1992) *

(1882–1969), mathematician * Andrzej Sobolewski (born 1951), physicist * Alexander Soloviev (1890-1971) Russian émigré jurist, historian, academic * Leon Starkiewicz (1882–1969), Polish teacher, founder, and long-time principal of the Municipal Gymnasium in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

. * Dmitry Strelnikoff (born 1969), Russian writer, biologist, journalist for the media * Kazimiera Szczuka (born 1966), literary critic, feminist,

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

activist, television personality * Adam Szymczyk (born 1970), art critic and curator * Magdalena Środa (born 1957), philosopher and feminist *

(1902–1982), logician, mathematician, member of the Lwów-Warsaw school of logic * Władysław Tatarkiewicz (1886–1980), philosopher, historian of esthetics * Olga Tokarczuk (born 1962), writer, essayist, psychologist,

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

(2018) * Izabela Tomaszewska (1955–2010) governmental protocol official and archaeologist *

(born 1972), politician, academic teacher,

* Julian Tuwim (1894–1953), poet and writer *

Andrzej Udalski Andrzej Jarosław Udalski (born 22 January 1957 in Łódź, Poland) is a Polish people, Polish astronomer and astrophysicist, and director of the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw. He is also head of the Department of Observa ...

(born 1957), astronomer and astrophysicist * Kostiantyn Voblyi (1876-1947), Ukrainian economist, academic, active in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. * Halina Weinstein (1902–1942), Polish Esperantist * Andrzej Kajetan Wróblewski (born 1933), experimental physicist * Janusz A. Zajdel (1938–1985), physicist and science-fiction writer * L. L. Zamenhof (1859–1917), physician, inventor of

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

* Paweł Zarzeczny (1961–2017), sports journalist, columnist and TV personality * Maciej Zembaty (1944–2011), poet, writer, translator of

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

's works * Wojciech Zaremba (born 1988), computer scientist, co-founder of OpenAI * Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz (born 1964), writer *

(1882–1958), philosopher and sociologist * Anna N. Żytkow (born 1947), astrophysicist

Academic staff

* Osman Achmatowicz (1899–1988), chemist, rector of the

Technical University of Łódź Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match * Technical advisor, a person who ad ...

(1946–1953) * Vladimir Prokhorovich Amalitskii (1860–1917), paleontologist * Szymon Askenazy (1866–1935), historian and diplomat * Juliusz Bardach (1914–2010), Polish-British legal historian *

Aleksandr Nikolaevich Bartenev Aleksandr Nikolaevich Bartenev (; 1882–1946) was a zoologist, professor, Doctor of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences, and Rector (academia), Rector of Rostov State University, Rostov University in 1920–1921. He was active in the Russian E ...

(1882-1946), zoologist *

(1925–2017), sociologist and philosopher * Maria Ludwika Bernhard (1908–1998), archaeologist * Karol Borsuk (1905–1982), mathematician * Franciszek Bujak (1919–1921) historian * Jan Niecisław Baudouin de Courtenay (1845–1929), linguist and Slavist, introduced the concept of a

phoneme A phoneme () is any set of similar Phone (phonetics), speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible Phonetics, phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word fr ...

* Samuel Dickstein (1851-1939), mathematician, proponent of Jewish assimilation in Poland * Tomasz Dietl (born 1950), physicist, Laureate of Agilient Technologies Europhysics Prize of The European Physical Society (2005) * Maria Dworzecka (1941–2023), Polish-American computational nuclear physicist * Benedykt Dybowski (1833–1930), biologist and explorer of

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and Baikal area * Aleksandr Mikhailovich Evlakhov (1880-1966), literary critic *

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...

(1926–1984), French philosopher, at the university dean-faculty of the French Centre 1958–1959 * Vera Friedländer (1928–2019), writer *

Stanisław Grabski Stanisław Grabski (; 5 April 1871 – 6 May 1949) was a Polish economist and politician associated with the National Democracy (Poland), National Democracy political camp. As the top Polish negotiator during the Peace of Riga talks in 1921, Gra ...

(1871–1949), economist * Maria Grzegorzewska (1887–1967), special education educator * Marceli Handelsman (1882–1945), historian and historical methodologist * Stanisław Herbst (1907–1973), historian and military historian * Leopold Infeld (1898–1968), physicist * Dmitri Iosifovich Ivanovsky (1864-1920), botanist, pioneer in the discovery and study of viruses *

Henryk Jabłoński Henryk Jan Jabłoński (; 27 December 1909 – 27 January 2003) was a Polish historian and politician. After 1948, he became a politician of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party, as well as a historian and professor at Warsaw University. He s ...

(1909–2003), historian, nominal head of state of Poland (1972–1985) *

Feliks Pawel Jarocki Feliks is a variant spelling of the given name Felix (name), Felix, used in Poland and the Baltic states, as well as in the transliteration of the name Felix from Russian. Feliks may refer to: *Feliks Ankerstein (1897–1955), Polish Army major ...

(1790–1865), zoologist * Barbara Jaruzelska (1931–2017), philologist and German studies professor, First Lady of Poland (1985–1990) * Nikolai Ivanovich Kareev (1850-1931), philosopher, historian * Yefim Fyodorovich Karsky (1861-1931), linguist, ethnographer, paleographer *

(1927–2009), philosopher * Jerzy Kolendo (1955-1983), classical archaeologist and historian *

Kazimierz Kuratowski Kazimierz Kuratowski (; 2 February 1896 – 18 June 1980) was a Polish mathematician and logician. He was one of the leading representatives of the Warsaw School of Mathematics. He worked as a professor at the University of Warsaw and at the Ma ...

(1896–1980), mathematician and logician * Joachim Lelewel (1786–1861), historian, politician and freedom fighter * Aleksandra Leliwa-Kopystyńska (1937–2023) Polish physicist * Zygmunt Łempicki (1886–1943 in Auschwitz), literature theoretician, Germanist, philosopher, and culture historian * Antoni Leśniowski (1867–1940), surgeon and medic, one of the discoverers of

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, abdominal distension, and weight loss. Complications outside of the ...

* Edward Lipiński (1888–1986), economist, founder of the Main Statistical Office *

Jan Łukasiewicz Jan Łukasiewicz (; 21 December 1878 – 13 February 1956) was a Polish logician and philosopher who is best known for Polish notation and Łukasiewicz logic. His work centred on philosophical logic, mathematical logic and history of logi ...

(1878–1956), mathematician and logician * Mieczysław Maneli (1922–1994),

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and diplomat * Leszek Marks (born 1951), geologist * Kazimierz Michałowski (1901–1981), archaeologist, explorer of Deir el Bahari and Faras *

Andrzej Mostowski Andrzej Mostowski (1 November 1913 – 22 August 1975) was a Polish mathematician. He worked primarily in logic and foundations of mathematics and is perhaps best remembered for the Mostowski collapse lemma. He was a member of the Polish Academy ...

(1913–1975), mathematician * Nikolai Viktorovich Nasonov (1855-1939), zoologist * Maria Ossowska (1896–1974), sociologist * Stanisław Ossowski (1897–1963), sociologist * Vladimir Ivanovich Palladin (1859-1922), biochemist and botanist * Grigol Peradze (1899–1942), Orthodox theologian and philologist *

Leon Petrażycki Leon Petrażycki (; ; 13 April 1867 – 15 May 1931) was a Polish philosopher, legal scholar, and sociologist. He is considered an important forerunner of the sociology of law. Life Leon Petrażycki was born into the Polish gentry of the Mogil ...

(1867–1931),

, philosopher and logician, one of the founders of

sociology of law The sociology of law, legal sociology, or law and society, is often described as a sub-discipline of sociology or an interdisciplinary approach within legal studies. Some see sociology of law as belonging "necessarily" to the field of sociolo ...

* Ladislaus Pilars de Pilar (1874–1952), literature professor, poet and entrepreneur * Adam Podgórecki (1925–1998), sociologist of law * Dmitry Yakovlevich Samokvasov (1843-1911), Russian archaeologist, legal historian *

Henryk Samsonowicz Henryk Bohdan Samsonowicz (23 January 1930 – 28 May 2021) was a Polish historian specializing in History of Poland in the Middle Ages, medieval Poland, prolific writer, and professor of the University of Warsaw. In 1989–1990, he was the minis ...

(1930–2021), historian, rector (1980–1982) * Artur Sandauer (1913–1989), literary critic and essayist *

(1882–1969), mathematician * Alfred Sokołowski (1849–1924), physician and a pioneer in

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

treatment * Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin (1849–1915), Russian mathematician * Hélène Sparrow (1891–1970), bacteriologist and public health pioneer, especially typhus * Jan Strelau (born 1931), psychologist * Jerzy Szacki (1929–2016), sociologist and historian of ideas * Henryk Szlajfer (born 1947), economist and political scientist * Andrzej K. Tarkowski (born 1933), zoologist, laureate of

Japan Prize is awarded to individuals whose original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind. As of 2024, the Japan Prize h ...

(2002) * Stanisław Thugutt (1873–1941), politician, rector (1919–1920) * Georgy Feodosevich Voronoy (1868-1908), mathematician * Tadeusz Wałek-Czarnecki (1889–1949), professor of Ancient History * Ewa Wipszycka (born 1933), historian and papyrologist * Władysław Witwicki (1878–1948), psychologist, philosopher, translator, and artist * Georgy Viktorovich Wulff (1863-1925), crystallographer *

Włodzimierz Zonn Wlodzimierz Zonn (14 July 1905, Vilnius – 28 February 1975) was a Polish astronomer. He studied at the University of Stefan Batory at Wilno, where he later worked as a professor. From 1950, Zonn was director of Astronomical Observatory of the ...

(1905–1985), astronomer

Staff

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz ( , , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. He primarily wrote his poetry in Polish language, Polish. Regarded as one of the great poets of the ...

– janitor at Warsaw University Library during World War II; recipient of 1980

Rectors

# Wojciech Szweykowski (1818–1831) # Józef Karol Skrodzki (1831) # Józef Mianowski (1862–1869) # Piotr Ławrowski (1869–1873) # Nikołaj Błagowieszczański (1874–1884) # Nikołaj Ławrowski (1884–1890) # Michaił Szałfiejew (1895) # Pawieł Kowalewski (1896) # Grigorij Zenger (1896) # Michaił Szałfiejew (1898) # Grigorij Uljanow (1899–1903) # Piotr Ziłow (1904) # Yefim Karskiy (1905–1911) # Wasilij Kudrewiecki (1911–1912) # Iwan Trepicyn (1913) # Siergiej Wiechow (1914–1915) # Józef Brudziński (1915–1917) # Antoni Kostanecki (1917–1919) # Stanisław Thugutt (1919–1920) # Jan Karol Kochanowski (1920–1921) # Jan Mazurkiewicz (1921–1922) #

(1922–1923) # Ignacy Koschembahr-Łyskowski (1923–1924) #

Franciszek Krzyształowicz Franciszek Krzyształowicz (18681931) was a Polish dermatologist. He served as the Rector (academia), rector of the University of Warsaw from 1924 to 1925. In 1919 he became the professor and head of dermatology at the University of Warsaw. He wa ...

(1924–1925) # Stefan Pieńkowski (1925–1926) # Bolesław Hryniewiecki (1926–1927) # Antoni Szlagowski (1927–1928) # Gustaw Przychocki (1928–1929) # Tadeusz Brzeski (1929–1930) # Mieczysław Michałowicz (1930–1931) #

(1931–1932) # Józef Ujejski (1932–1933) # Stefan Pieńkowski (1933–1936) # Włodzimierz Antoniewicz (1936–1939) # Jerzy Modrakowski (1939) # Stefan Pieńkowski (1945–1947) # Franciszek Czubalski (1947–1949) # Jan Wasilkowski (1949–1952) # Stanisław Turski (1952–1969) # Zygmunt Rybicki (1969–1980) #

(1980–1982) # Kazimierz Albin Dobrowolski (1982–1985) # ''Rector electus'' Klemens Szaniawski (1984) # Grzegorz Białkowski (1985–1989) # Andrzej Kajetan Wróblewski (1989–1993) # Włodzimierz Siwiński (1993–1999) # Piotr Węgleński (1999–2005) # Katarzyna Chałasińska-Macukow (2005–2012) # Marcin Pałys (2012–2020) # Alojzy Nowak (since 2020)

Notes

External links

*
The WU Students Association

Website of The University New Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warsaw, University of Educational institutions established in 1816 1816 establishments in the Russian Empire 1810s establishments in Poland