Andrzej Nowak (historian)

Andrzej Witold Nowak (born 1960 in Cracow) is a Polish historian and opinion journalist.

Andrzej Nowak
Polish historian Andrzej Nowak with his opus magnum "Dzieje Polski" (The History of Poland), 2019
Born	ca. 1960 Cracow, Poland
Occupation(s)	historian and opinion journalist
Organizations	Jagiellonian University Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences The Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding Institute of National Remembrance
Awards	Order of the White Eagle

Life and work

He is a professor at Jagiellonian University and at the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, where he is the head of the Section for the History of Eastern Europe and the Empires of the 19th and 20th Centuries.^[1] Before that (1996) he was visiting professor at Rice University. He was the co-founder and for many years (1994–2012) chief editor of the prestigious conservative cultural-political magazine Arcana. He cooperates with the monthly Wpis regularly and is one of the main authors of the publishing house Biały Kruk.^[2]

Andrzej Nowak has published over 40 books (sold in almost half a million copies) and more than 200 historical publications (articles and studies) in scientific periodicals and dozens of articles, reviews and interviews.^{[citation needed]}

His main research areas are: cultural and political history of Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th century; political philosophy; international political relations; modern mass-media. He has published several books about the Polish-Russian relations. He is currently the president of the Advisory Council of The Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding, as well as a member of the Council of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance. Due to his expertise in history and modern politics he is a frequent guest of radio programs and talk-shows. Nowak has been invited to speak at prestigious universities all over the world.^[2]

Between 1980 and 1988 Andrzej Nowak was involved in anti-Communist journalistic and educational activities, publishing many articles in so-called underground magazines, such as Arka, Miesięcznik Małopolski, Alternatywy, Tumult. He also participated in a system of alternative lectures of history for workers organized during the martial law in Poland by the catholic priest Kazimierz Jankowski in Krakow-Nowa Huta (Christian University for Workers) and in the so called Free Jagiellonian University. He took part in two international conferences on human rights (in Kraków-Mistrzejowice 1989 and Leningrad - 1990). Between 1989 and 1991 he worked in the international section of the independent daily "Czas Krakowski". After that he concentrated on his academic career and transferred to the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw (since 1991) and then to the Jagiellonian University (since 2004).^{[citation needed]}

Andrzej Nowak is known for his monumental History of Poland (Dzieje Polski). As of August 2023, he has finished five volumes of the planned twelve.^[3]

Nowak holds conservative views. In the years 1980-1981 a member of the Independent Students' Association and a delegate to the NZS UJ Convention. From the end of 1981 to 1987 a co-organizer of the underground "Free Jagiellonian University" (lectures for workers' groups) and an associate of the Christian Workers' University (organized by Father Kazimierz Jancarz in Mistrzejowice). In the years 1988-1991 an activist of the Solidarity movement at the Jagiellonian University (in 1990-91 a member of the Jagiellonian University Workers' Commission). He is a articipant of the 1st and 2nd International Human Rights Conferences in Mistrzejowice (1989) and in Leningrad (1990). Member of the Honorary Support Committee for Lech Kaczyński in the 2005 presidential elections. He was a frequent participant in the seminars organized by President Kaczyński in Lucień. In the 2010 elections, he was a member of the Honorary Support Committee for Jarosław Kaczyński.

He is a member of the Academic Civic Club of President Lech Kaczyński in Poznań^[4]. In 2018, he stated that Jarosław Kaczyński "took responsibility (...) for Poland's place in the political landscape of Europe and the world"^[5].

On Sunday, November 24, 2024, in the Sokół Gymnastics Society Building [pl], during the Civic Congress organized by Law and Justice party, he officially announced that the non-partisan candidate to the 2025 presidential election supported by this group was Karol Nawrocki, president of the Institute of National Remembrance. He also presented his biography and achievements, referring to historical events and the contemporary geopolitical situation of Poland^[6][7]. Nowak was also announced that day as the chairman of the Civic Support Committee for Karol Nawrocki. On the day of its inauguration, it had 170 members. The committee sent a letter to the authorities of Law and Justice, in which its signatories expressed support for the candidate supported by that party. In addition to former PiS politicians and people previously associated with this political formation, the committee was joined by, among others: Prof. Jan Żaryn, Prof. Jerzy Żyżyński, Prof. Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski [pl], Prof. Józef Oleński [pl] and Dr. Tomasz Żukowski [pl]^[8][9].

He has received several awards and honors, including the Order of the White Eagle (Polish: Order Orła Białego), Poland's highest state distinction.^[10]

Andrzej Nowak is married and has two children.^{[citation needed]}

Main works

• Między carem i rewolucją. Studium wyobraźni politycznej i postaw Wielkiej Emigracji wobec Rosji, 1831–1849 (Between Tsar and Revolution. A Study of Political Imagination and Attitudes of the Polish Great Emigration, 1831–1849), Warszawa 1994, 370 pp;
• Jak rozbić rosyjskie imperium? Idee polskiej polityki wschodniej, 1733-1921 (How to break up the Russian Empire? Ideas of the Polish Eastern Policy, 1733–1921), Warszawa 1995, 270 pp.
• Kronika Polski, Wydawnictwo Kluszczyński, Kraków 1997.
• John Paul II. Illustrated Biography, Wydawnictwo Kluszczyński, Krakow 2005.
• History and Geopolitics. A Contest for Eastern Europe, Wydawnictwo Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, Warszawa 2008.
• Polacy, Rosjanie i biesy. Studia i szkice historyczne z XIX i XX w. (Poles, Russians, and demons. Historical studies and essays from the 19th and 20th centuries), Kraków 1998, 270 pp.
• Ojczyzna Ocalona. Wojna sowiecko-polska 1919-1920, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2010.
• Imperium a ti druzi. Rusko, Polsko a moderni dĕjiny východni Evropy, CDK, Brno 2010.
• Hołd Katyński, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2010.
• Hołd Katyński II, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2011.
• Czas walki z Bogiem. Kościół na straży wolności Polaków, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2011.
• Krzyż polski. Patriotyzm i męczeństwo, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2011.
• Imperiological Studies. A Polish Perspective, Wydawnictwo Societas Vistulana, Kraków 2011.
• Strachy i Lachy. Przemiany polskiej pamięci, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2012.
• Dzieje Polski. Skąd nasz ród, t.1, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2014.
• Dzieje Polski. Od rozbicia do nowej Polski, t.2, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2016.
• Uległość czy niepodległość, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2014.
• Wygaszanie Polski 1989-2015, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2015.
• Pierwsza zdrada Zachodu. 1920 - zapomniany appeasement, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2015
• Historia i Polityka, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2016.
• Polskość jest przywilejem, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2016.
• Dzieje Polski. Królestwo zwycięskiego Orła, t. 3, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2017.
• Metamorfozy Imperium Rosyjskiego 1721-1921. Geopolityka, ody i narody, Wydawnictwo Literackie 2018.
• Niepodległa! 1864-1924. Jak Polacy odzyskali Ojczyznę, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2018.
• Filary Niepodległości, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2018.
• Kościół na straży polskiej niepodległości (wspólnie z Martyną Deszczyńską), Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2018.
• O historii nie dla idiotów. Rozmowy i przypadki, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2019.
• Dzieje Polski. Trudny złoty wiek, t. 4, Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2019.
• Klęska Imperium Zła. Rok 1920 (The defeat of the Evil Empire. The year 1920), Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2020.
• Między nieładem a niewolą. Krótka historia myśli politycznej (Between disorder and slavery. A short history of political thought), Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2020.
• Chluba i zguba. Antologia najnowszej publicystyki patriotycznej (Glory and loss. An anthology of the latest patriotic opinion journalism), Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2020.
• Dzieje Polski. Imperium Rzeczypospolitej, t. 5 (The history of Poland (volume 5). The Commonwealth's empire), Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2021.
• Polska i Rosja. Sąsiedztwo wolności i despotyzmu X–XXI w. (Poland and Russia. The neighborship of freedom and despotism from the 10th to the 21st century), Wydawnictwo Biały Kruk, Kraków 2022.

Awards

• POLCUL (Polish Cultural Foundation) Award in Journalism (in underground publications during the martial law in Poland), 1989;
• Przegląd Wschodni (Eastern Review) Award for the best book on Eastern European History, 1995;
• CLIO Awards (by Commission of the Polish Historical Books Editors) for the best book on history published in Poland, 1994, 1995 and 1998 ;
• Jerzy Lojek Foundation/Institute of Joseph Piłsudski in New York Award for the whole output, 1999;
• Silver Cross of Merit, 2003;
• Book of the Year for the first volume of Dzieje Polski, 2014;
• Józef Mackiewicz Prize for Outstanding Literature for the first volume of Dzieje Polski, 2015;
• Order of Polonia Restituta Third Class, Krzyż Komandorski, the Commander's Cross, 2016;
• Kazimierz Moczarski Historical Award (Nagroda Historyczna im. Kazimierza Moczarskiego), 2016;
• Golden Feniks (Award of the Society of Catholic Editors), 2018;^{[citation needed]}
• President Lech Kaczynski Award, 2019;
• Order of the White Eagle, 2019.^[10]