Piotr Mateusz Andrzej Cywiński (born 16 April 1972 in

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 official ...

) is a professional

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 st ...

and Director of the

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum ( pl, Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau) is a museum on the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim (German: ''Auschwitz''), Poland. The site includes the main concentration camp at Auschwit ...

since 2006; an active participant and frequent initiator in the

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

and Christian-Jewish dialogue; and an

ecumenist Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

devoted to reconciliation of the various denominations among the cultures of the ''

Kresy Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the History of Poland (1918–1939), interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural ...

'' borderlands.

Life

Cywiński spent his childhood in Warsaw. Between 1982 and 1993 he lived in Switzerland and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

due to the political exile of his father :pl:Bohdan Cywiński who is a philosopher, historian and journalist. His mother Maria-Malgorzata is a daughter of the artist :pl:Zbigniew Łoskot. Cywiński graduated from the Université des sciences humaines in Strasbourg (1993) as a historian of the Middle Ages, and the

Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin ( pl, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, la, Universitas Catholica Lublinensis Ioannis Pauli II, abbreviation KUL), established in 1918. It is the only private college in Poland with the s ...

(1995). He obtained his

PhD degree A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

at the Institute of History of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, 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 ...

(PAS) in 2001.

Professional career

In 1996–2000 Piotr Cywiński served as vice-president of the Club of Catholic Intelligentsia (KIK) in Warsaw, followed by ten years as the President. Since 2010 he has been a Board Member of KIK. In 2002 he co-founded the multicultural St. Adalbert's Forum, which he chaired for approximately eight years. He co-organized the Congresses of Gniezno in 2003, 2004 and 2005. In 2004 Cywiński was elected vice-president (and regional president for Europe) of the global federation of Catholic intellectuals Pax Romana ICMICA/MIIC for the mandate 2004–2008. Between 2000 and 2006 Cywiński served as Secretary for the International Auschwitz Council (IAC). On 12 June 2006 Cywiński was nominated for director of the

, a position he assumed on 1 September that year, replacing Jerzy Wróblewski who had been the director since 1990. He was also co-creator of the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust and vice president of the center's council. In 2009 Cywiński co-created the

Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, created in 2009 by Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, aims to gather and manage an endowment from which income shall finance the long-term, global preservation program of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site. Aim and object ...

and since then serves as president of the foundation. For the years 2009-2018 Cywiński has been a member of the Museums' Council to the Minister of Culture (mandate IV and V), and in 2010 was appointed as member of the

Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites The Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites ( pl, Rada Ochrony Pamięci Walk i Męczeństwa) is a Polish government body charged with the preservation of historical sites of wartime persecution of the Polish nation. It was set u ...

. He also serves as vice-president of the Council of :pl:Muzeum Tradycji Niepodległościowych w Łodzi, and member of the first mandate of the council, later - since 2012 - as member of the Board of Trustees of the

Museum of World War II in Gdańsk The Museum of the Second World War () is a state cultural institution and museum established in 2008 in Gdańsk, Poland which is devoted to the Second World War. Its exhibits opened in 2017. The ''Kwadrat'' architectural team won an architect ...

. He is a member of the Council of Museum Gross-Rosen in Rogoźnica. He is a council member of the :de:Maximilian-Kolbe-Werk, a charity for concentration camp survivors. In 2011 he became a board member of the Association Maison d’Izieu, memorial site in France. In 2015 the board of the Memorial Association accepted him as member of the Moscow's Memorial Association. In 2000-2002 while working for the

Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Adam Mickiewicz Institute ( pl, Instytut Adama Mickiewicza) is a government-sponsored organization funded by Poland's Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and headquartered at ''ulica Mokotowska 25'' (the Sugar Palace) in Warsaw. Named ...

, Cywiński co-directed the Festival "

Europalia Europalia is a major international arts festival held every two years to celebrate one invited country’s cultural heritage. Europalia was established in Brussels in 1969, and from the beginning Europalia was designed to be a multidisciplinary cu ...

2001 Poland", then created a portal about Jewish culture and history in Poland: "Diapozytyw.pl". In 2001-2004 he was a member of the Consultative Council of NGOs at the Polish Council for European Integration. For the years 2002-2014 he served as a member of the Polish Episcopate's Group for Dialogue with the

Greek Catholic Church The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. In the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...

, he was a candidate on behalf of the Freedom Union. Between 2005 and 2007, Piotr Cywiński was vice-president of the association Wikimedia Poland, since May 2007 he is a member of the Audit Committee of the association. In 2008, Cywiński served as ambassador of the

European Year of Intercultural Dialogue Intercultural dialogue has long been a principle supported by the European Union and its Institutions. The year 2008 was designated "European Year of Intercultural Dialogue" (EYID) by the European Parliament and the Member States of the European U ...

Honors and awards

Piotr Cywiński was awarded the

Gold Cross of Merit The Cross of Merit () is a Polish civil state decoration established on 23 June 1923, to recognize services to the state. History At the time of its establishment in 1923, the Cross of Merit was the highest civilian award in Poland. It was awa ...

in 2006. On 15 April 2008

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he pre ...

, the President of Poland, awarded Cywiński the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Also in that year, he was nominated to the TOTUS Award in the category of "achievements in the field of Christian culture”. On 20 January 2010, he received the Officer's Cross of the Polonia Restituta. In June 2012 he was awarded the Belgian Order of the Crown. In November 2012, prince

Albert II of Monaco Albert II – Website of the Palace of Monaco (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, since 2005. Albert was born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, and he is the second child and only son of Prince Rai ...

awarded Piotr Cywiński the knight class of the

Order of Saint-Charles The Order of Saint Charles (french: Ordre de Saint Charles) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in Monaco on 15 March 1858. Award This order rewards service to the State or Prince. In particular cases, it may be granted to foreign ...

. In 2014 he received the Officer's Cross of the

Order of the Phoenix (Greece) The Order of the Phoenix ( el, Τάγμα του Φοίνικος) is an order of Greece, established on 13 May 1926, by the republican government of the Second Hellenic Republic to replace the defunct Royal Order of George I. The order was re ...

and in 2015 the Knight's Cross

Order of Academic Palms Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(France). In 2013 the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs awarded him the

Bene Merito The Bene Merito honorary distinction ( pl, Odznaka Honorowa „Bene Merito”) is a departmental (ministerial) decoration of Poland. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland awards the citizens of Poland and foreign nationals with this decorati ...

honorary badge for his activities in strengthening the position of Poland in the international arena. In 2014 he received the Golden Order for Achievements in the Penitentiary Work from the Polish Minister of Justice (and also from the Polish Ombudsman's Award for Human Rights' Protection). In 2015 he received a Silver Gloria Artis Award from the Minister of Culture and in 2019 the Knight medal insignia of the French

Legion of Honour 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 ...

Selected publications

* ''Kościół wobec integracji europejskiej'' o-author ed. Jan Grosfeld, Warszawa 1997, . * ''L'Église en Pologne après 1989 face aux nouveaux défis de la démocratie'' avec Marcin Przeciszewski, Volume 48 de Cahier / le Rayonnement culturel polonais, in ''

Communio ''Communio'' is a federation of theological journals, founded in 1972 by Joseph Ratzinger, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, Walter Kasper, Marc Ouellet, Louis Bouyer, and others. ''Communio'', now published in fifteen editions (inc ...

'' : revue catholique internationale, 179, Vol. XXX, 2005 * ''Mój Auschwitz'' o-author of interview with Władysław Bartoszewski">Władysław_Bartoszewski.html" ;"title="o-author of interview with Władysław Bartoszewski">o-author of interview with Władysław Bartoszewski ZNAK, Kraków 2010, . * ''Guide historique d’Auschwitz'' [introduction], Jean-Francois Forges, Pierre-Jerome Biscarat, Autrement, Paris 2011, . * ''Le futur d’Auschwitz. Actes de la journee d’etude du 11 mai 2010'' o-author IRICE (Sorbone, Paris IV, CNRS et al.), cahier 7: Paris 2011, ISSN 1967-2713. * ''Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Place Where You Are Standing'' uthor of concept and introduction Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim 2012, . * ''Epitaph'', Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim 2012, . * ''Auschwitz from A to Z. An Illustrated History of the Camp'' o-author Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim 2013, . * ''Początki Auschwitz w pamięci pierwszego transportu polskich więźniów politycznych'', Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim 2015, . * ''Auschwitz Legacies'' o-author Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim 2015, . * ''Auschwitz. A Monograph on the Human'', Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim 2022, . * ''Auschwitz Bauleitung. Designing a Death Camp. Projektowanie Obozu Śmierci'', Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim 2023 .

References

*Ambassador Portrai
"Phd. Piotr M. A. Cywiński"
*Official personal websit
"Piotr M. A. Cywiński"

External links

Private website by/of Piotr M. A. Cywiński

Official website of Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site/State Museum

* ttp://www.interculturaldialogue2008.eu/418.0.html?&L=0#national/ 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (official website) national ambassadors {{DEFAULTSORT:Cywinski, Piotr 1972 births Living people 21st-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Polish medievalists Polish Roman Catholics Writers from Warsaw Directors of museums in Poland Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish Wikimedians Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights of the Order of Saint-Charles Knights of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Historians of the Holocaust in Poland