Piotr Antoni Wilczek (born 26 April 1962 in

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

) is a Polish

intellectual historian Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual hist ...

, a specialist in

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

and a literary translator, who served as the Ambassador of

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 ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(2016–2021) and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(since 2022).

Academic career

Piotr Wilczek graduated from the

University of Silesia The University of Silesia in Katowice () is an autonomous state-run university in Katowice, Silesia Province, Poland. The university offers higher education and research facilities. It offers undergraduate, masters, and PhD degree programs, ...

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

(1986) where he received his Ph.D. (1992) and

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

(2001) degrees. In 2006 he was nominated professor of the humanities by the

President of the Republic 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 executiv ...

. Doctor of Humane Letters (honoris causa) of Cleveland State University. He was an assistant and associate professor at the University of Silesia (1986–2008), where he also served as

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of the Faculty of Languages (2002–2008). Since 2008 he has been a tenured full professor at the Faculty of „Artes Liberales",

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, 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 ...

and until 2016 served there as Head of the Collegium Artes Liberales ( College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) and Head of the Centre for the Study of the Reformation and Intellectual Culture in Early Modern Europe. He did his postgraduate work in intellectual history and Neo-Latin Studies at the Universities of Oxford (St Anne's College, 1988) and Łódź, Poland (1989). He was a visiting translator at The British Centre for Literary Translation,

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

(1994, 1996). Between 1998 and 2001 he was a visiting professor at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

, the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

at Chicago and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and gave invited public lectures at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

at Austin. He was also a visiting scholar at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

and

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in oper ...

. He has been a board member of numerous international scholarly journals (e.g. “Reformation and Renaissance Review”, “The Sarmatian Review”), book series (at Springer-Verlag GmbH and Walter de Gruyter GmbH) and academic initiatives (including the Reformation Research Consortium (RefoRC) and the Post-Reformation Digital Library), and a member of several professional organizations (e.g. Modern Language Association of America, the Polish Literary Translators' Association). Since 2014 Representative in Poland of the

Kosciuszko Foundation The Kosciuszko Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City. It was created by Stephen Mizwa to fund programs that promote Polish-American intellectual and artistic exchange. History The Polish American Scholarship Committee ...

, Inc. (New York) and President of the Management Board of the Kosciuszko Foundation Poland. Member of the American Study Group at the Polish Institute of International Affairs.

Diplomatic career

Starting 9 November 2016, Wilczek served as the Ambassador of Poland to the United States, succeeding

Ryszard Schnepf Ryszard Marian Schnepf (born 22 September 1951) is a Polish politician and diplomat. Early life Schnepf was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1951, to Polish mother Alicja Szczepaniak-Schnepf (born 1930), recognized as Righteous Among The ...

. He ended his term on 31 October 2021. On 22 December 2021 he was nominated ambassador to the United Kingdom. He started his term on 15 February 2022.

Honours

* Knight'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 ...

(2022)

Books

Books in English (authored and edited)

* Polonia Reformata. Essays on the Polish Reformation(s). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2016. * Collegium / College / Kolegium. College and the Academic Community in the European and the American Tradition. Edited by Mark O'Connor and Piotr Wilczek. Wydawnictwo Sub Lupa: Boston – Warsaw, 2011. * (Mis)translation and (Mis)interpretation: Polish Literature in the Context of Cross-Cultural Communication. Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main, 2005. * Treny: The Laments of Kochanowski. Translated by Adam Czerniawski. Foreword by Donald Davie. Edited and annotated by Piotr Wilczek. Legenda: Oxford, 2001.

Books in Polish (authored and edited)

* Literatura piękna i medycyna. Homini, Kraków 2015 (co-editor:

Maciej Ganczar Maciej Ganczar (born January 19, 1976, in Łódź) is a Polish literary scholar specializing in German literature, literary translator, author of publications for foreign language teaching, also in the field of languages for special purposes. L ...

). * Tłumacz i przekład – wyzwania współczesności, Katowice: ŚLĄSK 2013 (co-editor:

). * Rola tłumacza i przekładu w epoce wielokulturowości i globalizacji. ŚLĄSK, Katowice 2012 (co-editor:

). * Wiesław Mincer, Jan Kalwin w Polsce. Bibliografia. Edited by Piotr Wilczek. Sub Lupa: Warszawa 2012. * Angielsko-polskie związki literackie. Szkice o przekładzie artystycznym. Wydawnictwo Naukowe "Śląsk": Katowice, 2011. * Jan Kochanowski. Wydawnictwo Nomen Omen: Katowice, 2011 (e-book). * Reformacja w Polsce i Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej. Postulaty badawcze. Edited by Piotr Wilczek. Assistant Editors: Michał Choptiany, Jakub Koryl, Alan Ross. Wydawnictwo Sub Lupa: Warszawa, 2010. * Retoryka. Edited by Piotr Wilczek, Maria Barłowska, Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN: Warszawa, 2008. * Polonice et Latine. Studia o literaturze staropolskiej. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego: Katowice, 2007. * Literatura polskiego renesansu. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego: Katowice, 2005. * Dyskurs – przekład – interpretacja: literatura staropolska i jej trwanie we współczesnej kulturze. Gnome: Katowice, 2001. * Poezja polskiego renesansu. Interpretacje. Książnica: Katowice, 2000 (co-author: Kazimierz Martyn). * Erazm Otwinowski, Pisma poetyckie. Edited by Piotr Wilczek. IBL PAN: Warszawa, 1999. * Szkolny słownik literatury staropolskiej. Videograf II: Katowice, 1999 (co-authors: Janusz K. Goliński, Roman Mazurkiewicz). * Ślady egzystencji. Szkice o polskich pisarzach emigracyjnych. Wydawnictwo Naukowe „Śląsk”: Katowice, 1997. * Jan Kochanowski, Treny. Translated by Adam Czerniawski. Foreword Donald Davie. Edited and annotated by Piotr Wilczek. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego: Katowice, 1996. * Erazm Otwinowski – pisarz ariański. Gnome: Katowice, 1994. * Spory o Biblię w literaturze Renesansu i Reformacji. Schumacher: Kielce 1995.

Translations from English into Polish

* Aleksander Topolski: Biez wodki. Moje wojenne przeżycia w Rosji ithout Vodka. Adventures in Wartime Russia REBIS: Poznań, 2011. * Thomas M. Gannon, George W. Traub, Pustynia i miasto he Desert and the city. An Interpretation of the History of Christian Spirituality WAM: Kraków, 1999. * John Berendt, Północ w ogrodzie dobra i zła. Opowieść o Savannah idnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. A Savannah Story Prószyński i S-ka: Warszawa, 1998. * John J. O'Donnell, Tajemnica Trójcy Świętej he Mystery of the Triune God WAM: Kraków, 1993. * Carlos G. Valles, Szkice o Bogu ketches of God WAM: Kraków, 1994. * Michael Paul Gallagher, Możesz wierzyć. Dziesięć etapów na drodze do wiary ree to Believe. Ten Steps to Faith WAM: Kraków, 1995.

Sources

Piotr Wilczek
– "Scientists" �
database of OPI (Information Processing Centre)

References

External links

Faculty of "Artes Liberales"

Polish National Library Catalogue

Polish Literary Translators' AssociationPiotr Wilczek
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilczek, Piotr 1962 births Ambassadors of Poland to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Poland to the United States English–Polish translators Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Living people People from Chorzów 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Polish translators Recipients of the Decoration of Honor Meritorious for Polish Culture University of Silesia in Katowice alumni Academic staff of the University of Silesia in Katowice 21st-century Polish historians