Feliks Karol Koneczny (; 1 November 1862 – 10 February 1949) was a Polish

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 ...

, theatrical critic,

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and social philosopher. He founded the original system of the comparative science of

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...

Biography

Koneczny was born in Kraków on 1 November 1862, his father was of Moravian origin. Koneczny's mother abandoned him at a young age while his father studied, although had to work at a

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing ...

due to being expelled from the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University ( Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

for partaking in the Kraków uprising. Koneczny graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at the

in Kraków and began work at the Jagiellonian Library. After Poland regained its independence, he became an assistant

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

in 1919. In June 1920, after he had qualified and received the degree of doctor habilitatus, he became a professor at Stefan Batory University in

Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

. After retiring in 1929, he moved back to Kraków.

Works

His interests ranged from purely historical research to the philosophy of history, religion and philosophy.Biliński P
Feliks Karol Koneczny - academic career pathalternate link
, Kwart Hist Nauki Tech. 2005;50(1):95-115. Last accessed on 26 April 2007. His pioneering works deal with the

history of Russia The history of Russia begins with the histories of the East Slavs. The traditional start-date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' people, Rus' state in the north in 862, ruled by Varangians. Staraya Ladoga and Veli ...

. Koneczny authored extensive monographs of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and Jewish civilizations, which he considered to be less developed than the Latin civilization of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. In 1948, after sixty years of research work Koneczny calculated that his written scholarly output encompassed 26 volumes, each of them being 300 to 400 pages long, not to mention more than 300 articles, brochures and reprints. His theory of civilizations might have inspired Anton Hilckman,

Samuel P. Huntington Samuel Phillips Huntington (April 18, 1927December 24, 2008) was an American political scientist, adviser, and academic. He spent more than half a century at Harvard University, where he was director of Harvard's Center for International Affairs ...

and others.

Types of civilizations

Feliks Koneczny divided civilizations into about twenty types, of which seven types still exist. Four are ancient: "

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

," "Jewish," "Chinese," and "

Turanian {{Short description, List of groups of people Turanian is a term that has been used in reference to diverse groups of people. It has had currency in Turanism, Pan-Turkism, and historic Turkish nationalism. Many of the uses of the word are obsolete. ...

". Three are medieval: "Latin," "Byzantine," and "Arab." The differences between civilizations are based on their attitude to law and ethics. For example, Koneczny claimed that in the Latin civilization, ethics is the source of law. If some laws are not ethical, then they are changed. Government is judged on the basis of its adherence to ethics. The law is of dual nature, divided into public and private spheres. Religion is autonomous, independent and separated from the state. Individuality, self-rule and decentralization are highly valued. Knowledge is

empirical Empirical evidence for a proposition is evidence, i.e. what supports or counters this proposition, that is constituted by or accessible to sense experience or experimental procedure. Empirical evidence is of central importance to the sciences and ...

. In the Byzantine civilization, organized religion is dependent on the state. In this type of civilization all means are justified to achieve political goals. Politicians follow ethics in private life, but in public they are judged by their skills, not by ethics. The legal government has absolute authority and its orders are not doubted. Germany under Bismarck was an example of that type of civilization. In the Turanian civilization, the government is the source of law and ethics and stands above the law and ethics. The ruler cannot be doubted. Koneczny considered Russia under the Tsars as an example of this type of civilization. The Jewish civilization considers the law most important. The law is the source of ethics. The law cannot be changed. However, the same law can be differently interpreted, which leads to ethical relativism. Similarly to the Brahmin or Hindu civilization, it is sacral, with religion playing a central role. According to Koneczny, one of the elements of Jewish civilization is a belief in the superior role of one nation or race.

Communist state A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comint ...

s, despite their atheism, are also products of Jewish civilization. Koneczny claimed that civilizations cannot mix, and any "synthesis" of several civilizations leads to the victory of one over the other, lower moral standards, or to a state of "un-civilization." Koneczny did not tie civilization type to any particular race or nation. Hence, Poles could represent the Turanian type of civilization (as, according to Koneczny, did

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

's Poland) and Germans could represent the Jewish type. In his publication ''Hitleryzm zażydzony'' ('The Judaized Hitlerism') Koneczny claimed that

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

was an example of the Jewish civilization type.

Joanna Beata Michlic Joanna Beata Michlic is a Polish Social history, social and cultural historian specializing in History of the Jews in Poland, Polish-Jewish history and the Holocaust in Poland. An honorary senior research associate at the Centre for Collective V ...

, ''Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present'', U of Nebraska Press, 2006,
Google Print, p.179
/ref> On the other hand, an ethnic Jew could represent the Latin type of civilization. Koneczny considered racism something alien to Latin civilization, which he considered the highest type. According to Koneczny, Europe in his time was a battlefield between three types of civilization: Latin, Turan and Jewish. He argued that Byzantine type of civilization had already lost the battle and was in deep crisis.

Works

Most in Polish; seven books are available in English translation. * ''Dzieje Rosyi''. Tom I. (do roku 1449), Spółka Wydawnicza Warszawska, Warsaw 1917 (in Polish) *''Polskie Logos a Ethos'', t. I–II, Księgarnia sw. Wojciecha, Poznań 1921. *''O wielości cywilizacyj'', Gebethner & Wolff, Kraków 1935. English translation (abridged) ''On the Plurality of Civilisations'', Polonica Publications, London 1962, Antyk, Komorów, 2012 . English Translation
Word (1.2MB)
*''Święci w dziejach narodu polskiego'' / ''Saints in the history of the Polish nation'', t. 1–2, Tow. Sw. Michała Archanioła, Miejsce Piastowe 1937–1939. *''Rozwój moralności'' Tow. Wiedzy Chrześć., Lublin 1938. English translation "The Development of Morality", Antyk, Komorów, 2016. *''Cywilizacja bizantyjska'', Towarzystwo im. Romana Dmowskiego, London 1973. English translation "The Byzantine Civilization", Antyk, Komorów, 2014. *''Cywilizacja żydowska'', Towarzystwo im. Romana Dmowskiego, London 1974. English translation "The Jewish Civilization", Antyk, Komorów, 2012. *''O ład w historii'', Towarzystwo im. Romana Dmowskiego, London 1977. English translation "On order in History" Antyk, Komorów, 2014. * ''Państwo w cywilizacji łacińskiej. Zasady prawa w cywilizacji łacińskiej'' / ''State in Latin civilisation. Rules of law in Latin civilisation'', Towarzystwo im. Romana Dmowskiego, London 1981 (in Polish). English translation "The Latin Civilization" Antyk, Komorów,2016. *''Prawa dziejowe (oraz dodatek) Bizantynizm niemiecki'' / ''History laws (and an addendum) German byzantinism'', Towarzystwo im. Romana Dmowskiego, London 1982.English translation "The Laws of History" Antyk, Komorów, 2013. *''Dzieje Rosji'' / ''History of Russia''. Tom III. ''Schyłek Iwana III'' / ''Downfall of

Ivan III of Russia Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his blin ...

''. 1492–1505, Towarzystwo im. Romana Dmowskiego, London 1984. * Zionism and the Polish cause (in Polish)

References

External links

Slavism and Sciences and Humanities in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Biography

Works

Types of civilizations

Works

See also

References

External links

Further reading