Henryk Bohdan Samsonowicz (23 January 1930 – 28 May 2021) was a Polish historian specializing in medieval Poland, prolific writer, and professor of the

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 ...

. In 1989–1990, he was the minister of education in the government of prime minister

Tadeusz Mazowiecki Tadeusz Mazowiecki (; 18 April 1927 – 28 October 2013) was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime minister since 1946, hav ...

.Henryk Samsonowicz, biography at the webpage of Department of History of Warsaw University.
''Instytut Historyczny UW'', 15 June 2009.

Life

Samsonowicz graduated in 1950 from University of Warsaw, and 1954 he received a PhD, and in 1960 was

habilitated 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 excellen ...

. In 1971 Samsonowicz was named a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

. Since 1967, he was a vice-dean of Department of Humanistic Studies at University of Warsaw, and in 1970 - 1973, he was the dean of the Department. Also, in 1975 - 1980, Samsonowicz was the director of the Institute of History. In 1980, he became a member of

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 ...

, and on 1 October 1980, he was nominated a rector of the University of Warsaw. Dismissed from this post on 8 April 1982, Samsonowicz participated in late 1980s in talks of the

Round Table The Round Table (; ; ; ) is King Arthur's famed table (furniture), table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status, unlike co ...

. After the 4 June 1989 election, he became Minister of Education, and in 1990, upon his decision, teaching of religious studies returned to Polish schools. Samsonowicz remained a minister until January 1991. He lectured at the Humanistic Academy in

Pułtusk Pułtusk () is a town in Poland, by the river Narew. Located north of Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship, it has a population of 19,224 as of 2023. Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace ( in length), it is a po ...

, was a member of the

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning (, PAU), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of sciences (the other being the Po ...

, and of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, 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 distinguished scholars a ...

. He also had

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

s of

Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń or NCU (, UMK) is located in Toruń, Poland. It is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born in Toruń in 1473. History The beginnings of higher education in Toruń The first institution of higher ...

, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, and

University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...

. He was a bearer of the Samson coat of arms, in 1984 he was awarded

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. Since 2008, he has been an honorary citizen of Pultusk and

Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (), often referred to as Ostrowiec, is a city in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland, with 66,258 residents (as of 2021). The town is one of the historic centers of Polish industry and metallurgy ...

. He died on 28 May 2021.

Works

Samsonowicz wrote around 800 scientific papers, mostly on history of medieval Poland, including 16 books and university

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions, but also of learners ( ...

s. Selected works include: * Henryk Samsonowicz, ''Historia Polski do roku 1795'' (History of Poland until 1795), Kraków 2000, * Henryk Samsonowicz, ''Późne średniowiecze miast nadbałtyckich. Studia z dziejów Hanzy nad Bałtykiem w XIV-XV w.'' (Late Middle Ages of Baltic cities. Studies of history of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

in the 14th and 15th century), Warsaw 1968 * Henryk Samsonowicz, ''Miejsce Polski w Europie'' (Poland's location in Europe), Warsaw 1995 * Henryk Samsonowicz, ''Ziemie polskie w X wieku i ich znaczenie w kształtowaniu się nowej mapy Europy'' (Polish lands in the 10th century and their significance in shaping of new map of Europe), Kraków 2000 * Henryk Samsonowicz, ''Tysiącletnie dzieje'' (Thousand years of history, together with Janusz Tazbir), Wrocław 1997 * Henryk Samsonowicz, ''Idea uniwersytetu u schyłku tysiąclecia'' (The idea of a university at the dawn of the millennium, co-author), Warsaw 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samsonowicz, Henryk 1930 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Writers from Warsaw Members of the Polish Academy of Learning Historians of Poland Education ministers of Poland University of Warsaw alumni Academic staff of the University of Warsaw Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish United Workers' Party members Rectors of universities in Poland Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Rectors of University of Warsaw Polish recipients of the Legion of Honour

Life

Works

See also

References