Henryk Bohdan Samsonowicz (23 January 1930 – 28 May 2021) was a Polish historian specializing in

medieval Poland This article covers the history of Poland in the Middle Ages. This time covers roughly a millennium, from the 5th century to the 16th century. It is commonly dated from the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, and contrasted with a later Early Mode ...

, prolific writer, and professor of the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

. 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 Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime mini ...

.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 many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

. In 1971 Samsonowicz was named a

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". Professor ...

. 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'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

, 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 ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying tha ...

. 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 (pronounced ) is a town in northeast Poland, by the river Narew. Located north of Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship, it had a population of about 19,000 . Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace ( in ...

, was a member of the

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning ( pl, Polska Akademia Umiejętności), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of scien ...

, and 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 ...

. 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 ho ...

s of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń,

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (MCSU) ( pl, Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej w Lublinie, UMCS) was founded October 23, 1944 in Lublin. It is named in honour of Marie Curie-Sklodowska. Currently the number of students is almost 36,000. Th ...

, and

University of Wrocław , ''Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau'' (before 1945) , free_label = Specialty programs , free = , colors = Blue , website uni.wroc.pl The University of Wrocław ( pl, Uniwersytet Wrocławski, U ...

. He was a bearer of the

Samson coat of arms Samson is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Notable bearers Notable bearers of this coat of arms include: * Henryk Samsonowicz *Felix DzerzhinskyAlbert P. Nen ...

, in 1984 he was awarded

Légion d'honneur 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 B ...

. 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 historic centers of Polish industry and metallurgy, a ...

. 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. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

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 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 Janusz Tazbir (August 5, 1927 – May 3, 2016 ) was a Polish historian, specializing in the culture and religion of Poland in the 16th and 17th centuries. He was the Polish-side Chairman of German-Polish Textbook Commission from 1991 to 1997. C ...

), 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 Legion of Honour 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)

Life

Works

See also

References