Witold Rodziński (5 October 1918 – 18 December 1997) was a Polish historian, sinologist and diplomat. He was born in 1918 in

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, son of the conductor

Artur Rodziński Artur Rodziński (2 January 1892 – 27 November 1958) was a Polish and American conductor of orchestral music and opera. He began his career after World War I in Poland, where he was discovered by Leopold Stokowski, who invited him to be his ass ...

. He studied at the

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, was an official at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

1945–47, and adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1947–48, a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences and the Central Committee of the Higher School of Pedagogy in Warsaw. From 1958 to 1971 he was assistant professor at the Department of History 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 ...

. He was the Polish Ambassador to the United Kingdom 1960–65 and to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

1966–69. Rodziński was the author of the monumental ''History of China'', published in English as ''The Walled Kingdom: A History of China from Antiquity to the Present''. He died in December 1997, aged 79.

Bibliography

* Ludwik Bazylow (ed.), ''Wykaz profesorów i docentów Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Dane biograficzne'', „Roczniki Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego”, tom 10, 1971, p. 101. Ambassadors of Poland to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Poland to China 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Historians of China 1918 births 1997 deaths Polish sinologists Columbia University alumni Academic staff of the University of Warsaw Politicians from Lviv Diplomats from Lviv Polish expatriates in the United States {{Poland-historian-stub