Prof. Aleksander Krawczuk (left) and prof. Hoimar von Ditfurth, German psychiatrist and neurologist, at the Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of a Peaceful Future for the World at the Victoria Hotel in Warsaw, 1986. Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe 3/44/0/-/34.
Aleksander Krawczuk
, 1922 - 2023
Aleksander Krawczuk (1922–2023) was a Polish ancient historian and classical philologist, writer, keen populariser of classical antiquity, and politician. Born and raised in Kraków, he associated his entire academic career with the Department of Ancient History of the Jagiellonian University, where in 1985 he became a titular professor and head of the department. Besides his scholarly activities, in the early 1960s, he began writing popular books and articles in magazines to increase awareness of Graeco-Roman classics and ancient history in an approachable manner. His aim was to create from historical documents and data books on antiquity that would accurately reflect the past but at the same read like fascinating novels. He confessed in a broadcast that writing articles in accordance with strict scientific methods for a very narrow circle of experts was a not enough. “The thing about history is that it is a living and socially necessary science only when it reaches the widest possible audience. Then it fulfils its role: it shapes thinking and social awareness, stimulates, benefits”.* Some historians did not appreciate this kind of writing, but readers decided quite the opposite. His books became extremely popular in Poland during the communist era, selling out quickly and being republished multiple times; they were also translated into other languages. In the 1970s and 80s, for almost fifteen years, Krawczuk captured television audiences hosting a regular television program on the ancient history and culture Antyczny świat profesora Krawczuka [Professor Krawczuk’s Ancient World]. Owing to his popular publications, TV show and essays on ancient world in historical and cultural weeklies (for example Poczet cesarzy rzymskich [Gallery of Roman Emperors] for the weekly Przekrój), and also to his meetings with the readers and lecture tours across Poland, the professor became a renowned public figure in Poland and the most recognizable historian in the 1980s. In 1986 he became the Minister of Culture and Art in the last Communist governments in Poland and after the fall of Communism he was elected MP of the new democratic parliament twice.
He published over forty books in total. For his scientific achievements, literary works and popularisation of classics, he was awarded prestigious orders and medals, such as the Grand Cross of Polonia Restituta (1997), Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture (2009), and Kowadło Kuźnicy (2013).
* An interview to Edward Miszczak in 1986. Quoted in Michał Czyżewski, “Aleksander Krawczuk: chcę by moje książki o historii dało się czytac jak powieści”, at Polskie Radio website: “Historia ma to do siebie, że wtedy jest nauką żywą i potrzebną społecznie, jeśli dociera do możliwie szerokich rzesz. Wtedy spełnia ona swoją rolę: kształtuje myślenie i świadomość społeczną, pobudza, daje coś”.
Sources:
Elżbieta Olechowska, “Aleksander Krawczuk’s Fascinating Antiquity” in Classics and Class. Greek and Latin Classics and Communism at School, David Movrin and Elżbieta Olechowska, eds., Warsaw–Ljubljana, Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, University of Warsaw, and Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani (Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts), and Wydawnictwo DiG, 2016, 337–356.
Michał Czyżewski, "Aleksander Krawczuk: chcę, by moje książki o historii dało się czytać jak powieści", Polskie Radio 24 (accessed: March 9, 2026)
"Wspomnienie o profesorze Aleksandrze Krawczuku", Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Archiwum (accessed: March 9, 2026).
Bio prepared by Marta Pszczolińska, University of Warsaw, m.pszczolinska@al.uw.edu.pl
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