Stefan Kieniewicz (1907-1992)

Member of the Przegląd Historyczny editorial team from 1949; editor-in-chief in 1952–1992.

He graduated from the University of Poznań with a degree in history in 1930, received his doctorate in Warsaw under Marceli Handelsman’s supervision in 1934, and his habilitation at the Jagiellonian University in 1946. Throughout the post-war period he was affiliated with the University of Warsaw’s Institute of History (from 1949 as a professor), although for several years he worked simultaneously at the Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences. Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences from 1965 and from 1969 until 1983 chair of its Committee on Historical Sciences.

He was one of the most eminent scholars researching the Polish nineteenth century; he focused primarily on the history of patriotic underground movements and national uprisings, but also produced works dealing with social history, urban history and biographies. His scholarly output consists of almost a thousand studies; he was the author of several dozen books, including Historia Polski 1795–1918 (1968), Powstanie styczniowe (1972), Warszawa w latach 1975–1914 (1976), as well as an editor of just as many source publications. Some forty scholars received their PhDs under his supervision; his best-known students include Barbara Grochulska, Krzysztof Groniowski, Franciszka Ramotowska and Jerzy Skowronek.

As editor-in-chief of Przegląd he was able to precisely organise the work of the editorial team, consistently took care of the selection of submissions, and tirelessly sought to give those accepted for publication the best possible substantive and formal shape.