George Zarnecki (Polish:Jerzy Żarnecki),CBE,FBA,FSA (12 September 1915 – 8 September 2008) was a Polish Professor of theHistory of Art. He was a scholar ofMedieval art and EnglishRomanesque sculpture,[1][2] an area of study in which he did pioneering research.[3] From 1961 to 1974 he was a deputy director of theCourtauld Institute of Art, University of London.
Zarnecki was born in Stara Osota nearChyhyryn, then in the Russian Empire. His parents werePolish speaking, his father was a Polish convert fromJudaism and his mother was RussianCatholic.
Zarnecki attendedJagiellonian University inKraków,Poland, he attained hisMA in 1938 and, from 1936 to 1939, was a junior assistant at the University's Institute of Art History.[1][2][3][4]
At theoutbreak of war withNazi Germany, Zarnecki, his sister and parents headed forBucharest. He made his way to France via Italy, joined aPolish regiment and fought inAlsace, France.[4] He was captured in 1940 and escaped twice, recaptured both times[4] he spent two years as aprisoner of War. He narrowly avoided being sent to aconcentration camp as a suspected Jew. The fact he was notcircumcised, and was wearing a crucifix his mother had given him, saved him from that fate.[1]
Using forged documents Zarnecki escaped toVichy France and thence intoFranco's Spain where he wasinterned for a year before being allowed to go to England.[4] Zarnecki escaped Spain and made his way to England in 1943. He joined theFree Polish Forces, attaining the rank ofLance Corporal.[3] He spent time compiling an index of the cultural losses that Poland was suffering as a result of the German invasion. Zarnecki was later awarded the FrenchCroix de Guerre and the PolishCross of Valor (two bars)[4] for his military service.[1][2][3]
After the war, Zarnecki stayed on in England and in 1945 attained a position as assistant at theCourtauld Institute of Art's Conway library. He got the job thanks to an earlier association withAnthony Blunt, to whom he had been introduced in 1944. Zarnecki became anaturalised British citizen on 1 July 1949.[5] Whilst at the Courtauld he studied for his PhD, under the supervision ofFritz Saxl director of theWarburg Institute,University of London. He was awarded his PhD in 1950, histhesis had been on the subject of 'Regional Schools in English Sculpture in the 12th century'. In 1949 Zarnecki was promoted to librarian of the Courtauld's Conway library, taking charge of its collection of photographs of sculpture and architecture. He helped organise, and embarked on, expeditions around Europe to build up the library's photographic holdings. In 1959, after serving 10 years as the Conway librarian, Zarnecki was appointed to the Courtauld's academic staff as aReader. During theacademic year 1960 to 61 he held the position ofOxford University'sSlade Professor of Fine Art.[2]
In 1961 Zarnecki was made deputy director of the Courtauld Institute serving under the directorship ofAnthony Blunt. His role as deputy was largely administrative, he was mainly responsible for the day-to-day running of the Institute.[1] He was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1970New Year Honours,[6] and was appointed to theRoyal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England on 1 January 1972,[7] and was later re-appointed for a further five years on 1 January 1979.[8] He remained deputy director at the Courtauld for 13 years, until 1974, when Blunt retired as director.[1] Zarnecki was widely expected to be appointed director but he did not apply for the position, preferring instead to return to academic teaching and research, and supervising doctoral dissertations including work byDeborah Kahn. It was revealed in 1979 that Blunt had been a spy for theSoviet Union. Despite working with Blunt for almost 30 years Zarnecki described him as elusive, and was horrified by the spying revelation.[3]
Zarnecki officially retired in 1982, though he still continued to do much scholarly work. In 1984 he was the chairman of the committee that organised theArts Council's major exhibition on English Romanesque art, held atThe Hayward art gallery.[2] This exhibition was the first time the subject matter had received such a wide audience. In 1987, Zarnecki and French scholarJean Bony conceived the idea of creating a publicly availabledigital archive[4] of British and Irish Romanesque stone sculpture at theBritish Academy.[1][2][3] This was one of the first such projects of its type.[4]
In 2010, Zarnecki was honoured posthumously with a reception at the "Romanesque and the Past, Retrospection in the Art and Architecture of Romanesque Europe" conference held by theBritish Archaeological Association and The Courtauld.[9]
Zarnecki was married to Anne Leslie Frith in 1945. They first met in 1944 during anair raid when they both took shelter together inRegent's Park tube station. She claimed to be impressed by his ostentatious uniform, thinking that he must be a General.[1] The marriage produced a son, the space scientistJohn Zarnecki, and a daughter.[3]
Zarnecki received various honours and awards:[2][3]
