Karol Modzelewski | |
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| Born | (1937-11-23)23 November 1937 |
| Died | 28 April 2019(2019-04-28) (aged 81) |
| Occupation(s) | historian, writer, politician |
| Awards | Legion d'Honneur (2016) Nike Award (2014) Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science (2007) Order of White Eagle (1998) |
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Karol Cyryl Modzelewski[a] (23 November 1937 – 28 April 2019)[1] was a Polishhistorian,writer,politician and academic of Russian origin, one of the leading figures of the democratic opposition in thePolish People's Republic from the 1960s to the 1980s.[2]
He was the adopted son ofZygmunt Modzelewski. A professor at theUniversity of Wrocław and theUniversity of Warsaw, he was a member of thePolish United Workers Party but was expelled from it in 1964 for opposition to some policies of the party. WithJacek Kuroń he co-wrote theOpen Letter to the Party, for which he was imprisoned for three years. He took part in thePolish 1968 political crisis, and for his activities he was again imprisoned for three and a half years.[citation needed]
During the 1980 strikes he came up with the name of 'Solidarity'.[citation needed] He was one of the Solidarity press contacts, and a member of the Solidarity region inSilesia. He was interned with many others during themartial law in Poland. From 1989 to 1991 he was a member of thePolish Senat (Solidarity Citizens' Committee), supporting theleft-wing, particularly theLabour Union party and laterWłodzimierz Cimoszewicz.[citation needed]
He died on 28 April 2019 in Warsaw.[3]
In 1998, he was awarded Poland's highest distinctionOrder of White Eagle. In 2007, he won thePrize of the Foundation for Polish Science for his research on the emergence of the European identity revealing the importance of pre-Christian andmulticultural tradition for the contemporary concept of Europe, presented in his workBarbarzyńska Europa ("Barbarian Europe").[citation needed]
In 2009, he received anhonorary degree at theKazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, and in 2014 he was the winner of the prestigiousNike Award for hisautobiography entitledZajeździmy kobyłę historii: wyznania poobijanego jeźdźca ("We'll Ride the Mare of History to the Ground: Confessions of a Bruised Rider") as well as theKazimierz Moczarski History Award and theJózef Tischner Award. In 2016, he became an honorary citizen of the city ofWrocław and together withRóża Thun received the Order ofLegion d'Honneur.[4]
