Janusz Kurtyka
Encyclopedia
2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash
The 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash occurred on 10 April 2010, when a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft of the Polish Air Force crashed near the city of Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 people on board...
, the second president of the Instytut Pamięci Narodowej (Institute of National Remembrance).
Kurtyka was born in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
and obtained his degree in the History and Philosophy Department of the Jagiellonian University
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
. He had been a historian at the Polish Academy of Sciences
Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Warsaw, is one of two Polish institutions having the nature of an academy of sciences.-History:...
since 1985 where he specialized in Polish medieval and communist era history, modern history and historical methodology. He finished his PhD in 1995 and was habilitated
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
in 2000. He was a contributor to Wielka Encyklopedia PWN
Wielka Encyklopedia PWN
Wielka Encyklopedia PWN is a universal encyclopedia in Polish, published by Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe in Warsaw, between 2001 and 2005....
and Polski Słownik Biograficzny
Polish Biographical Dictionary
Polski słownik biograficzny is a Polish-language biographical dictionary, comprising an alphabetically arranged compilation of authoritative biographies of some 25,000 notable Poles and of foreigners who have been active in Poland – famous as well as less well-known persons, from Popiel, Piast...
(Polish Biographical Dictionary) and the author of more than 140 academic publications.
In the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
, Kurtyka was a member of the democratic opposition to communism and an activist with the Independent Students Union and the trade union Solidarity. Between 1989 and 2000 he was the presidents of the Kraków office of Solidarity in the Historical Institute PAN.
After the Institute of National Remembrance (a Polish government-affiliated research institute which investigates both Nazi and Communist crimes committed in Poland) was created in 1998, Kurtyka was the first president of its Kraków branch. In April 2005 he was recommended by the Board of the Institute for the position of the president and was approved by the Polish Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
and Senate in December of that year. He took his oath of office on December 29, 2005.
In 2007, Kurtyka was awarded the Ukrainian Order of Merit
Order of Merit (Ukraine)
The Order of Merit first, second or third class, is the Ukrainian award, given to individuals for outstanding achievements in economics, science, culture, military or political spheres of activity...
, third degree and in April 2009 he was awarded the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta by the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski
Lech Kaczynski
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
.
Kurtyka was on the of the Tupolev Tu-154 flight of the 36th Special Aviation Regiment
36th Special Aviation Regiment
The 36 Specjalny Pułk Lotnictwa Transportowego 36 SPLT is a special aviation regiment of the Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, established in 1945. All of its aircraft are for national public use, the most important being transport of Polish politicians and MON highest officials &...
carrying the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński
Lech Kaczynski
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
which crashed near Smolensk-North airport near Katyn
Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, on April 10, 2010, killing all aboard.
Days before he died he called for "the results of the Russian investigation into Katyn massacre
Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...
to be declassified and for the Russian archives to be opened". The post which was left open by his death was considered particularly problematic due to the difficulty there would be in replacing him.
After a mass in the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Kraków
Churches of Kraków
The metropolitan city of Kraków, former capital of Poland, is known as the city of churches. The abundance of landmark, historic Roman Catholic churches along with the plenitude of monasteries and convents earned the city a countrywide reputation as the "Northern Rome" in the past...
he was buried in the Rakowicki Cemetery
Rakowicki Cemetery
Rakowicki Cemetery is one of the best known cemeteries of Poland, located in the centre of Kraków. It lies within the Administrative District No. 1 Stare Miasto meaning "Old Town" – not to be confused with the historic Kraków Old Town further west...
on April 23, 2010. On April 16, 2010, he was posthumously awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Selected publications
- Generał Leopold Okulicki "Niedźwiadek" (1898–1946), (General Leopold OkulickiLeopold OkulickiGeneral Leopold Okulicki was a General of the Polish Army and the last commander of the anti-German underground Home Army during World War II. He was murdered after the war by the Soviet NKVD....
, "Niedźwiadek" (1898–1946)), 1989 - Konspiracja i opór społeczny na Podkarpaciu w okresie PRL (red.), (Conspiracy and Social Resistance in SubcarpathiaSubcarpathian VoivodeshipPodkarpackie Voivodeship , or Subcarpathian Voivodeship, is a voivodeship, or province, in extreme-southeastern Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów...
During the PRL (ed.)), 2007 - Latyfundium Tęczyńskie. Dobra i właściciele (XIV–XVII wiek), (The Latifundia of the Tęczyński FamilyTeczynski familyTęczyński family was a powerful family of nobility in the Kingdom of Poland, during the times of the late Piast dynasty, the Jagiellon dynasty and in the early decades of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
. Estate and Owners (14th through 17th centuries)), 1999 - Odrodzone królestwo. Monarchia Władysława Łokietka i Kazimierza Wielkiego w świetle nowszych badań, (Kingdom Reborn. The Monarchy of Władysław Łokietek and Kazimierz Wielki in Light of New Research), 2001
- Tęczyńscy. Studium z dziejów polskiej elity możnowładczej w średniowieczu, (The Tęczyński Family. A Study from the History of a Polish Medieval Magnates), 1997
- "Freedom And Independence - Zrzeszenie "Wolność i Niezawisłość, WiN", A Historical Brief