Krzysztof Pomian, Philosopher and historian
He was born Krzysztof Purman in Warsaw on 25 January 1934. When he was eight years old, his father died in a Soviet camp. As early as 1956, as a philosophy student, he became involved in the democratic movement which led to changes at the top ranks of the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP) in October 1956. In December 1957, he resigned from his responsibilities in the Polish Youth Union to protest against the closure of the student weekly Po Prostu.
In 1965, he obtained his doctorate. The following year, following a speech he gave on the tenth anniversary of the October 1956 events, he was expelled from the PUWP for activity contrary to the party's political stance and organisational principles. As the Polish regime grew more oppressive, he was deprived of his position as assistant professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in 1968 and banned from publishing for a year. In the same year, however, he successfully defended his accreditation thesis. In 1972, he was accepted as a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).
He went to France in 1973 and it was only after General Jaruzelski's power grab (December 1981), when his stance and his commitment to the Solidarity trade union closed off any prospect of return, that he applied for refugee status, which he obtained in 1983. He was naturalised in 1986.
Research Director at the CNRS, Krzysztof Pomian has taught in many French and foreign universities. On the history of Western culture, he has notably published L'Ordre du temps (The Order of Time) (1984 Gallimard); Collectionneurs, amateurs et curieux. Paris-Venice, XVIe-XVIIIe siècles (Collectors, hobbyists and the Curious. Paris-Venice, 16th-18th century) (1987 Gallimard); L'Europe et ses nations (Europe and its nations) (1990 Gallimard); Des saintes reliques à l'art moderne. Venise-Chicago XIIIe-XXe siècle (From holy relics to modern art. Venice-Chicago 13th-20th century), (2003 Gallimard); and La Révolution européenne 1945-2007 (The European Revolution 1945-2007), with Élie Barnavi (Perrin, 2008). He is an advisor to the editorial board of Le Débat (The Debate), and is also a member of the editorial and scientific committees of many historical journals.
Krzysztof Pomian has been Scientific Director of the House of European History in Brussels since 2001. Awards and honours: Commandeur des Arts et Lettres (Commander of Arts and Letters), Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) and a foreign member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Letters.