Professor Andrzej Walicki, an authority in the field of Russian philosophy, co-founder of the so-called Warsaw school of historians of ideas, has passed away, informed his student and friend, Professor Janusz Dobieszewski. The scientist was 90 years old.
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Andrzej Walicki was born on May 15, 1930. His father, art historian Michał Walicki, was friends with the educator and philosopher Sergiusz Hessen. Conversations with this scholar awakened young Walicki’s philosophical passion and influenced the choice of the place of study. He decided to study philosophy at the University of Lodz, where Hessen lectured, among others, Tadeusz Kotarbiński. However, he obtained his diploma at the University of Warsaw in 1953, and received his doctorate in 1957. He received the title of associate professor in 1964 at the Institute of Philosophy of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and a professor in 1972, at the age of 42.
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He was an expert on Russian philosophy, he lectured in Australia and the USA
In addition to Leszek Kołakowski, Bronisław Baczka and Jerzy Szacki, Walicki is considered to be the co-founder of the so-called Warsaw school of the history of ideas, whose representatives operated at the University of Warsaw in the 1950s. This trend was characterized by innovative methods used to study the history of ideas.
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Walicki’s passion was Russian philosophy – he also studied Russian studies. He became known as a historian of Russian thought as well as Polish Romanticism. His works deal with issues such as Marxism, liberal thought, totalitarianism, communism, liberalism, patriotism, nationalism, messianism and the history of the intelligentsia.
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In the years 1981–1986 professor Walicki was a lecturer at the Australian National University in Canberra. From 1986 he worked for several years at the Catholic University of Notre Dame in the American state of Indiana. He also taught as visiting professor at Stanford University.
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Nominated for the Nike Literary Award
The most important publications by Andrzej Walicki include: “Personality and history. Studies in the history of Russian literature and thought” (1959), “Russian philosophy and social thought. From Enlightenment to Marxism” (1973), “Between philosophy, religion and politics. Studies on thoughts of the Polish Romantic era “(1983). He was nominated for the 2003 Nike Literary Award for the publication of “Russia, Catholicism and the Polish Cause” – he was in the finals. The last book by prof. Walicki – “About Russia differently” – was released in 2019.
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A few months ago, on his 90th birthday, prof. Walicki agreed to the digitization of his books by the National Library. The publications are available in the POLONA digital library.
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photo-source">Main photo source: PAP
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