Opacki Zbigniew

Professor Zbigniew Opacki (born in 1952)

Biography

Studies in History at the University of Gdańsk 1971-1976. The topic of the doctoral dissertation in 1986' Russia and the Russians in the views and activities of Henryk Kamieński', supervisor doc. Genowefa Kurpis. Doctoral dissertation distinguished by the resolution of the Scientific Council of the Institute of History UG. Habilitation in 1996 on the topic 'In the circle of Poland, Russia and the Slavic region. Marian Zdziechowski socio-political thought and activity until 1914’. Habilitation awarded an individual prize by the Minister of National Education. The professor of humanities (2007) 's title is based on his achievements and the monograph 'Between Universalism and Particularism'. 

Functions held at the University of Gdańsk: 1993-1996 Head of Postgraduate Studies in History; 1996-1999 Vice-Dean for extramural studies of the Faculty of Philology and History; 1999-2003 Director of the Institute of History; 2004-2008 Head of the Department of the History of Political Thought and Culture; 2008 Organiser of the Faculty of History; 2008-2012 1st Dean of the Faculty of History.

Research interests formed at the MA seminar of doc. Genowefa Kurpis devoted to Polish-Russian affairs in the 19th and 20th centuries. The master's thesis compared the social thought of Aleksander Herzen and Joachim Lelewel for communal administration idea. His doctoral dissertation dealt with the views on Russia of one of the best Polish nineteenth-century Russian scholars, Henryk Kamieński. Habilitation dissertation and the so-called professorial book were devoted to the scientific and journalistic output and social and political activity of Marian Zdziechowski – one of the most recognisable Polish thinkers of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. With time, the undertaken topics included: Polish-Russian scientific relations in the 19th and 20th centuries, forming a modern national consciousness among Poles, Russians, Lithuanians, Belarusians and Ukrainians, Polish-Jewish relations in the 20th century, the history of historiography and the history of science.

In 2021 the UG Publishing House will publish a monograph 'The Faculty of Humanities of Stefan Batory University structure, personnel, scientific and didactic achievements'. Moreover, a scientific biography of Tadeusz Apolinare Wenda, builder of the port in Gdynia, is in preparation. 

Publications: BUG Knowledge Base