Karol Modzelewski

Karol Modzelewski Cyryl, maiden name Cyryl Budniewicz ( born November 23, 1937 in Moscow) is a Polish historian, writer and politician.

After leaving school in 1954 he studied at the University of Warsaw History ( Medieval Studies ), among others, Aleksander Gieysztor. Professor at the universities of Breslau and Warsaw, he was a member of the Polish United Workers' Party / PZPR, but he was expelled in 1964 because of opposition party politics. Together with Jacek Kuroń he wrote an open letter to the party, for which he was imprisoned three years. He also participated in the March 1968 unrest in Poland and was convicted for his activities again to 3 ½ years in prison. During the August strikes in Poland in 1980, he was the inventor of the name Solidarność / Solidarity for the new union. He stopped for Solidarity contacts with the press and with other members in Silesia. Like many others, he was interned during the martial law. From 1987 to 1992 he worked at the Instytut historii PAN in Wroclaw. Since 1991 Member of the Sejm, he supported the Unia Pracy and Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz.

In 2007, Modzelewski the price of the Polish Academy of Sciences for some of his historical researches. Modzelewski emphasized in his work Barbarzyńska Europe the " barbaric roots " of Europe, ie the proportion of the Germanic and Slavic peoples in transition period of the Great Migration and the Early Middle Ages. These were often neglected in favor of focusing on the Greco-Roman and Christian heritage.

Modzelewskis adoptive father was Zygmunt Modzelewski.

Works (selection)

• Barbarzyńska Europe, Warszawa 2004; translated into French as L'Europe des barbares: Germain et slaves face aux héritiers de Rome, Aubier, Paris, 2006.