Polish Biographical Dictionary

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This article is about a 42-volume Polish-language biographical dictionary. For a one-volume English-language Polish-biography dictionary, see The Polish Biographical Dictionary.

Polski Słownik Biograficzny (PSB; Polish Biographical Dictionary) 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 Kołodziej and Mieszko I, at the dawn of Polish history, to persons who died in the year 2000. The Dictionary, published incrementally since 1935, is a work in progress. It is expected to be completed about 2030.

The PSB is, by its own assessment, "at the present moment... the most outstanding biographical publication in the world." Outside Poland, it is available in the British Library, the Library of Congress, the Vatican Library, and many other national and major research libraries.

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[edit] Comprehensivness and bias

To date, 42 volumes have been produced, and work is in progress on volume 43. Entries St – Zz will appear in succeeding volumes.

Though not a comprehensive source on all notable Poles, the Dictionary is substantial and well-respected. Brock (2006) writes that the "'Polish Biographical Dictionary' is one of the major achievements of the humanities in 20th-century Poland. The entries reflect the multicultural and multiethnic composition of the pre-partition Polish state [...]. Therefore the dictionary is not 'a biographical dictionary of Poles,' but rather 'a Polish biographical dictionary,' including entries on prominent foreigners who lived in the country as well as representatives of national minorities."

While prewar Polish governments had little influence on Dictionary editorial policies, the postwar communist government of the People's Republic of Poland interfered substantially regarding who should be included [Brock, 2006]. Since Poland's 1989 break with the Soviet bloc, this bias has been partly corrected in several supplements. In the works are further supplements, as well as new volumes.

Polski słownik biograficzny constitutes a unique mosaic that depicts the full sweep of Polish history through biographies of many of the country's most notable sons and daughters.

[edit] History

This reference work has been published in Kraków since 1935, although publication was suspended during Poland's World War II occupation by Nazi Germany and during the Stalinist period. The Dictionary is a joint publication of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Polska Akademia Nauk) and the Polish Academy of Learning (Polska Akademia Umiejętności). It is edited at the Tadeusz Manteuffel Historical Institute (Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla) and is sponsored by the Foundation for Polish Learning (Fundacja na Rzecz Nauki Polskiej).

Some 8,000 individuals have contributed to the Dictionary — leading experts in Poland and abroad who have often dedicated many years of study to their subjects, and who provide generous bibliographies.

The Dictionary's current 42 volumes (well into "S") range from 480 to 830 pages each, for a total of over 27,000 pages.

The Dictionary had been founded by Władysław Konopczyński. The first volume appeared in 1935, and four more (through "Dąbrowski, Ignacy") before World War II. After the war, by 1949, when Konopczyński was forced by the communist government to resign his editorship, two more volumes had been published (through "Firlej, Henry"). The project was then frozen until 1958, when it was revived under Kazimierz Lepszy. In 1964, after the Dictionary had grown by an additional three volumes (through "Jarosiński, Paweł"), Lepszy yielded to Emanuel Rostworowski.

During Rostworowski's tenure as editor, the quality of the biographies increased, while government interference and censorship decreased. Twenty-two further volumes had been published (through "Różycki, Ignacy") when Rostworowski in 1989 passed the baton to Henryk Markiewicz. Under Markiewicz, nine further volumes were published (through "Stpiczyński Wojciech"), as well as a supplement of Uzupełnienia i sprostowania do tomów I-XL (Additions and Corrections to Volumes I-XL) rectifying communist-era bias and censorship. Since 2002, the Dictionary's editor has been Andrzej Romanowski. The PSB team estimates they will end their work around 2030.

Most of the Dictionary's information is available only in paper form, but since June 2005 some Dictionary resources have become accessible online. On June 8, 2005, the Tadeusz Manteuffel Historical Institute, Polish Television (Telewizja Polska) and Polish Radio (Polskie Radio) signed an agreement creating an "internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny" (iPSB; English: internet Polish Biographical Dictionary). The page went offline in June 2006; no information is known when it may be back online.

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Languages