BOBROWSKA Barbara

Born on 14 June 1950 in Warsaw; daughter of the civil servants Adam Mordarski and Danuta, née Krzewińska. She attended the Romuald Traugutt Grammar School (No. XLV) in Warsaw from 1964, where she was taught Polish literature by Jadwiga Kaczyńska and Zofia Makowska. After completing advanced secondary education in 1968, she took a degree in Polish Studies at the University of Warsaw (UW). She was awarded a master's degree in 1973 and the following year entered the doctoral studies programme at the Faculty of Polish and Slavonic Philology at UW. She was awarded a doctoral degree in 1978 for her thesis Felietonistyka Bolesława Prusa na tle epoki (Bolesław Prus as a columnist in the context of his age), which was supervised by Prof. Janina Kulczycka-Saloni. The following year, she published her debut article, Adolf Dygasiński jako współautor „Ech warszawskich” — rubryki felietonowej „Przeglądu Tygodniowego” (Adolf Dygasiński as co-author of "Echa warszawskie", a column in "Przegląd Tygodniowy", which appered in the edited volume O Adolfie Dygasińskim. Materiały sesji naukowej w 75-lecie śmierci pisarza, Kielce 18–19 maja 1977. (On Adolf Dygasiński. Materials from the academic symposium held on the 75th anniversary of the author's death, Kielce 18-19 May 1977). Between 1981 and 1987 she was director of the Adult Education Centre (Pracownia Oświaty Dorosłych) at the Institute of School Curricula at the Ministry of Education (Instytut Programów Szkolnych Ministerstwa Oświaty i Wychowania). She then worked as an academic tutor in the Polish studies department at the Bialystok campus of UW, which in 1997 became the University of Bialystok. Bobrowska was initially a lecturer before being appointed assocaite professor. Her research has focused on nineteenth-century literature and culture. She spent a year in the USA from 1995 as a result of her husband being awarded a one-year Fulbright Scholarship at the University of California. She received her habilitation degree from UW in 1998 for her study Konopnicka na szlakach romantyków (Konopnicka following in the Romantics' footsteps). The following year she took up employment at Akademia Teologii Katolickiej (the Academy of Catholic Theology, which became UKSW, the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University – Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego the same year). There she held the Chair in Positivism and Young Poland, which later became the Chair in Positivism. She also temporarily held the chair in Teaching Methods. Between 2000 and 2014, she chaired the Mazovian Committee of the Olympiad in Polish Literature and Language (Mazowiecki Komitet Olimpiady Literatury i Języka Polskiego). She became a member of the Senate Disciplinary Commission for Doctoral Affairs, the Faculty Commission for Research and the Academic Council for Doctoral Studies at UKSW. In 2007 she was made state-appointed professor. The same year she became editor-in-chief of the journal "Wiek XIX. Rocznik Towarzystwa Literackiego im. Adama Mickiewicza”. She also became a member of the General Board of the Adam Mickiewicz Literary Society, which published it. She was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit in 2015.
She married the computer scientist Leon Bobrowski in 1971. He is now professor in engineering. They have two children, the philosopher Ewa and the English studies scholar Lidia (married name: Wechterowicz). She lives in Warsaw.