MAZURKIEWICZ Roman

Born on 1 December 1954 in Tarnów; son of the craftsman Stanisław Mazurkiewicz and Józefa, née Wrońska. In 1969, he started attending the Economics Grammar School in Tarnów, completing his advanced secondary education in 1973. He then studied Polish philology at the Higher School of Education (WSP) in Krakow. In 1977, he made his debut with an interview with the head of the Study of Word (Studium Słowa) at WSP, which was published in the Krakow-based "Magazyn Studencki" (vol. 10). He was awarded a master's degree in 1979 for his thesis Semiotyka kultury Jurija M. Łotmana (Yuri M. Lotman's cultural semiotics) and then took up a post as a research assistant at the Institute of Polish Philology (IFP) at WSP (which in 1999 became the Pedagogical Academy before becoming the Pedagogical University of Krakow, named after the Commission of National Education, [UP] in 2008). From 1977 to 1979, he also took a two-year postgraduate programme in religious studies with a major in the philosophy of religion at the Institute of Religious Studies at the Jagiellonian University (UJ) in Krakow. He made his debut as a literary scholar in 1980 in "Ruch Literacki" (no. 4) with a discussion of the contents of ten volumes of the Tartu-based journal, Trudy po Znakovym Sistemam (1964-1978) (Sign Systems Studies), which was founded by Yuri Lotman. He published articles, reviews and translations from Russian in journals including "Teksty" (1981) and "Znak" (1982-86). In 1980, he founded the student Radio Theatre Strzykawka at the student radio station Centrum (Radio Akademickie Centrum), which he led until 1981. In 1981-82, he was a researcher at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IBL PAN). In 1986, he graduated with a postgraduate degree in teaching Polish as a foreign language from the Faculty of Polish Studies at the University of Warsaw (UW). His research largely focused on religious themes in Old Polish literature, in particular hymns to Mary. His articles, reviews and translations appeared in publications including "Pamiętnik Literacki" (1987, 1989, and 1990), as well as in periodicals published outside the reach of state censorship, "Arka" (1987; using the name erem) and "Aletheia" (1988). In 1987, he received a grant in recognition of his independent publishing activities from the editorial board of the Paris-based journal "Kultura". enabling him to visit Maisons-Laffitte near the French capital. Using the pseudonym Marek Burski he translated three studies from Russian that were then published in an edited volume that appeared outside the reach of state censorship, De profundis. Zbiór rozpraw o rosyjskiej rewolucji (De profundis. A collection of essays on the Russian Revolution; Warsaw 1988). He was awarded a doctoral degree from WSP in 1989 for his dissertation Paradygmat Deesis a tradycja świętojańska w kulturze staropolskiej (The Deesis Paradigm and the tradition of St John in Old Polish culture), which was supervised by Prof. Jan Okoń. In 1990, he received second prize in the K. and M. Górski Foundation Award for the best doctoral degree in the humanities awarded in 1989 and the prize of the Minister of National Education (third class). He was appointed lecturer in 1989 at the Department of Old Polish Culture and Literature at the Institute of Polish Philology at WSP. In 1994, he was made head of department (in 2003 it became the Chair of Old Polish and Enlightenment Literature). He remained active as a literary historian and translator, again publishing in "Znak" (1990-97), as well as in the journals "Ruch Literacki" (1990 and 1994), "Dekada Literacka" (1991), "Teksty Drugie" (1992 and 1995), and "Przegląd Humanistyczny" (1993). During this period he was also involved in editing key Old Polish texts. Between 1995 and 1997, he was editor of the publication series Dziedzictwo Średniowiecza (Heritage of the Middle Ages), which appeared with the Znak publishing house. In 2000, he became a regular contributor to the quarterly "Salvatoris Mater". He presented a paper at the Mariological Marian International Congress in 2000 in Rome and also held a fellowship from the John Paul II Foundation to research at the Vatican Library. He was awarded a habilitation degree from the Pedagogical Academy (formerly WSP) in 2002 for his study Polskie średniowieczne pieśni maryjne. Studia filologiczne (Medieval Polish Marian hymns: Philological studies). He was appointed professor at the Pedagogical Academy in 2003. He has been a member of various organizations, including, the East European Commission of the Polish Academy of Learning (PAU), the Polish Mariological Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Mariologiczne), the Pontifical Academy of Mary (Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis) as a corresponding member, and the Literary History Commission of the Krakow Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). He also became involved in the popularization of older literature as founder and editor of the online scholarly and educational services Staropolska. Tradycja – Kultura – Literatura (Old Polish: Tradition, Culture, Literature; www.staropolska.pl; since 2000), Meliton. Mediewistyka Literacka Online (Meliton: Literary Medieval Studies Online; www.meliton.gimnazjum.com.pl; since 2001), Mikołaj Rej 2005 (www.mikolajrej.pl). He received the rector's prize of the Pedagogical Academy in 2003, 2005, and 2007. He collaborated with the Old Polish Language Unit at the Institute of Polish Language of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow, working on the project Biblioteka Zabytków Polskiego Piśmiennictwa Średniowiecznego (Library of the Heritage of Polish Medieval Writing). In 2007, he was appointed to the editorial committee of the bimonthly "Ruch Literacki" where he published articles and reviews (2008-09 and 2013). He also published studies in "Pamiętnik Literacki" (2010), "Pastores" (2011) and "Konspekt" (2016). In 2009, he became editor of the Inedita series published as part of the research project Humanizm polski. Idee, nurty i paradygmaty humanistyczne w kulturze polskiej (Polish Humanism: Humanist ideas, trends and paradigms in Polish culture). In 2012, he was made state appointed professor and received post of full professor at the Pedagogical University of Krakow (UP). In 2013, he became a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU), serving as secretary of Section I – Philology. He was awarded the Medal of the Commission of National in 2006 and the Cross of Freedom and Solidarity in 2012. He lives in Krakow.