HABIELSKI Rafał

Born on 5 June 1957 in Warsaw; son of the Polish Radio employees Zdzisław Habielski and Ewa, née Ossolińska. He attended Queen Jadwiga Grammar School (No. X) in Warsaw. After completing advanced secondary education, he studied at the University of Warsaw's (UW) Institute of History from 1976 to 1982 when he graduated with a master's degree. In 1984, he started working at the Department of the History of Polish Periodicals (19th and 20th Century) at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IBL PAN). He worked at the Department until he left IBL in 2012. He published his debut article as an expert in the field of press studies and Polish émigrés in 1985 in "Kwartalnik Historii Prasy Polskiej" (no. 3): Prasa polska w Wielkiej Brytanii 1945-1970. (Przegląd informacyjno-bibliograficzny) (The Polish Press in the United Kingdom, 1945-1970: An informational and bibliographic overview). Between 1986 and 1993, he served as secretary of the quarterly's editorial board, continuing to publish reviews and articles in this journal on the history of the Polish press until 1993. He was awarded a doctoral degree from IBL PAN in 1988 for his dissertation W kręgu „Wiadomości” 1940-1981. Emigracyjne horyzonty i dylematy (The "Wiadomości" Milieu, 1940-1981: Horizons and dilemmas of Polish émigrés), which was supervised by Prof. Jerzy Myśliński. He taught on Poland's political history and the history of journalism and media during the twentieth century at the Institute of Journalism at UW from 1990. In 2000, he was presented with an award by the World Research Council on Poles Abroad (Rada Porozumiewawcza Badań nad Polonią) for his achievements in research on Poles abroad. He was awarded a habilitation degree in 2001 from the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science at UW for his study Życie społeczne i kulturalne emigracji (The Social and Cultural Life of Polish Émigrés). Between 2000 and 2012, he taught media history at the Melchior Wańkowicz Higher School of Journalism (Wyższa Szkoła Dziennikarska im. M. Wańkowicza) in Warsaw, while also lecturing at the Bolesław Prus Warsaw University of Humanities (Wyższa Warszawska Szkoła Humanistyczna im. B. Prusa) between 2003 and 2011. Between 2003 and 2005, he was a member of the editorial board of Wielka Encyklopedia PWN (Great PWN Encyclopedia; vols 18-31), while from 2004 to 2006 he was a member of the editorial council of the yearbook "Z Dziejów Polskiej Radiofonii" and in 2006 he served on the editorial board of Słownik historyczny Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej (The Historical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe; vol. 1), also contributing entries. He also collaborated with the Polish Dictionary of Biography (Polski Słownik Biograficzny) in 2002 and 2008, as well as with the publication of Biblia dziennikarstwa (Journalism Bible; Krakow 2010). Between 1999 and 2009, he taught Polish contemporary history, twentieth-century European political history and general history at the Chair of Political Science at the Jerzy Giedroyc College of Communication and Media (Wyższa Szkoła Komunikowania i Mediów Społecznych im. J. Giedroycia) in Warsaw. Between 2011 and 2013, he also taught at the Chair of Media Theory, Axiology and Law at the Faculty of Theology at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University (UKSW) in Warsaw. He was a member of the Scientific Council of IBL PAN between 2003 and 2010. In 2009, he was appointed to the Commission for Diaspora Studies at the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU) in Krakow and also joined the Scientific Board of the media studies journal "Studia Medioznawcze". He was made state-appointed professor and full professor at UW in 2011. In 2012, he was appointed to the Department of Media History at the Institute of Journalism in the Faculty of Journalism and Social Sciences at UW (in 2016 it became the Chair of Books and Media at the Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies). Between 2010 and 2014, he was appointed to the Programmatic-Scientific Council of the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (Filmoteka), while from 2011 to 2015 he was a member of the Board of the Museum of Polish History. He was made a member of the Polish PEN Club in 2012. His articles and essays on history and literature, as well as reviews, appeared in journals including "Mówią Wieki" (1986-88, 2000, 2007, 2012), "Dzieje Najnowsze" (intermittently 1987-2005), the "Ex Libris" literary supplement of the newspaper "Życie Warszawy" (1990-93), "Więź" (1990-2000), "Nowe Książki" (intermittently 1990-2015), "Notes Wydawniczy" (1993-94, 1998-2000), "Kresy" (1994-96), "Wiadomości Historyczne" (1994, 1996-97, 1999) and "Studia Medioznawcze" (2001, 2004, 2011, 2013, 2015-16). He was awarded the Dean's Prize of the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science at UW on several occasions (1997, 2007, 2010 and 2011) as well as the UW Rector's Prize in 2009 and 2013. He received the Silver Cross of Merit in 2008. He lives in Warsaw.