Professor Jerzy Kolendo Dr. Hab. | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jerzy Władysław Kolendo 9 June 1933 |
| Died | 28 February 2014 |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Occupation | Academic |
| Years active | 1955-2012 |
| Known for | Archaeology and history of Ancient Rome |
| Title | Professor |
| Awards |
|
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Warsaw |
| Thesis | (1960) |
| Doctoral advisor | Iza Bieżuńska-Małowist |
| Influences | Tadeusz Manteuffel, Aleksander Gieysztor, Fernand Braudel |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Ancient history |
| Sub-discipline | Archaeology, Epigraphy, Numismatics |
| School or tradition | Annales school |
| Institutions | |
| Main interests | Barbaricum, Roman Agriculture, Slavery in ancient Rome |
| Notable works | Le colonat en Afrique sous le Haut-Empire, Paris: Les Belles Lettres 1976 |
| Notable ideas | Hermeneutics of Archaeology |
| Influenced | Aleksander Bursche, Andrzej Kokowski, Fernando López Pardo |
Jerzy Władysław Kolendo (9 June 1933, Brześć, Poland – 28 February 2014, Warsaw)[1] was an acknowledged Polish authority on the history and archaeology of Ancient Rome. He was an exponent of the French Annales school, an epigraphist and specialist in the relations between the Barbaricum and the early Roman Empire.
He was the son of parents involved in education. His father died when he was young and the family moved from Brześć to Białystok where he spent his schooldays. While his desire was to become an archaeologist, he feared his lack of drawing ability would discount his chances of gaining a university place, so he opted to study ancient history. Kolendo graduated from the University of Warsaw in 1955, going on to a masters and a doctoral degree at Warsaw in 1960. He completed his habilitation in history in 1968. He gained a professorship in 1979.
The burden of his archaeological research was into the Ancient Mediterranean Basin and into questions of epigraphy.[2] He was focussed on the economic and social interactions between ancient Rome and the Barbaricum, with particular reference to the territory which would later become known as Poland.[3] Between 1955 and 1981 he was associated with and a member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAN). Thereafter he was primarily involved in working with the Institute of Archaeology at Warsaw University.
In 2003 he notionally retired but remained at the Archaeological Institute in the role of Emeritus at the Centre of Research into Southeast Europeean antiquity. He lectured widely abroad, notably in Paris, Lyon and in Padua.[4] He remained a member of various institutes such as, Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie, correspondent of the Polska Akademia Umiejętności and honorary member of the Komitet Nauk o Kulturze Antycznej Polska Akademia Nauk. He continued writing for scientific journals, including, Archeologia, Meander, Dialogues d'histoire ancienne and Palamedes. A Journal of Ancient History.[3] Jerzy Kolendo was buried at Służew New Cemetery.[5]
After World War II, thanks to academic exchanges, Kolendo and his friend, Bronisław Geremek, were greatly influenced by Fernand Braudel and the French l'École des Annales.[6] Kolendo's work has widened understanding of Roman influence in the ancient world, of Roman Gaul, the Roman army, of emperor Nero, the references in Tacitus' writings and of Rome's foreign relations.[6] His work on the Colonat partiaire in North Africa demonstrates the extent to which it was Rome's granary.[6][7] His work also highlighted the nature of Slavery in ancient Rome. He reasoned that Roman Italy reached a plateau in its agricultural technology, a subject he developed in a monograph published in Italian.[8] This led the eminent French historian Louis Robert to quip that the only people to know about the reasons behind the poor revenues from Roman agricultural estates were Koushchin from Moscow and Kolendo from Warsaw.[6]
Kolendo was esteemed for his teaching: he supervised over forty masters and doctoral theses, among them, the Spaniard Fernando López Pardo, a North African specialist.[6]
Recognizing his scholarly accomplishments, president Bronisław Komorowski presented Kolendo with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 2011.[9]
A volume in memory of Professor Kolendo was published by the University of Warsaw. It has 30 contributors from the fields of archaeology, history and epigraphy.[10]
He is the author of over 600 articles, books and monographs.
