- George Zarnecki
George (Jerzy) Zarnecki, CBE (
12 September 1915 –8 September 2008 ) was aProfessor ofArt history . He was a scholar ofMedieval art and a leading authority on English Romanesque sculpture,cite web |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/george-zarnecki-former-deputy-director-of-the-courtauld-institute-of-art-and-leading-scholar-of-romanesque-sculpture-932018.html |title=George Zarnecki: Former deputy director of the Courtauld Institute of Art and leading scholar of Romanesque sculpture |accessdate=2008-09-25 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date=2008-09-16 |work=The Independent |publisher=] cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/sep/11/1?gusrc=rss&feed=fromtheguardian |title=George Zarnecki. Eminent art historian who helped the Courtauld survive the Blunt scandal |accessdate=2008-09-25 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date=2008-09-11 |work=guardian.co.uk |publisher=] an area of study where he did pioneering research.cite web |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4742933.ece|title=Professor George Zarnecki: pioneering historian of Romanesque art |accessdate=2008-09-25 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date=2008-09-13 |work=The Times |publisher=]Early life
Zarnecki was born in
Stara Osota , then inRussia , but now part of theUkraine . His parents were Polish speaking, his father was a Polish convert fromJudaism and his mother was Russian Catholic.
Zarnecki attendedJagiellonian University inKraków ,Poland , he attained his MA in 1938 and from 1936 - 1939 was a junior assistant at the University's Institute of Art History.World War II
At the outbreak of war with
Nazi Germany , Zarnecki, his sister and parents headed forBucharest . He made his way toFrance viaItaly , joined a Polish regiment and fought inAlsace , France. He was captured in 1940 and escaped twice, recaptured both timescite web |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2979301/George-Zarnecki.html |title=George Zarnecki |accessdate=2008-09-25 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date=2008-09-18 |work=The Daily Telegraph |publisher=] he spent two years as aPrisoner of War . He narrowly avoided being sent to a concentration camp as a suspected Jew. The fact he was not circumcised and was wearing a crucifix his mother had given him, saved him from that fate. Using forged documents Zarnecki escaped toVichy France and thence into Franco'sSpain where his wasinterned for a year before being allowed to go toEngland . Zarnecki escaped Spain and made his way to England in 1943. He joined the Free Polish Forces, attaining the rank ofLance Corporal . He spent time compiling an index of the cultural losses that Poland was suffering as a result of the German invasion. Zarnecki was later awarded the FrenchCroix de guerre and the PolishCross of Valor (two bars) for his military service.Career
After the war, Zarnecki stayed on in England and in 1945 attained a position as assistant at the
Courtauld Institute of Art 's Conway library. He got the job thanks to an earlier association withAnthony Blunt , to whom he had been introduced in 1944. Zarnecki became anaturalised British citizen on 1 July 1949. [LondonGazette|issue=38697|startpage=4068|endpage=4086|date=23 August 1949|accessdate=2008-09-26] Whilst at the Courtauld he studied for hisPhD , under the supervision ofFritz Saxl director of theWarburg Institute . He was awarded his PhD in 1950, his thesis had been on the subject of 'Regional Schools in English Sculpture in the 12th century'. In 1949 Zarnecki was promoted tolibrarian of the Courtauld's Conway library, taking charge of its collection of photographs of sculpture and architecture. He helped organize, and embarked on, expeditions aroundEurope to build up the library’s photographic holdings. In 1959, after serving 10 years as the Conway librarian, Zarnecki was appointed to the Courtauld's academic staff as a Reader. During theacademic year 1960 to 61 he held the position of Oxford University'sSlade Professor of Fine Art .In 1961 Zarnecki was made deputy director of the Courtauld Institute serving under the directorship of
Anthony Blunt . His role as deputy was largely administrative, he was mainly responsible for the day-to-day running of the Institute. He was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1970New Year Honours , [LondonGazette|issue=44999|supp=yes|startpage=8|endpage=9|date=30 December 1969|accessdate=2008-09-26] and was appointed to theRoyal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England on 1 January 1972, [LondonGazette|issue=45551|startpage=14068|date=23 December 1971|accessdate=2008-09-26] and was later re-appointed for a further five years on 1 January 1979. [LondonGazette|issue=47799|startpage=3709|date=20 March 1979|accessdate=2008-09-26] He remained deputy director at the Courtauld for 13 years, until 1974, when Blunt retired as director. Zarnecki was widely expected to be appointed director but he did not apply for the position, preferring instead to return to academic teaching and research. It was revealed in 1979 that Blunt had been a spy for theSoviet Union . Despite working with Blunt for almost 30 years Zarnecki described him as elusive, and was horrified by the spying revelation.Zarnecki officially retired in 1982, though he still continued to do much scholarly work. In 1984 he was the the
chairman of the committee that organized the Arts Council's major exhibition on English Romanesque art, held atThe Hayward art gallery. This exhibition was the first time the subject matter had received such a wide audience. In 1987, Zarnecki and French scholar Jean Bony conceived the idea of creating a publically availiabledigital archive of British and Irish Romanesque stone sculpture at theBritish Academy . This was one of the first such projects of its type.Personal life
Zarnecki was married to Anne Leslie Frith in 1945. They first met in 1944 during an
air raid when they both took shelter together inRegent's Park tube station . She claimed to be impressed by his ostentatious uniform, thinking that he must be a General. The marriage produced a son and daughter.Honours and memberships
Zarnecki has received various honours and awards:
* 1966, member of theInstitute for Advanced Study ,Princeton University
* 1968, Fellow of the British Academy
* Fellow, and former vice president of theSociety of Antiquaries of London
* 1970, Commander of the Order of the British Empire
* 1978, awarded the Gold Badge of the Polish Order of Merit
* 1982,Emeritus professor,University of London
* 1986, Honourary Fellow of the Courtauld Institute.
* 1992, foreign member of thePolish Academy of Learning
* 1994, foreign member of thePolish Academy of Sciences Selected bibliography
Amongst Zarnecki's published works are: [cite web |url=http://copac.ac.uk/wzgw?form=A%2FT&id=080925aa3edc91a832aadb694b861dbcdbc185&au=George+Zarnecki&ti=&pub=&isn=&sub=&any=&fs=Search&date=&plp= |title=George Zarnecki's bibliography |accessdate=2008-09-25 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date= |work= |publisher=
Copac ]
*"English Romanesque Sculpture 1066 – 1140" (1951)
*"English Romanesque Sculpture 1140 – 1210" (1953)
*"English Romanesque Lead Sculpture" (1957)
*"1066 and Architectural Sculpture" (1966)
*"Romanesque Art" (1971)
*"Art of the Medieval World" (1975)
*"Cathedrals and Monastic Buildings of the British Isles" (1976)
*"Studies in Romanesque Sculpture" (1979)
*"English Romanesque Art 1066 – 1200" (1984)
*"Further Studies in Romanesque Sculpture" (1992)References
External links
* [http://copac.ac.uk/wzgw?form=A%2FT&id=080925aa3edc91a832aadb694b861dbcdbc185&au=George+Zarnecki&ti=&pub=&isn=&sub=&any=&fs=Search&date=&plp= George Zarnecki's full bibliography at
Copac ] .
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp59868 Portrait of George Zarnecki at the National Portrait Gallery] .
* [http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/ The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland]
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