Zbigniew Pełczyński

Zbigniew Pełczyński (born 1925) served as tutor in political philosophy and politics at Pembroke College, Oxford and has been instrumental in providing opportunities for qualified scholars from Poland and other Eastern European countries to study at Oxford University.

Early Life and Education

Pełczyński was born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland. Following the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, Pełczyński settled in Britain, where he attended St. Andrews University in Scotland. In 1956, he completed his D.Phil. thesis at Oxford University on "Hegel's minor political works".

Academic career

After 1956, Pełczyński made regular visits to Poland and was instrumental in developing several programmes for the education of Eastern European students at Oxford. In 1982, he was instrumental in establishing at Oxford a scholarship program for Polish students. Then in 1986, through collaboration with the Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros, who had earlier established the Open Society Foundation, scholarships became available for Hungarian students at Oxford and the Stefan Batory Foundation was established in Poland. The programme widened with participation from Cambridge University, Manchester University, and other British universities. Then, Pełczyński founded the School for Young Social and Political Leaders. In the United States, Pełczyński became well known for having been the politics tutor at Oxford University for the Rhodes Scholar and future President Bill Clinton.

Published Works

* "Hegel's political writings" translated by T.M. Knox; with an introductory essay by Z.A. Pelczynski. (1964; 1998)
* "Hegel's political philosophy: problems and perspectives: a collection of new essays" edited by Z.A. Pelczynski. (1971; 1975)
* "The History of Poland since 1863" R. F. Leslie ... et al. ; edited by R. F. Leslie. (1980)
* "Poland: The Road From Communism" "Special R.B. McCallum lecture, 29 May 1982." (1982)
* "Conceptions of liberty in political philosophy" edited by Zbigniew Pelczynski and John N. Gray. (1984)
* "The state and civil society: studies in Hegel's political philosophy" (1984)
* "Wolnosc, panstwo, społeczenstwo: Hegel a problemy współczesnej filozofii politycznej" (1998)

References

*Polish|Zbigniew Pełczyński|10 October 2007

* Maria Kruckzkoska, " [http://www.szkola-liderow.pl/x/69815;jsessionid=A6A47B17CE56BAF93167AD18F5A2CD91 | Oksford w Warszawie] ," "Magazyn Gazety Wyborczej", 10 January, 1997