On history and liberty: the ‘revisionism’ of Bronisław Baczko

Helder Mendes Baiao

doi:10.18778/1689-4286.37.04

Authors

Helder Mendes Baiao University of Lausanne

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1689-4286.37.04

Keywords:

Bronisław Baczko, Leszek Kołakowski, Warsaw School of history of Ideas, Marxism, Enlightenment, ‘Revisionism’, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, utopia, revolution

Abstract

The ‘Warsaw School of History of Ideas’ is the name given to a ‘revisionist think tank’ which was led by the historian Bronisław Baczko from 1956 to 1968 in Communist Poland. This group reunited scholars like Leszek Kołakowski or Krzysztof Pomian around questions related to political believes, theological conceptions or utopian thought. Expelled from the University, B. Baczko left Poland and seek shelter in Geneva where he became a Professor of history of Ideas and historiography. In his new home, he developed an original vision on Enlightenment and the French Revolution.

Author Biography

Helder Mendes Baiao, University of Lausanne

Dr. Helder Mendes Baiao (University of Lausanne) achieved a PhD in Switzerland at University of Lausanne under Professor François Rosset’s supervision. His PhD is entitled Citizen Dreams. Myths and Utopias in the 18^th-Century French-speaking Switzerland. During 2015-2016, Dr. Mendes Baiao was a Research Fellow at University of Durham (UK) where he worked under Dr. Thomas Wynn’s supervision for the Voltaire Foundation. He has just started a postdoc research at University of Porto (Portugal) entitled Presence of Portugal in 18^th-Century French literature. His fields of research are related to utopian thought, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the history of the Imaginary.

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