Korzon, Tadeusz

Born Nov. 9, 1839, in Minsk; died Mar. 8, 1918, in Warsaw. Polish historian. Member of the Krakow Academy of Sciences from 1902. Graduated from Moscow University in 1859.

Korzon was banished to Orenburg in 1861 for participating in Polish patriotic demonstrations, returning to Warsaw in 1869. A prominent representative of the Warsaw historical school, Korzon is known for his monographs, textbooks on world history, and articles on the theory and methods of historical research and historiography. His principal work is The Domestic History of Poland Under Stanisław August (vols. 1-6, 1897-98).

In his scholarly work Korzon concentrated on questions of Poland’s economy. He did not advocate radical social change and was hostile to popular and revolutionary movements, favoring reforms as the means of transforming Poland into a bourgeois state. He opposed the reactionary conceptions of the Kraków historical school, criticizing it for its clericalism and political bias. In the late 19th and early 20th century Korzon turned from progressive traditions and concentrated on narrow research topics.