University community mourns Anna Cienciala

LAWRENCE – The University of Kansas is mourning the death of Anna M. Cienciala, professor emerita of history and Russian and East European studies. She died Dec. 24 at the age of 85.

“Our community extends its condolences to Anna Cienciala’s family as well as her friends and colleagues around the world. Her scholarship helped ensure that the history of a people who suffered greatly during World War II was not forgotten in the hope that it would not be repeated,” said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little.

Cienciala’s colleagues also shared their remembrances:

“Dr. Cienciala had a great deal to do with developing Polish and Central European studies at KU. Even after her retirement she remained actively engaged in Russian and East European studies, including through her support of the Oswald P. Backus Memorial Fund, which was used to bring to KU some of the luminaries in the field of Polish and East European studies,” said Mariya  Omelicheva, associate professor and director of the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (CREES).

"Anna was an internationally known scholar, but at KU we also were fortunate to know her as a warm, slyly funny and generous colleague," said Jeffrey Moran, professor and chairman of the Department of History. "Her publications in Polish history during the World War II era are remarkable as much for their moral vision as for their deep research and analysis.​

“Anna Cienciala was an indefatigable scholar, continuing to publish landmark works up to her last days. She coupled a determined pursuit of historical accuracy with a gentle graciousness. Anna inspired me as she inspired so many other scholars and students throughout the world,” said Eve Levin, professor of history.

“I came to KU in awe of Anna’s scholarship and reputation,” said Nathan Wood, associate professor of Eastern European history. “But what impressed me most once I got here was her generosity and dry wit. She was brilliant but gracious, and her unstinting commitment to spreading knowledge of the region, whether in guest lectures in my classes, weekly email forwards of links to stories from the region, or her significant support for a guest lecture series in Polish studies will be sorely missed.”

Cienciala was born in 1929 in the Free City of Danzig, which became Gdansk, Poland, after World War II. The outbreak of the war dramatically affected Anna’s childhood, forcing her family to flee and relocate several times. She became an expert of Polish, European, Soviet and American diplomacy of the interwar period and an inspired teacher of East Central European history, maintaining an online course on the topic well after her retirement. Over the course of her career she wrote two books and edited five, as well as publishing 18 book chapters, 100 academic articles and 117 book reviews.

Cienciala was the recipient of a number of honors, including the Polish Cross of Merit, which was presented to her in 2000 by the president of Poland. Most recently, she was presented with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland with Star, conferred on individuals who have rendered great service to the Polish nation. Cienciala retired in 2002, but she remained active in the history department and CREES.

Services are pending.