Grzegorz Ekiert

Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski presented the 2024 annual Zaleski lecture in September

The August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History is named after August Zaleski, a Polish economist, politician and diplomat who served as President of the Polish Republic in Exile in from 1947 until his death on April 7, 1972. The lecture series was established in 1983 through a generous gift from the estate of Zaleski's widow Countess Evelyn Komorowski with the goal to "organize lectures on modern Polish history from the year 1795 to the present time." In addition to hosting an annual lecture, this event series hosts occasional symposiums on developments in modern Poland.

Annual Zaleski Lecture Speakers (1989-2024)

2020-2024
- Rafał Trzaskowski – Mayor of Warsaw (2024)
- Wojciech Sadurski – Challis Professor in Jurisprudence, University of Sydney; Sidley Austin–Robert D. McLean Visiting Professor of Law, Yale Law School
- Barbara Engelking, Founder and Director, Polish Center of Holocaust Research, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences; & Jan Grabowski – Professor of History, University of Ottawa (2021)
2010-2019
- Anna Grzymała-Busse – Douglas Professor of International Studies, Stanford University (2019)
- Adam Bodnar, Commissioner for Human Rights, Republic of Poland (2019)
- Jacek Zakowski, Director, Department of Journalism, Collegium Civitas; Journalist and Author (2018)
- Andrzej Rzepliński, Professor of Jurisprudence, Warsaw University; President of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal from 2010-2016 (2017)
- Timothy Snyder, Bird White Housum Professor of History, Yale University (2016)
- Anne Applebaum, Columnist for Washington Post and Slate (2015)
- Radosław Sikorski, Foreign Minister of Poland (2014)
- Adam Michnik, Historian and the Editor-in-Chief of Gazeta Wyborcza (2014)
- Roman Szporluk, M.S. Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History Emeritus, Harvard University (2012)
- Marek Belka, President of the National Bank of Poland (2011)
- Radosław Sikorski, Foreign Minister of Poland (2010)
2000-2009
- Leszek Balcerowicz, Former Chairman of the National Bank of Poland (2008)
- Antony Polonsky, Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University (2004)
- Andrzej Nowak, Director of Russian and Soviet Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences (2002)
- Padraic Kenney, Professor of Polish Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder (2001)
- Jerzy Axer, Founder/Director of the Centre for Studies on the Classical Tradition in Poland and East-Central Europe, University of Warsaw (2000)
1989-1999
- Andrzej Paczkowski, Director of Modern History Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences (1999)
- Jacek Kochanowicz, Professor of Political Economics, University of Warsaw (1997)
- Krzysztof Pomain, Historian at Centre de Recherches Historiques (1996)
- Bronislaw Geremek, Lecturer at Polish Academy of Sciences (1995)
- Andrzej Walicki, Lecturer at University of Notre Dame (1994)
- Marcin Król, Editor of Res Publica (1990)
- Wojciech Roszkowski, Professor in the Department of Political Studies, Warsaw School of Economics (1993)
- Norman Davies, Professor at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London (1991)
- Jerzy Jedlicki, Lecturer at University of Warsaw (1989)
- Piotr Wandycz, Bradford Durfee Professor, Yale University (1989) – Inaugural Speaker of the August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History

Zaleski Symposium Speakers

2023-2024
- Radosław Sikorski – Minister of Foreign Affairs (2024 to Present) & (2007-2014), Republic of Poland; Member of the European Parliament, Republic of Poland (2019-2024)
- Maciej Kisilowski – Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Business, Central European University (CEU); Faculty Director, CEU Executive Master of Business Administration in Global Executive Management
- Marta Kotwas – School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London
- Radosław Markowski – Professor of Political Science, Polish Academy of Sciences; Director, Center for the Study of Democracy, Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Marek Naczyk – Associate Professor of Comparative Social Policy, University of Oxford; Visiting Scholar 2023-2024, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Karolina Wigura – Assistant Professor, Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw; Member of the Board, Kultura Liberalna Foundation; Senior Fellow, Center for Liberal Modernity
- Anna Wojciuk – Associate Professor, Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw

Events Calendar

From the Silver Screen to Society – Film Director Agnieszka Holland Reflects on Modern-day Dystopia

August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History — From the Silver Screen to Society – Film Director Agnieszka Holland Reflects on Modern-day Dystopia

March 11, 2026
4:15pm - 5:30pm

Agnieszka Holland – Film Director and Screenwriter
Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History — Where is Democracy Today?

September 18, 2024
4:00pm - 5:15pm

Rafał Trzaskowski – Mayor of Warsaw
Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

The Zaleski Symposium — Poland at the Crossroads

November 29, 2023
1:30pm - 6:00pm

Radosław Sikorski – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland
Maciej Kisilowski – Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Business, Central European University (CEU); Faculty Director, CEU Executive Master of Business Administration in Global Executive Management
Marta Kotwas – School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London
Radosław Markowski – Professor of Political Science, Polish Academy of Sciences; Director, Center for the Study of Democracy, Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities
Marek Naczyk – Associate Professor of Comparative Social Policy, University of Oxford; Visiting Scholar 2023-2024, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Karolina Wigura – Assistant Professor, Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw; Member of the Board, Kultura Liberalna Foundation; Senior Fellow, Center for Liberal Modernity
Anna Wojciuk – Associate Professor, Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw
Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University and George Soroka – Executive Officer, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University; Lecturer on Government, Department of Government, Harvard University; Faculty Associate & Editor, Open Forum Series, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University and Thục Linh Nguyễn Vũ – Postdoctoral Researcher, Research Center for the History of Transformations (RECET), University of Vienna; German Kennedy Memorial Fellow 2023-2024, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Visiting Scholar 2023-2024, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University

August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History — Polish Elections and the Pandemic of Populists

March 30, 2023
4:00pm - 5:30pm

Wojciech Sadurski – Challis Professor in Jurisprudence, University of Sydney; Sidley Austin–Robert D. McLean Visiting Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Vlad Perju – Dean's Distinguished Scholar, Boston College Law School; Local Affiliate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History — Confronting a Hostile State: Scholars of the Holocaust in Poland

March 25, 2021
11:00am - 12:00pm

Barbara Engelking – Founder and Director, Polish Center of Holocaust Research, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences
Jan Grabowski – Professor of History, University of Ottawa
Derek J. Penslar – William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, The Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University
Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

CES 50th Anniversary Series — Poland in the Global Wave of Populism

November 13, 2019
4:30pm - 6:00pm

Anna Grzymała-Busse – Douglas Professor of International Studies, Stanford University; Senior Fellow, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Bart Bonikowski – Past Resident Faculty
Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

"It is Our Court": Defending the Rule of Law in Poland – An Address by Adam Bodnar, Commissioner for Human Rights, Republic of Poland

August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History — "It is Our Court": Defending the Rule of Law in Poland – An Address by Adam Bodnar, Commissioner for Human Rights, Republic of Poland

November 8, 2018
5:00pm - 6:30pm

Adam Bodnar – Ombudsman for Human Rights, Republic of Poland
Respondent Vlad Perju – Dean's Distinguished Scholar, Boston College Law School; Local Affiliate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government & CES Director, Harvard University

August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History — Populism, Polish Style: Can Liberal Democracy Be Saved?

March 28, 2018
4:15pm - 6:00pm

Jacek Zakowski – Director, Department of Journalism, Collegium Civitas; Journalist and Author
Wojciech Sadurski – Challis Professor in Jurisprudence, University of Sydney; Sidley Austin–Robert D. McLean Visiting Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government and CES Director, Harvard University

The Annual Zaleski Lecture in Modern Polish History — Dismantling Democracy on the EU's Watch: Poland and Its Constitutional Tribunal

April 13, 2017
9:00pm - 10:00pm

Andrzej Rzeplinski – Professor of Jurisprudence, Warsaw University; President of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal (2010-2016)
Noah Feldman – Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Director, Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law
Kim Lane Scheppele – Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University
Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

The Annual Zaleski Lecture in Modern Polish History — The Holocaust in Poland: Controversies and Explanations

March 8, 2016
5:15pm - 7:00pm

Timothy Snyder – Bird White Housum Professor of History, Yale University
Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

The August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History — True Believers? On Opposition and Collaboration in Communist Poland and Beyond

March 25, 2015
4:15pm - 6:00pm

Anne Applebaum – Author

The August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History — A Future for Ukraine: Lessons From Poland

November 20, 2014
5:15pm - 7:00pm

Radosław Sikorski – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland
Moderated by Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

Event Series

August Zaleski Memorial Lecture in Modern Polish History

Chair

Annual Zaleski Lecture Speakers (1989-2024)

Zaleski Symposium Speakers

Events Calendar