Polish Historical Society

Polish Historical Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne). A scholarly society in Austrian-ruled Galicia, established in 1886 by Polish historians in Lviv. Until 1924 it was called the Historical Society. The society’s first presidents—Ksawery Liske (1886–91), Tadeusz Wojciechowski (1891–1914), Ludwik Finkel (1914–23), Stanisław Zakrzewski (1923–32, 1934–6), Franciszek Bujak (1932–4, 1936–7), Ludwik Kolankowski (1937–47)—were professors at Lviv University, and until 1939 Lviv was the society’s hub and executive seat. Under Austrian rule its membership (mostly Poles in Galicia) grew from 216 to 314 in 1895, but then dropped to 264 in 1905 and 163 in 1906. From 1890, circles were founded in many Galician towns, such as Drohobych, Sniatyn, Ternopil, Buchach, and Chortkiv, and in Poland, notably in Cracow (est 1902; 124 members in 1914). In interwar Poland and in Ukraine under Polish rule the society adopted a national mandate, and in 1924 it adopted its current name. Its membership grew from 423 in 1923 to 1,329 in 1933. Branches with at least 20 members each were founded in Warsaw (1925), Vilnius (1925), Poznań (1925), Cracow (1925), Lviv (1925), Lublin (1927), Lódź (1927), Peremyshl (1928), Katowice (1929), Kielce (1933), Brest, Hrodna, and, after the Second World War, other Polish cities. Since 1950 the society has been centered in Warsaw. The society has sponsored the second (Lviv, 1890), third (Cracow, 1900), fourth (Poznań, 1925), fifth (Warsaw, 1930), sixth (Vilnius, 1935), and subsequent congresses (every five years since 1948) of Polish historians. Its serials Kwartalnik Historyczny (Lviv 1887–39; Cracow 1947–50; Warsaw since 1950) and Ziemia Czerwieńska (Lviv 1935–9) contain many studies, reviews, and other materials pertaining to Ukrainian history.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]