Archiwista w czasach globalizacji c. d.
Janusz Tandecki, Profesor Andrzej Tomczak - sylwetka uczonego, w: Archeion, t. 113, wyd. NDAP, ss. 13-20
"Janusz Tandecki, Professor Andrzej Tomczak — a profile of the scholar. Andrzej Tomczak,
a prominent archivist and a specialist in modern and contemporary history, was born on
12 September 1922. He graduated from primary and lower secondary school in £ódŸ and also started
higher secondary education there, but he interrupted it when he was in the second year due to the
outbreak of World War II. In 1941, he joined Zwi¹zek Walki Zbrojnej (ZWZ; English: Union
of Armed Struggle), and one year later, he passed his final exams in the underground St. Stanislaus
Comprehensive School in Warsaw. Later on, he taught Polish, history and geography in underground
classes in G³owno. In the spring of 1944, he joined the Kedyw squad of the Union of Armed
Struggle/Home Army for the Brzeziny–Koluszki Region.
As soon as WWII was over, he started to study history in £ódŸ (1945), but he continued it at
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruñ (NCU). In 1948, on the basis of the thesis entitled “Walenty
Dembiñski, ostatni kanclerz Polski Jagielloñskiej” (English: Walenty Dembiñski, the Last Chancellor
of Jagiellonian Poland) written under the supervision of Prof. L. Kolankowski, Tomczak was awarded
a Master’s degree in philosophy, major in: history.
Having graduated from university, he started to work as a research and teaching assistant at the
NCU. In 1950, having studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the NCU, he was awarded a PhD
degree for his thesis entitled “Walenty Dembiñski i jego ród” (English: Walenty Dembiñski and his
family) supervised by Prof. L. Kolankowski. In the same year (1950), he was forced to leave university
for political reasons. Then, he moved to £ódŸ and took up a job in the Voivodship State Archives.
In the beginning, he held the position of an archivist, and in 1955 he became an archive custodian.
In 1957, after the October’56 thaw, Andrzej Tomczak came back to Toruñ, where he engaged in the
activities of the Chair of Archival Science and Auxiliary Sciences of History established in 1951.
Since then, archival science and related sciences became the most important areas of his scientific
and didactic activity. In 1964, at the Faculty of Humanities of the NCU, he was awarded a habilitated
doctor degree in modern history and auxiliary sciences of history (with special focus on archival
sciences) for his thesis “Kancelaria biskupów w³oc³awskich w okresie ksiêgi wpisów (XV–XVIII
w.)” (English: W³oc³awek Bishops’ Office at the Time of the Register Book (15th to 18th century))
A year later (in 1965), he became an assistant professor in the Institute of History of the NCU and
the head of the Department of Archival Science, and since 1 February 1968, he became the head of
the major in archival science as part of the program of history. Andrzej Tomczak was awarded an
associate professor degree on 4 April 1974 and a full professor degree on 19 February 1981. In 1990,
he became a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cracow, and in
2005, he became its active member. In 1992, Prof. Tomczak officially retired; however, he still lectures
to students of archival science, though not full time, and actively takes part in the life of the scientific
community.
Professor Tomczak’s academic achievements are numerous, including over 350 items. In 2011,
the last bibliography of his works created in the years 1949–2010 (which is already out–of–date) was
published in the publication entitled Dorobek naukowy i dydaktyczny toruñskiego oœrodka archiwistyki
(English: Scientific and Didactic Achievements of Toruñ Archives Centre). He also taught numerous
students. His M.A. seminars were attended by over 150 students, the majority of whom found jobs in
archives. For a dozen of years or so, he also held PhD seminars which brought 8 PhD degrees.
For his contributions, he was decorated with the Silver Cross of Merit (1957) and Gold Cross of
Merit (1967), Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1975), Officer’s Cross of the Order
of Polonia Restituta (1998) and Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2013) as well
as the Medal of the National Education Commission (1979) and Home Army Cross (1994)."
Źródło: Archeion, t. 113
