Andrzej Grodek (1901-1959)

Andrzej Grodek’s life revolved around the Warsaw School of Economics. He studied at SGH and became a teacher after graduation. He worked as deputy manager and subsequently manager of the school library. He then was a professor and head of the Economic History Faculty only to become a pro-rector and finally rector. His main idea was to maintain the original character of the school, which was especially important in 1949-1956 when the school’s profile was modified to suit the educational priorities of the communist government. After the political thaw of 1956, Grodek, as rector, made successful efforts to restore the school’s original academic character. In addition to his achievements as the school’s manager, Grodek was an eminent economic historian and a researcher of the Polish economic thought of the 18th and 19th centuries. His pursued an extensive range of research interests and published many analytical and descriptive works on the history of economic theory and synthetic studies of economic history. These works contributed new ideas to our knowledge about the history of the Polish economy. Grodek’s interests also included the methodology of economic research.