Andrzej Nowak

Andrzej Witold Nowak (born 1960 in Cracow) is a Polish historian and public intellectual.

Life and work Nowak is a professor at the Institute of History, Jagiellonian University and at the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) in Warsaw, where he is the head of the Section for the History of Eastern Europe and the Empires of the 19th and 20th Centuries. He also teaches (since 2016) at the College of Europe in Natolin. He lectured as a visiting professor at several universities in a variety of countries including: in the United States ( Columbia University, Harvard University, Rice University), Great Britain (University of Cambridge, University College of London), Canada, Ireland, Japan and the Czech Republic.

He was the co-founder and for many years (1994–2012) chief editor of the conservative cultural-political magazine . He cooperates with the monthly regularly and is one of the main authors of the publishing house Biały Kruk.

Nowak has published over 40 books (sold in almost a million copies) and more than 200 historical publications (articles and studies) in scientific periodicals and dozens of articles, reviews and interviews.

His main research areas are: cultural and political history of Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th century; political philosophy; international political relations; modern mass-media. He has published several books about the Polish-Russian relations. He is currently the president of the Advisory Council of The Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding, as well as a member of the Council of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance. Due to his expertise in history and modern politics he is a frequent guest of radio programs and talk-shows.

Between 1980 and 1988, Nowak was involved in anti-Communist journalistic and educational activities. He published numerous articles in samizdat periodicals, including Arka, Miesięcznik Małopolski, Alternatywy, and Tumult. From 1980 to 1981, he was a member of the Independent Students’ Association (NZS) and served as a delegate to its convention at Jagiellonian University. During the period of martial law in Poland, he co-organized the underground Free Jagiellonian University and collaborated with the Christian Workers’ University established by Father Kazimierz Jancarz in Kraków-Nowa Huta, both of which organized alternative lectures, including history courses for workers. From 1988 to 1991, he was active in the Solidarity movement at Jagiellonian University and served on the university’s Solidarity Workers’ Commission in 1990–1991. He also participated in two international human rights conferences, held in Kraków-Mistrzejowice in 1989 and Leningrad in 1990. , L’Opinion , The Times , Die Welt , The Spectator , or The New Yorker . He is a member of the Academic Civic Club of President Lech Kaczyński in Poznań. In October 2024, he joined Kanał Zero, one of Poland’s largest YouTube channels, with more than two million subscribers, where he regularly presents popular lectures on history.

On 24 November 2024, at a Civic Congress organized by Law and Justice in Kraków, Nowak announced Karol Nawrocki as the party-supported non-partisan candidate in the 2025 Polish presidential election. He was also appointed chairman of the Civic Support Committee for Nawrocki, who went on to win the election. International media described Nowak as Karol Nawrocki’s kingmaker. In August 2025 he was nominated honorary advisor to the new President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki.

Nowak has received several awards and honors, including the Order of the White Eagle Poland's highest state distinction.