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Bogumil Jewsiewicki

b. 1942

Historian and university professor

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About Bogumil Jewsiewicki

Born 1942. Bogumil Jewsiewicki is a Polish and Canadian historian, university teacher and ethnologist.

Bogumil (Bogumił) Jewsiewicki Koss (born 1942 in Vilnius) is a Polish-Canadian historian and an Africanist specialising in the history of Central Africa, notably the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the social usage of visual memory.

Jewsiewicki obtained a Master's degree in ethnography in 1964 and a PhD in 1968, both at the University of Łódź in Poland. From 1968 through 1974 Jewsiewicki taught at , Université Lovanium of Kinshasa and Université Nationale du Zaïre in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, later Zaire. He then emigrated to Canada to work at Université de Saint-Boniface in Winnipeg and in the Département d’histoire of Université Laval since 1977, becoming a full professor in the comparative history of memory in 1985.

Jewsiewicki was a researcher at the Centre d'études africaines of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, and curated exhibitions on Congolese popular urban painting and on photography at the Museum for African Art in New York (1998-1999) and at the Museum für Völkerkunde in Vienna. Jewsiewicki was the recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Africanist Award of the African Studies Association, and in 2007 he won Marius Barbeau Medal from the Association canadienne d'ethnologie et de folklore (Folklore Studies Association of Canada, ACEF FSAC). Jewsiewicki's collection of popular Congolese paintings was acquired by the Royal Museum for Central Africa at Tervuren, Belgium.

A festschrift was published in Jewsiewicki's honour in 2009 entitled Images, mémoires et savoirs. Une histoire en partage avec Bogumil Koss Jewsiewicki with Karthala, edited by Isidore Ndaywel è Nziem and Mudimbe-Boyi.

Publications Jewsiewicki published many scholarly articles, books and book chapters, including: Marx, Afrique et Occident : les pratiques africanistes de l'histoire marxiste, Centre for Developing-Area Studies, McGill University, [Montréal], 1985. . with David S. Newbury: African historiographies : what history for which Africa?, SAGE Publications, Beverly Hills, 1986. Series: Sage series on African modernization and development. Art pictural zaïrois. Sillery, Quebec City: Septentrion en collab. avec le CÉLAT (Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur les lettres, les arts et les traditions), 1992. . with V. Y. Mudimbe: Africans' Memories and Contemporary History of Africa, History and Theory 32(1993), Beiheft 32: History Making in Africa. pp. 1–11 with Elikia M'Bokolo, Ndaywel è Nziem and Sabakinu Kivilu: Naître et mourir au Zaïre : un demi-siècle d'histoire au quotidien, Paris : Éditions Karthala, 1993. . with Jocelyn Létourneau: L'histoire en partage : usages et mises en discours du passé. Paris : L'Harmattan, 1996. . with Jocelyn Létourneau: Identités en mutation, socialités en germination, Septentrion, Sillery, Québec, 1998. Series: Nouveaux cahiers du CELAT. Mami Wata : ma peinture urbaine au Congo. Paris : Ed. Gallimard, 2003. . with Léonard N'Sanda Buleli: Les identités régionales en Afrique centrale : constructions et dérives, Paris : L'Harmattan, 2008. . Introduction. One Historiography or Several? A Requiem for Africanism, in: I. Ndaywel è Nziem, M. Elisabeth Mudimbe-boyi, Pierre Nora (Eds.): Images, mémoires et savoirs : une histoire en partage avec Bogumil Koss Jewsiewicki, Karthala, Paris, 2009. Series: Hommes et sociétés. ISBN 9782811102081, 2811102086. In the empire of forgetting : collective memory of the slave trade and slavery, in: Ana Lucia Araujo, Mariana P. Candido, Paul E. Lovejoy (Eds.): Crossing Memories: Slavery and African Diaspora, Africa World Press, Trenton, NJ, 2011. with Freddy Tsimba, Koli Jean Bofane, Pascal Blanchard, and Henry Bundjoko: Freddy Tsimba - Mabele eleki lola! : de aarde, stralender dan het paradijs, Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale. Exhibition catalogue Africamuseum, Tervuren, Belgium. Kate' art édition, Brussel, 2020.

Books honouring Jewsiewicki's work are: I. Ndaywel è Nziem, M. Elisabeth Mudimbe-boyi, Pierre Nora (Eds.): Images, mémoires et savoirs : une histoire en partage avec Bogumil Koss Jewsiewicki, Karthala, Paris, 2009. Series: Hommes et sociétés. ISBN 9782811102081, 2811102086. Ana Lucia Araujo, Mariana P. Candido, Paul E. Lovejoy (Eds.): Crossing Memories: Slavery and African Diaspora, Africa World Press, Trenton, NJ, 2011. Series: Harriet Tubman series on the African diaspora. Papers presented at a conference held in Quebec City in 2005.

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Important facts

Born
1942, Vilnius
Birth century
Nationality
Education
University of Łódź
Positions held
Professor emeritus
Employers
Laval University, University of Łódź, Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Bukavu, Lovanium University
Awards
Distinguished Africanist Award; Honorary doctorate
Also known as
Bogumil Jewsiewicki Koss, Bogumil Jewsiewicki-Koss, Bogumil Koss Jewsiewicki, Bogumił Jewsiewicki

People in Bogumil Jewsiewicki's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Bogumil Jewsiewicki's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Bogumil Jewsiewicki?

historian and university professor

When was Bogumil Jewsiewicki born?

Bogumil Jewsiewicki was born in 1942 in Vilnius.

What is Bogumil Jewsiewicki's occupation?

Bogumil Jewsiewicki is a historian, university teacher and ethnologist.

What nationality is Bogumil Jewsiewicki?

Bogumil Jewsiewicki is Polish and Canadian.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Bogumil Jewsiewicki

· Wikidata: Q55626443

· DBpedia: Bogumil Jewsiewicki

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Bogumil Jewsiewicki. https://biography.guide/bogumil-jewsiewicki/

MLA: "Bogumil Jewsiewicki." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/bogumil-jewsiewicki/.

Chicago: "Bogumil Jewsiewicki." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/bogumil-jewsiewicki/.

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