prof. dr hab. Przemysław Marciniak
University of Silesia
Institute of Literary Studies
He is a professor at the Institute of Literary Studies at the University of Silesia and the founder of the Centre for Byzantine Studies.
His research focuses on Byzantine literature and culture, including studies of Byzantine humour, the Empire’s reception (notably in popular culture), and more recently, animal studies—particularly medieval insects.
He has held visiting professorships in Munich (MZAW: Münchner Zentrum für Antike Welten), Uppsala, and Paris. His work has been supported by numerous institutions, including Harvard University, Princeton University, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and DAAD. He has conducted research at Institutes for Advanced Study in Berlin, Uppsala, Freiburg and Hamburg. He has also served as principal investigator on numerous national and international projects, including six funded by the Polish National Science Centre. In 2018, he received the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
He has authored and edited books published by Oxford University Press, Bloomsbury, Routledge and Brill, and contributed chapters and articles to leading academic periodicals in his field (Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Byzantinische Zeitschrift, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies).
His most significant achievement is establishing an internationally recognized centre for Byzantine studies in Katowice, specialising in research on animals and the natural world of Byzantium.