Florian Witold Znaniecki (; 15 January 1882 – 23 March 1958) was a Polish-born American philosopher and sociologist who taught and wrote in Poland and in the United States. Over the course of his work, he shifted his focus from philosophy to sociology. He remains a major figure in the history of Polish and American sociology; the founder of Polish academic sociology, and of an entire school of thought in sociology. He received early schooling from tutors, then attended secondary schools at Warsaw and Częstochowa.

Founding Polish sociology

thumb|Florian Znaniecki plaque, [[Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań]]

Poland had regained independence in 1918, following World War I. In 1919, Znaniecki contacted the newly founded Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education, offering to return to Poland if the Ministry could help him secure a chair at a Polish university.

Other themes

Znaniecki's work also touched on many other areas of sociology, such as intergroup conflict, urban sociology, and rural sociology.

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Further reading

  • Bio from American Sociological Association
  • Guide to the Florian Znaniecki Papers 1906-1989 at the University of Chicago
  • William Thomas and Florian Znaniecki. The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, 2 vol 1920; famous classic complete 5 vol text online (public domain)
  • Photos of Znaniecki (of unknown copyright status) are available at: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170427181343/http://www.ptpn.poznan.pl/AZ/AZ_zbiory.html], [https://web.archive.org/web/20100710030620/http://www2.asanet.org/governance/znaniecki.html], [https://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/rsolecki/florian_znaniecki.html]