PLN 1,055,768 was awarded to historians from the University of Białystok (UwB) in the recent Foundations competition from the National Programme for the Development of the Humanities for the preparation of the synthesis “A Modern History of the Polish Peasantry”. The project will be headed by Prof. Cezary Kuklo of UwB’s Department of History and will be carried out by history researchers from many centres in Poland.

Prof. Cezary Kuklo emphasises that the creation of a modern, synthetic study devoted to the history of the rural population is needed for several reasons. First of all, because for centuries it was the basic, most numerous social group in Polish society. 

Until the end of the Polish Noble Republic, and even until the end of the 19th century, peasants constituted in various regions of the country from 75% to even 80% of the total population. It is therefore a very important group in our history.

The project will take three years to complete. The editors of the volume will be UwB historians: Prof. Cezary Kuklo, Dr Piotr Guzowski Prof. UwB and Dr Radosław Poniat. The entire team will comprise 21 historians from all over Poland.