Zygmunt Bauman

Zygmunt Bauman, a sociologist, author, and thinker, was born in Poznań, Poland, on November 19, 1925. At the age of 18, he joined the Free Polish Army and fought against the Nazi occupation. He remained in the army after the end of World War II but was eventually discharged due to an anti-Semitic purge. Bauman completed a postgraduate course in social sciences and, in 1954, became a lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw. Since 1968, he lived in England. From 1972 to 1990, he served as a professor and head of the Department of Sociology at the University of Leeds. He was an emeritus professor of sociology at both the University of Leeds and the University of Warsaw. Bauman's thought was influenced by significant intellectuals of the 19th century, such as Karl Marx and Max Weber, as well as those of the 20th century, including Theodor Adorno, Cornelius Castoriadis, and Emmanuel Levinas. Bauman believed that sociology is a moral endeavor: "To think sociologically means to understand more about the people around us, to comprehend their hopes and desires, their concerns and problems." He was honored with the European Amalfi Prize for Sociology & Social Sciences (1990) and the Adorno Prize (1998). He passed away on January 9, 2017.