49 Facts About Florian Znaniecki

Florian Witold Znaniecki was a Polish and American philosopher and sociologist who taught and wrote in Poland and in the United States.

Florian Znaniecki 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.

Florian Znaniecki won international renown as co-author, with William I Thomas, of the study, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, which is considered the foundation of modern empirical sociology.

Florian Znaniecki made major contributions to sociological theory, introducing terms such as humanistic coefficient and culturalism.

Florian Znaniecki was the 44th President of the American Sociological Association.

Florian Znaniecki was born on 15 January 1882 at Swiatniki, Congress Poland, a state controlled by the Russian Empire to Leon Znaniecki and Amelia, nee Holtz He received early schooling from tutors, then attended secondary schools at Warsaw and Czestochowa.

Florian Znaniecki entered the Imperial University of Warsaw in 1902, but was expelled after taking part in protests against the Russian administration's curtailment of student rights.

Florian Znaniecki's works, published in Polish, were well received by the Polish scholarly community and intelligentsia.

Thomas and Florian Znaniecki had begun to collaborate, and soon Thomas invited Florian Znaniecki to come to Chicago to continue work with him in the United States.

In July 1914, just on the eve of World War I, Florian Znaniecki left Poland to work with Thomas as a research assistant.

From 1917 to 1919 Florian Znaniecki lectured in sociology at the University of Chicago.

Florian Znaniecki stayed with Thomas in Chicago until mid-1919, when he moved to New York, following Thomas, who had lost his job at Chicago due to a spurious scandal.

That year Florian Znaniecki published a new book, still mostly philosophical rather than sociological, Cultural Reality.

In New York, Thomas and Florian Znaniecki carried on research for the Carnegie Corporation on the process of immigrant Americanization.

Florian Znaniecki contributed to Thomas' book, Old World Traits Transplanted, and published an anonymous solicited article on that topic to the February 1920 Atlantic Monthly.

In 1919 Florian Znaniecki contacted the newly founded Ministry of Religion and Education, offering to return to Poland if the Ministry could help him secure a chair at a Polish university.

Florian Znaniecki proposed creating a novel Institute of Sociology, but bureaucracy and communication delays resulted in that idea being shelved, and he was offered a philosophy professorship at the newly organized Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan.

In 1920 Florian Znaniecki returned to the newly established Second Polish Republic, where at Poznan University he soon became Poland's first chair in sociology.

Florian Znaniecki accomplished this by renaming the department, originally "Third Philosophical Department", to "Department of Sociology and Cultural Philosophy", doing the same for his chair, and establishing a Sociological Seminary.

Florian Znaniecki was already aboard a ship bound for Poland when his travel was cut short in the United Kingdom.

Florian Znaniecki then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and in 1942 obtained American citizenship, allowing him to transition from a visiting to a regular professorship.

Florian Znaniecki taught at the University of Illinois until his retirement, deciding not to return to the communist People's Republic of Poland, established in the aftermath of World War II.

Florian Znaniecki was 44th President of the American Sociological Association.

Florian Znaniecki died on 23 March 1958 in Champaign, Illinois.

In 1906 Florian Znaniecki married a fellow Polish student at the University of Geneva, Emilia Szwejkowska.

Szacki notes that Florian Znaniecki sought to bridge a number of gaps: between empirical sociology and more theoretical approaches; between objectivity and subjectivity; between humanistic and naturalistic methodologies and viewpoints; and between American and European intellectual traditions.

Florian Znaniecki's recommended methodology was analytic induction: analysis of typical case studies, and generalization from them.

Florian Znaniecki's theories form a major part of sociology's action theory, and his work is a major part of the foundation of humanistic sociology.

Florian Znaniecki sought to create a grand sociological theory, one that would bridge the gap between empirical sociology and more theoretical approaches.

Florian Znaniecki criticized the widespread definition of sociology as the study of society.

In Florian Znaniecki's culturalist perspective, sociology is a study of culture.

Florian Znaniecki saw culture as a field separate from nature, but from individuals' perceptions.

Florian Znaniecki was one of the first sociologists to begin analyzing personal documents such as letters, autobiographies, diaries, and the like.

Florian Znaniecki considered the analysis of such documents an important part of the humanistic-coefficient method.

Florian Znaniecki saw sociology as an objective, inductive and generalizing science.

Florian Znaniecki contrasted it with enumerative research, which provided mere correlations and could not account for exceptions in statistical relationships.

Florian Znaniecki was critical of the statistical method, which he did not see as very useful.

Florian Znaniecki analyzed the social roles of scientists, and the concept of a school of thought.

Florian Znaniecki saw social actions as the foundation of a society, as they give rise to more complex social relations, and he saw this theory as the foundation of all the others.

Florian Znaniecki coined the term "humanistic coefficient" for a method of social research by way of data analysis that emphasizes participants' perceptions of the experience being analyzed.

Florian Znaniecki was skeptical of any value coming from personal, subjective observations, arguing that such observations have value only if they can be objectively described.

Florian Znaniecki argued that the difference between the natural and social sciences lies not in the difference between objective and subjective experiences, but in the subject being studied: for Znaniecki, the natural sciences studied things, and the social sciences studied cultural values.

Florian Znaniecki characterized the world as being caught within two contrary modes of reflection; idealism and realism.

Florian Znaniecki proposed a third way, which he called "culturalism".

Florian Znaniecki's culturalism was one of the founding ideas of modern antipositivist and antinaturalist sociology.

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

Florian Znaniecki's Cultural Reality was a synthesis of his philosophical thought, but the simultaneous publication of his much more popular The Polish Peasant in Europe and America associated his name in academic circles primarily with sociology rather than with philosophy.

Florian Znaniecki never finished his magnum opus, Systematic Sociology, which would eventually be collected and published posthumously in its unfinished but final form as Social Relations and Social Roles: The Unfinished Systematic Sociology.

Roughly half of Florian Znaniecki's published works are in English; the rest, in Polish.