PROF. DR. JACEK PURCHLA

Jacek Purchla, Professor of humanities and a member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. President of the board of Jagiellonian University. Head of the Department of Economic and Social History / UNESCO Chair for Heritage and Urban Studies at the Cracow University of Economics. Head of the Research Institute for European Heritage at the International Cultural Centre. He is the founder of the International Cultural Centre in Kraków and its director from its inception in 1991 up to 2018. He advised the European Commission in the European Heritage Label project. Since 2015, he has been President of the Polish National Commission for UNESCO. In 2016–17 he was the President of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Since 2018, he has been vice president of Europa Nostra. He specialises in urban studies, social and art history, and the theory and protection of cultural heritage. He is the author of over 500 academic works, including many books published in numerous languages.