2016

Graduated from the Eötvös Lόránd University in Budapest. Defended her PhD thesis in History and in 1986 obtained habilitated doctor degree at the History Institute of Warsaw University. She is the Laureate of the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship Award in 1988-89. Her research focuses on studying Settlement History in Central Europe in the Middle Ages specializing in German Settlement and German Law. She worked for the Hungarian Diplomatic Service in Warsaw, Poland.

Since 2005 Member of the Lower house of the Parliament of Poland. From 2004 till 2014 Member of the  European Parliament, chairman of Stowarzyszenie Maj77 and Villa Decius Association. Former director of the Polish Institute in Paris and minister plenipotentiary at the embassy of the Republic of Poland in France (1990–1996) and director of “Kraków 2000 – European City of Culture” Festival (1996–2002). Director of the Department of Promotion at the Krakow Municipal Office (2003–2004).

Professor of Sociology at the Jagiellonian University. Author of many publications, amongst them The Theory of Social Peculiarities. He specializes in sociology of finance including such particular areas as the social meaning of money, cash and cashless settlements, evolution of the world financial system in the 21th century, financial markets and financial crisis. In his research, he applies a sociological perspective in order to study the role of individuals in the world of finance.