prof. PhDr. Jaroslav Pánek, DrSc., dr. h. c.

(born in 1947 Prague)

J. Pánek completed the study of history at the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts of Charles University in 1970. He then worked as an archivist and from 1976 as a research fellow at the Institute of Czechoslovak and World History of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CSAS), now the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic , v.v.i.. In 1980, after defending a doctoral thesis on the history of the society of estates in the 16th century, he became a senior researcher at this Institute where, in 1990, he founded the Department of Early Modern History, which he headed until 1993; from 1991-1993, he was Deputy Director of the Institute and its Director in the years 1998-2005. In 1992, he qualified as associate professor in early modern history at the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts of Charles University. In 1996 he was appointed full professor of Czech and Slovak history.

In 1989, he was a visiting professor at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany); later, he held his lecture activities at various Universities in Europe, the USA, Canada, Argentina, Australia and in Taiwan. From 1990-1993, he was an external lecturer, and since 1993 he has been an internal tutor at the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts of Charles University. During 1995-2000, he was an external lecturer at the Faculty of Philosophy of Masaryk University in Brno. From 1997-2000, he was Pro-Rector for international relations of Charles University and completed its global network of international scientific cooperation. He was awarded Medals of Charles University and of several Universities abroad (notably Belgium and France) and received a Honorary Doctorate of historical sciences (Poland).

Professor Pánek´s research interest is focused on Czech and European Early Modern History (16th-18th centuries). The dominant areas of his study are the structure of society, the political system, cultural development in the period of Humanism, Renaissance, Mannierism and Baroque, the history of the nobility, marginal groups of society and criminality, the history of international relations and the cultural significance of travel in Europe, and in addition, the history of historiography and modern historical awarness.

He was (and still is) the Editor-in-chief or Co-editor of leading scientific periodicals, such as: Folia Historica Bohemica (1990-2004), Historica. Historical Sciences in the Czech Republic (since 1994), and since 2000 Český časopis historický (The Czech Historical Review). He was the national editor of the international yearbook Scholars of Early Modern Studies (1989-2000), a member of the international editorial boards of Central Europe (London), Historický časopis (Historical Journal) (Bratislava) and Österreichische Osthefte (Vienna). In the years 1996-2002, he was Chairman of the state professional organisation Association of Historians of the Czech Republic, and since 2002 he has been Chairman of the Czech National Committee of Historians.