Maria Minakowska

Maria Jadwiga Minakowska
Born	Marek Jerzy Minakowski (1972-06-13) 13 June 1972 (age 53) Olsztyn, Poland
Nationality	Polish
Education	PhD
Alma mater	Jagiellonian University
Occupation(s)	Historian and genealogist
Awards	Decoration of Honor Meritorious for Polish Culture
Website	minakowski.pl

Maria Jadwiga Minakowska (born June 13, 1972) is a Polish historian, genealogist and demographer ^[1] creator of the Polish genealogy database Wielka Genealogia Minakowskiej (en. Minakowska's Great Genealogy). In 2024 Minakowska announced her transition from male to female. ^[2]

Biography

Minakowska was born as Marek Jerzy Minakowski in Olsztyn into the family of Jerzy Minakowski and Wiesława, née Kraszewska. After graduating in philosophy from the Jagiellonian University, in 1998 she was awarded a PhD for a dissertation titled Formal logic prior to Aristotle , ^[3] also in Kraków, under professor Ewa Żarnecka-Biały  [ pl ].

In 2001, she founded the Polish genealogy website Wielka Genealogia Minakowskiej based on extant historical records and data submitted by correspondents. By 2022, the site contained details of around 1 million people with ties to Poland. Based on the historic Great Sejm of 1788-1792, by 2022 Minakowska had assembled details of over 130,000 descendants of the participants of partitioned Poland's outgoing parliament, some of whom have been scattered across the globe. Minakowska focuses on "mass genealogy" whose research results are published on line and in print editions. ^[4]

Personal life

In 1994, being formally a male, she married archaeologist Anna Lebet-Minakowska  [ pl ] (born 1963) and had a daughter together. Minakowska’s second forename, Jadwiga, refers to Hedwig of Silesia, to whom she is distantly related. She anticipates an era when women, no longer as burdened by child-bearing or rearing, will assume their rightful place in society. ^[5]

Award

In 2016, in recognition of her work, she received the Decoration of Honor Meritorious for Polish Culture. ^[6]

Publications

In Polish

• Adam Boniecki (heraldyk)  [ pl ], Herbarz polski, Kraków 2005 (CD-ROM) ISBN   83-918058-1-6
• Ci wielcy Polacy to nasza rodzina, Kraków 2005 (CD-ROM), ISBN   83-918058-2-4
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita północnomazowiecka vol. I, Kraków 2011 ISBN   83-918058-9-1
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita wileńska vol. II, Kraków 2011 ISBN   978-83-63202-00-2
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita kresowa i smoleńska vol. III, Kraków 2011 ISBN   978-83-63202-01-9
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita krakowska senatorska vol. IV, Kraków 2012 ISBN   978-83-63202-02-6
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita sandomierska vol. V, Kraków 2012 ISBN   978-83-63202-03-3
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita poznańska senatorska vol. VI, Kraków 2012 ISBN   978-83-63202-04-0
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita krakowska poselska vol. VII, Kraków 2012 ISBN   978-83-63202-05-7
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita lubelska vol. VIII, Kraków 2012 ISBN   978-83-63202-06-4
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita litewska vol. IX, Kraków 2012 ISBN   978-83-63202-07-1
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita kijowska vol. X, Kraków 2012 ISBN   978-83-63202-08-8
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita żmudzka i nadniemeńska vol. XI, Kraków 2013 ISBN   978-83-63202-09-5
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita ruska vol. XII, Kraków 2013 ISBN   978-83-63202-10-1
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita koronna vol. XIII, Kraków 2013 ISBN   978-83-63202-11-8
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita inflacka vol. XIV, Kraków 2013 ISBN   978-83-63202-12-5
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita podlaska vol. XV, Kraków 2013 ISBN   978-83-63202-13-2
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita poznańska poselska vol. XVI, Kraków 2013 ISBN   978-83-63202-14-9
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita czernichowska vol. XVII, Kraków 2013 ISBN   978-83-63202-15-6
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita łęczycka i rawska vol. XVIII, Kraków 2015 ISBN   978-83-63202-16-3
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita kujawsa vol. XIX, Kraków 2015 ISBN   978-83-63202-17-0
• Elita Rzeczypospolitej. Elita płocka vol. XX, Kraków 2015 ISBN   978-83-63202-18-7

In English

• Minakowski, M.J.; Lebet-Minakowska, Anna (2018). "Jewish Birth and Marriage Registrations in 19th-century Cracow and What They Reveal about the Dynamics of Ritual Marriage" (PDF). Poland's Demographic Past 40 (2018). 40: 171–196. doi:10.18276/pdp.2018.40-08 . Retrieved 14 March 2025.

References

1. "Sprawdził pół miliona nekrologów i już wie: przed nami półwiecze rządów kobiet". Rzeczpospolita (in Polish). Retrieved 16 November 2024.
2. Gąsiorowski, Maciej (13 November 2024). "Jest w trakcie tranzycji. "Jako mężczyzna miałam tylko dwie pary spodni"". o2.pl . Retrieved 16 November 2024.
3. "Nowa Nauka Polska".
4. "Minakowski: Potomkowie chłopów żydowskich przodków nie mają. Za to elity były skoligacone [WYWIAD]". www.gazetaprawna.pl (in Polish). 10 February 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
5. Kawalec-Segond, Magdalena (10 May 2024). "Demograf: Czeka nas półwiecze rządów pań". Rzeczpospolita (in Polish). Retrieved 13 March 2025.
6. "Odznaczenia dla wybitnych literaturoznawców, historyków i animatorów kultury MKiDN – 2016". www.mkidn.gov.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2018.

External links

• Wielka Genealogia Minakowskiej
• Nekrologia Minakowskiej
• TEDxWarsaw – Marek Minakowski – 3/5/10 YouTube [English]
• Marek Jerzy Minakowski at Ludzie nauki nauka-polska.pl [Polish]