Poland in Ireland

Arkady Rzegocki (PhD) is a political scientist, professor of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, specialising in Polish and English political thought, the concept of national interest (raison d'État), as well as the issue of soft power. He studied at the Jagiellonian University and University College Dublin, conducted research in Denver, at universities in Oxford, Cambridge, London, and Florence, and was a Visiting Scholar at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
From 2011 to 2016 he was a Professor of the Polish University Abroad in London (PUNO). He was the initiator and the first director of the Jagiellonian University Polish Research Centre in London that has been operating since 2011. In 2014 he became a councillor for the City of Kraków, where he headed the Commission of Innovation and European Funds of the City Council.

He was a member of academic and civic organisations: EpsNet, Polish Association of Political Science, Polish Association of Political Thought, The Centre for Political Thought  and The Jagiellonian Club.

During his career as an academic, the first Head of the Foreign Service and Polish Ambassador to the UK, he has worked to promote knowledge of Poland among Poles and foreigners alike. Polish history, literature and art are very close to his heart. More recently, he has worked, among other things, to increase the employment of Poles in international organisations and to develop the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He speaks English and Russian. His wife Jolanta Rzegocka (PhD) is an English philologist and theatre historian. The couple have three daughters.