Jan Małecki was a historian and rector of the the Kraków Academy of Economics. While his most important research was devoted to economic history, his achievements also included works related to the grand synthesis of Polish history, methodology, source studies, bibliography, and biography. In the 1985/1986 academic year, together with two other scholars, he began an open series of lectures in the Institute of History at the Jagiellonian University entitled ‘Jews in Polish History’. He was the author of a number of academic papers on the history of the Jewish community in Poland in both Polish and English. Of particular importance are his extensive source entries from Kraków customs registers concerning Jewish trade at the end of the 16th century and start of the 17th century, published by the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. Małecki also popularized Jewish issues by including them in his numerous publications on the economic history of Poland and the history of Kraków. For many years, he also promoted Jewish studies outside of the Jagiellonian University and the Kraków University of Economics and reviewed numerous works of other scholars for degrees and publishing houses. In 2016, he was granted the Father Stanisław Musiał Award for his work on the history and culture of the Jewish community in Poland.
Professor Jan Marian Małecki (1926-2017): In Memoriam