Krzysztof Pomian, a philosopher and historian specializing in the socio-cultural history of France, Italy, and Poland, is director of research emeritus at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris and professor of the history of culture at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru?, Poland. He also serves as chair of the Scientific Committee of the Museum of Europe in Brussels. Educated at the University of Warsaw where he was awarded a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1965, Dr. Pomian taught there until 1968 when he was dismissed because of his political opinions. In 1973, he emigrated to France where he joined the CNRS. He also taught history at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and the University of Geneva and museology at the Ecole du Louvres. His particular interests are the history of history and the history of collections and museums. A member of the Ateneo Veneto (Venice) and Bologna’s Accademia Clementina, he is the recipient of Mieroszewski Prize for political essays and the Premio Letterario Montesilvano. Dr. Pomian is a Commandeur de Polonia Resituta and a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres and holds honorary degrees from Marie Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin (Poland) and from the University of Geneva. He is an editorial advisor to the journal Le Débat. In addition to numerous articles published in scholarly journals, he is the editor of two books, the co-editor of four, and the author of fifteen others, including, most recently, Des saintes reliques l’art moderne: Venise-Chicago, XIIè – XXème siècle (2003) and Ibn Khaldün au prisme de l’Occident (2006).