EAJS Trustee/Director
Marzena Zawanowska holds a Ph.D. in Oriental Studies (2008), awarded by the University of Warsaw in cooperation with Tel Aviv University where she conducted her post-doctoral research. She is an Associate Professor in the Mordechai Anielewicz Center for the Study and Teaching of the History and Culture of Jews in Poland housed at the Faculty of History, (University of Warsaw), where she serves as a vice-dean for finances and research. For many years, she was also affiliated with the Center for Jewish Studies, Department of Cultural Studies at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (2003–2012), as well as with the Department of Hebrew Studies, Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Warsaw (2003–2016), and served as a Curator of Manuscripts in the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute (2015–2023).
Her research interests include medieval Karaite Bible exegesis (especially Karaite, written in Judeo-Arabic), but also the borderlines between Judaism and Islam, as well as the history of Jewish thought and literature. Her authored book on Yefet ben ‘Eli’s Arabic commentary on the Abraham’s cycle appeared in Brill within the series “Karaite Texts and Studies”: The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Yefet ben ʿEli the Karaite on the Abraham Narratives (Genesis 11:10–25:18) (Leiden: Brill, 2012). She was head of a major project in publishing bilingual edition of all Ch. N. Bialik’s (Hebrew and Yiddish) poetry into Polish (2010–2012). And conducted research on the Karaites and Karaism as Portrayed in Medieval Rabbanite Sources. Currently, she is leading a group exploring medieval Hebrew poetry in Al-Andalus and preparing a multi-volume Polish translation of selected works from the period (2018–2023).