Andrzej Korbonski, a professor emeritus in UCLA’s Department of Political Science, died May 13 at his home in Pacific Palisades following an extended illness. He was 86.
A Polish-American scholar whose contributions to communist and post-communist studies were internationally recognized, Korbonski was born in Poznan, Poland in 1927. During the Second World War he joined the Polish underground army to fight against Nazi Germany, was captured and spent a year as a prisoner of war. After the war, he earned a B.S. in economics from the University of London and a Ph.D. in public law and government from Columbia University. He joined the UCLA faculty in 1963.
Korbonski’s scholarly articles and reviews appeared in numerous leading journals, including the American Political Science Review, World Politics, International Organization, Comparative Politics, and Slavic Review and Communist and Post-Communist Studies, which he served as editor. He authored several books, including "The Politics of Socialist Agriculture in Poland: 1945 to 1960" (1965) and "Soldiers, Peasants, and Bureaucrats: Civil-Military Relations in Communist and Modernizing Societies" (1982).
He is survived by his wife, Betsy, daughters Ellen and Holly, and three grandchildren. A memorial is being planned for June 29 at the UCLA Faculty Club. See this Department of Political Science announcement for more information.
