Ryszard Antoni Legutko (1949 - ) has been described as one of the greatest conservative European thinkers of our time. He is a professor of philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He specializes in ancient and political philosophy. He has translated several Platonic dialogues into Polish. He has written over 20 books in which he critically comments on the contemporary political culture of democracy, liberalism and tolerance. His "Essay on the Polish Soul" (2008), in which he vividly depicts the loss of historical memory in contemporary Polish society, was highly acclaimed. In 2013, he published a monumental work Socrates - Philosophy of a Righteous Man, for which he was awarded the prestigious Józef Mackiewicz Prize. In 2007 he was Polish Minister of Education, and is currently a member of the European Parliament for the Law and Justice Party and a co-chairman of the Conservatives and Reformists Group.
