Olga Byrska
@obyrska.bsky.social
PhD researcher in post-WW2 intellectual history at the @EUI_EU. Teaching history at @sciencespo Reims campus. Sometimes making theatre. 🏳️🌈 she/her
📍Paris/Warsaw/elsewhere
📍Paris/Warsaw/elsewhere
And another one (cc François Hartog)
November 24, 2025 at 12:37 PM
And another one (cc François Hartog)
Tomorrow, I have the concluding sessions of the "Narratives, Uses and Representations of the Past" course, so, of course, I prepared a meme.
November 24, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Tomorrow, I have the concluding sessions of the "Narratives, Uses and Representations of the Past" course, so, of course, I prepared a meme.
Cursed be procrastination in the library, as I have found the silliest thing ever: an InspiroBot, "dedicated to generating unlimited amounts of unique inspirational quotes". The quotes:
November 22, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Cursed be procrastination in the library, as I have found the silliest thing ever: an InspiroBot, "dedicated to generating unlimited amounts of unique inspirational quotes". The quotes:
I love teaching, even if it sometimes makes me feel like an old auntie. Yesterday I had my students listen to Joni Mitchell for the first time (and that was apropos of our session, since they had to read Zadie Smith's essay on listening to JM). Of course, the presentations delivered:
November 19, 2025 at 8:59 AM
I love teaching, even if it sometimes makes me feel like an old auntie. Yesterday I had my students listen to Joni Mitchell for the first time (and that was apropos of our session, since they had to read Zadie Smith's essay on listening to JM). Of course, the presentations delivered:
A new adventure begins: I am the dramaturge of a new Marta Górnicka piece at the Gorki Theatre in Berlin, "Kassandra". Premiering in April, but a workshop open to the public will take place on November 29th! Come over!
November 14, 2025 at 9:18 AM
A new adventure begins: I am the dramaturge of a new Marta Górnicka piece at the Gorki Theatre in Berlin, "Kassandra". Premiering in April, but a workshop open to the public will take place on November 29th! Come over!
#OTD, in 1918, Poland regained its independence as a sovereign country, after 123 years of rule under the three empires it was partitioned and absorbed by.
[Flyer celebrating Poland's independence day, before 1939, Polona.]
[Flyer celebrating Poland's independence day, before 1939, Polona.]
November 11, 2025 at 11:59 AM
#OTD, in 1918, Poland regained its independence as a sovereign country, after 123 years of rule under the three empires it was partitioned and absorbed by.
[Flyer celebrating Poland's independence day, before 1939, Polona.]
[Flyer celebrating Poland's independence day, before 1939, Polona.]
Was lucky to made it to the museum visit in the Warsaw’s own Queer Muzeum and to listen to the Ukrainian and Polish quests to their own queer identity!
November 9, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Was lucky to made it to the museum visit in the Warsaw’s own Queer Muzeum and to listen to the Ukrainian and Polish quests to their own queer identity!
Me, when one day this damn PhD will be defended:
*(3 days post-finale I can kind of spoil it no?)
*(3 days post-finale I can kind of spoil it no?)
November 8, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Me, when one day this damn PhD will be defended:
*(3 days post-finale I can kind of spoil it no?)
*(3 days post-finale I can kind of spoil it no?)
I genuinely don't know any better placed National Library than the one in Warsaw, in the middle of the park. Particularly right now, in the autumn. It's breathtakingly beautiful!
November 6, 2025 at 8:59 AM
I genuinely don't know any better placed National Library than the one in Warsaw, in the middle of the park. Particularly right now, in the autumn. It's breathtakingly beautiful!
I have some faith in Zohran Mamdani and his political future for one reason: he is an excellent public speaker. For a long time, if ever, I have not seen a person who would stick to their message with such clarity.
Fingers crossed!
Fingers crossed!
November 5, 2025 at 1:00 PM
I have some faith in Zohran Mamdani and his political future for one reason: he is an excellent public speaker. For a long time, if ever, I have not seen a person who would stick to their message with such clarity.
Fingers crossed!
Fingers crossed!
Today's session of my seminar "Curiosity, Critical Thinking and Research in Social and Human Sciences" concerns conducting research that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries and I am super excited to have a chat with my students about fragments of these two books!
November 4, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Today's session of my seminar "Curiosity, Critical Thinking and Research in Social and Human Sciences" concerns conducting research that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries and I am super excited to have a chat with my students about fragments of these two books!
Hello from one of my favourite places: the National Library in Warsaw.
October 31, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Hello from one of my favourite places: the National Library in Warsaw.
Cat Burns in the #CelebrityTraitorsUK is all of us getting through 2025.
October 30, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Cat Burns in the #CelebrityTraitorsUK is all of us getting through 2025.
Praying to Dante in Naples.
October 26, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Praying to Dante in Naples.
The most important tourist spot in Paris these days: the window through which the thieves went in to the Louvre.
October 25, 2025 at 4:07 PM
The most important tourist spot in Paris these days: the window through which the thieves went in to the Louvre.
Old school Polish film cool: the movie director Andrzej Żuławski and his then-wife, Małgorzata Braunek, in 1973.
Fun fact: Braunek, probably one of the best actresses of her generation in Poland, became a Kanzeon Sangha Buddhist and received Dharma transmission, becoming rōshi, in 2011.
Fun fact: Braunek, probably one of the best actresses of her generation in Poland, became a Kanzeon Sangha Buddhist and received Dharma transmission, becoming rōshi, in 2011.
October 24, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Old school Polish film cool: the movie director Andrzej Żuławski and his then-wife, Małgorzata Braunek, in 1973.
Fun fact: Braunek, probably one of the best actresses of her generation in Poland, became a Kanzeon Sangha Buddhist and received Dharma transmission, becoming rōshi, in 2011.
Fun fact: Braunek, probably one of the best actresses of her generation in Poland, became a Kanzeon Sangha Buddhist and received Dharma transmission, becoming rōshi, in 2011.
Pretends to be shocked
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
October 23, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Pretends to be shocked
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
2025 is the strangest year
October 19, 2025 at 10:17 AM
2025 is the strangest year
How to spend one of the last sunny Saturdays in Paris:
October 18, 2025 at 2:10 PM
How to spend one of the last sunny Saturdays in Paris:
Interesting thing about the Gen Z-fueled political protests is something we, millennials, still didn't cope well with: the societal infantilisation of the youth. With our geriatric political representatives, it's Gen Z that takes itself more seriously and demands an accurate representation, not us.
October 16, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Interesting thing about the Gen Z-fueled political protests is something we, millennials, still didn't cope well with: the societal infantilisation of the youth. With our geriatric political representatives, it's Gen Z that takes itself more seriously and demands an accurate representation, not us.
Happy to participate in @rdvhistoire.bsky.social in Blois this weekend. This morning we talked about renationalisation of memories in Europe, w/ @elaurentin.bsky.social Sébastien Ledoux, Stéphane Michonneau and Thomas Serrier.
October 11, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Happy to participate in @rdvhistoire.bsky.social in Blois this weekend. This morning we talked about renationalisation of memories in Europe, w/ @elaurentin.bsky.social Sébastien Ledoux, Stéphane Michonneau and Thomas Serrier.
What a pleasure to be writing while listening to the #Chopin Competition! The second round is just starting, I recommend tuning in right now very much.
October 9, 2025 at 8:07 AM
What a pleasure to be writing while listening to the #Chopin Competition! The second round is just starting, I recommend tuning in right now very much.
Historians of the 20th century be like:
October 7, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Historians of the 20th century be like:
Perhaps the most hopeful image one can get in those terrible times. #GlobalSmudFlotilla
October 2, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Perhaps the most hopeful image one can get in those terrible times. #GlobalSmudFlotilla
RIP Jane Goodall, you were one of the best of our species.
October 1, 2025 at 6:18 PM
RIP Jane Goodall, you were one of the best of our species.