Selim Chazbijewicz

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Selim Chazbijewicz (born 17 November 1955 in Gdańsk) is a Polish political scientist, columnist, and poet. He served as Poland’s ambassador to Kazakhstan from August 12, 2017, to November 15, 2023, and was also accredited to Kyrgyzstan during that time.

Background and education
- Chazbijewicz comes from Lipka Tatar descent and a family with noble Polish-Lithuanian roots.
- He earned a master’s degree in Polish studies from the University of Gdańsk in 1980.
- He obtained a PhD in humanities in 1991 from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, with a thesis on Polish Muslims in the 20th century.
- He earned a habilitation (post-doctoral degree) in 2002 at the same university, focusing on Crimean Tatars after World War II.

Academic and public career
- He has worked as an associate professor at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn and has lectured at the Elbląg University of Humanities and Economics.
- He is a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and has been active in the Committee on Oriental Studies.
- Chazbijewicz has also been a prolific editor and writer: he was editor-in-chief of Muslim Life (1986–1991) and of Polish Tatars Yearly (1994), and he writes poetry.
- He led the Association of Tatars of the Republic of Poland from 1999 to 2007 and has served as Imam of the Gdańsk Muslim Community since 2003.
- He has been associated with the Law and Justice party since the 2000s and is recognized as a leading geopolitics scholar, linked with the Olsztyn School of Geopolitics.

Ambassador to Kazakhstan
- Nominated as ambassador in 2017; he presented his credentials to President Nursultan Nazarbayev on 18 October 2017.
- He was also accredited to Kyrgyzstan, presenting credentials to President Almazbek Atambayev on 27 October 2017.

Honors
- He received the Bronze Cross of Merit in 2014.