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Helena Znaniecki Lopata
Born(1925-10-01)October 1, 1925
Poznan, Poland
DiedFebruary 12, 2003(2003-02-12) (aged 77)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater University of Illinois
ChildrenStefan and Theodora
Parent(s) Florian Znaniecki and Eileen Markley

Helena Znaniecki Lopata (October 1, 1925 – February 12, 2003) was a Polish-born American sociologist, author and researcher.

Life and education

Born in Poznan, Poland to her father Florian Znaniecki, a sociologist, and mother Eileen Markley, an attorney, the family fled Poland to the United States due to Nazi rule. After settling in the US, Lopata finished high school and went on to college to obtain a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and finally a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago. Lopata went on to teach at Roosevelt University and then Loyola University, Chicago where she served as chair of the department and Director for the "Center for the Comparative Study of Social Roles". She also took her teaching on the road as a visiting professor at the University of Southern California, University of Guelph, University of Victoria and Boston College. In 1946 Lopata married businessman Richard Lopata and had a son, Stefan and a daughter, Theodora. [1] She died in 2003 at the age of 77 in Delavan Lake, Wisconsin. [2]

Career highlights and accomplishments

Helena Lopata published twenty books during her career along with numerous articles. She was elected to many presidencies throughout her career for organizations including SWS[ clarification needed], SSSP[ clarification needed], chair of many ASA committees, and participated in many seminars relating to family and the sociology of aging. She did much research on the 'occupational housewife' that changed the way Americans looked at the changing roles of women during that time. She wrote a book on the same topic, which was the first such book. She was a professor at Roosevelt University before going to Loyola in 1969 where she did most of her research. [3]

Awards and honors

Lopata received the following awards: "The Mead & Feminist Mentoring Award" from the Study of Symbolic Interaction, the "Mieczyslaw Haiman Award" from the Polish American Historical Association, the "Distinguished Scholar Award Society" for the Study of Social Problems, and lastly the "Bronislaw Malinowski Award" from the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America. In addition to theses awards she also received an Honorary Doctorate of Sciences from the University of Guelph. [4]

Publications

  • City Women: Work, Jobs, Occupations, Careers [5]
  • Circles and Settings-Roles Changes of American Women [6]
  • Occupation: Housewife, Oxford University Press, 1971. ISBN  978-0-19-501-468-6
  • Current Research on Occupations and Professions 1996: Getting Down to Business [7]
  • Women as Widows: Support Systems, Elsevier Science, Ltd, 1979. ISBN  978-0444990532
  • Current Widowhood: Myths & Realities [8]
  • Polish Americans, Transaction Publications, 1994. ISBN  978-1-56000100-3

References

  1. ^ Newbart, D. "Helena Z. Lopata". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on 2015-03-29.
  2. ^ Hamill, S.D. (8 March 2003). "Helena Z. Lopata". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  3. ^ Whittner, J. "Helena Lopata". American Sociological Association-Section Leaders. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  4. ^ Maines, D. "Helena Z. Lopata". Society for the Study of Social Problems.
  5. ^ Lopata, Helena (1986). City Women in America: Works, Jobs, Occupations, Careers. New York: Praeger.
  6. ^ Lopata, Helena (1994). Circles and settings-roles changes of american women. Albany: State University of New York Press, Albany.
  7. ^ Lopata, Helena (1987). Current Research on Occupations and Professions 1996. Elsevier Science LTD. ISBN  978-1-55938-877-1.
  8. ^ Lopata, Helena (1996). Current widowhood : myths & realities. Sage Publishers. ISBN  978-0-8039-7396-1.