Kurtyka was born in Kraków and obtained his degree in the History and Philosophy Department of the Jagiellonian University.

He was a contributor to Wielka Encyklopedia PWN and Polski Słownik Biograficzny (Polish Biographical Dictionary) and the author of more than 140 academic publications.

In April 2005 he was recommended by the Board of the Institute for the position of the president and was approved by the Polish Sejm and Senate in December of that year.

Kurtyka was on the Tupolev Tu-154 flight of the 36th Special Aviation Regiment carrying the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński which crashed near Smolensk-North airport near Katyn, Russia, on 10 April 2010, killing all aboard.

[3] After a mass in the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Kraków he was buried in the Rakowicki Cemetery on 23 April 2010.