Mateusz Szpytma, Ph.D, was born in 1975. He is a graduate of history and political sciences at the Jagiellonian University. This is also the university where he defended his doctoral thesis in modern Polish history under the supervision of  Prof. Andrzej Chwalba.
Szpytma has worked at the Institute of National Remembrance for the majority of his professional life. He started his career in 2000, working as a historian at the Chief Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, Cracow Branch (2000–2004); a specialist at the Public Education Office, Cracow Branch (2005); an assistant to the President of the IPN, Janusz Kurtyka (2005–2007), Deputy Director of the Office of the President (2007–2008); main specialist at the Public Education Office, Cracow Branch (2009–2015). Since 23 July 2016, Szpytma  has held the post of the Deputy President of the IPN.

He is the author, co-author and editor of numerous historical books, including several about the rescue of Jews by Poles during German occupation.
A focal point of Szpytma’s research and educational work is the story of the Ulma family, murdered by the Germans on 24 March 1944 in Markowa, along with the Jews they had been hiding. In addition to books and numerous press writings on the subject, he is the founder and creator of the Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World War II in Markowa, as well as the curator of the Museum’s permanent exhibition. In the years 2015–2016, he was the Director of the Museum.

Szpytma’s educational activities include the co-organization of more than twenty expeditions for young people to places of the martyrdom of Poles (among others to Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen, and Dachau concentration camps, Katyn, Kharkiv, Mednoye). He was also the originator and co-author of an educational portfolio published by the IPN, entitled “The Katyn Massacre”. Szpytma published his press writings in, among others, “Dziennik Polski”, “Nasz Dziennik”, “Gość Niedzielny”, “Tygodnik Powszechny”, “Zeszyty Historyczne WiN”, “Biuletyn IPN” and “Pamięć.pl” .He also authored and co-authored a number of historical publications.

In 2009, he was awarded the Bronze Cross of Merit by the late President Lech Kaczyński, and in 2016, received the Silver Cross of Merit from the President, Andrzej Duda. Since 2016, he has also been an honorary member of the Polish Society of the Righteous Among the Nations. He has received recognition by the National Association of Soldiers of the Peasant Battalions, which awarded him with a “For Merits” distinction. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute (ŻIH) Academic Council.
Since 2018, he has been a member of the Policy Council at the Institute of Solidarity and Bravery and member of the POLIN Museum Council. In June 2018, Szpytma was honored with the “Bene Merito” Award by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs in recognition of his activities aimed at strengthening Poland's position on the international arena. Deputy President of the IPN, for years strongly associated with the Podkarpacie region, also received a Distinction of Merit for the Podkarpacie Voivodeship, awarded by the Regional Council.