Historian and columnist, since 2006 Director of the Polish History Museum in Warsaw. A graduate of the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw, he has served as Director of the Foreign Affairs Department at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and Head of the Cabinet of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

He co-created the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and was its Programme Director. Mr Kostro is a member of such bodies as the Civic Committee for the Restoration of Krakow Heritage, the Board of the National Museum in Krakow, the Academic Council of the National Ossoliński Institute (Ossolineum), as well as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity.

A co-editor (with T. Merta) of the works Pamięć i odpowiedzialność [Remembrance and Responsibility] (2005) and Historia Polski od-nowa. Nowe narracje historii i muzealne reprezentacje przeszłości [A Renewed History of Poland. New Historical Narratives and Museum Representations of the Past] (2014), and the author of numerous articles published in collective works and various journals, including Nowe Książki, Rzeczpospolita, Rzeczy wspólne, Teologia Polityczna and Więź.