Famous Poles! # 1 Politicians, statesmen and national heroes!

Poland is on the 70th place on the list of countries and dependencies ranked by its total area. It is not a large country, but many Poles deserve for being famous on the entire world. Below, we present several politicians, statesmen and national heroes.

~ Saint John Paul II (Polish: Święty Jan Paweł II) born Karol Józef Wojtyła ~
(18th May 1920 – 2nd April 2005)
Probably the most famous Pole on the entire world. Pope of the Catholic Church from 16th October 1978 until his death. Poet and linguist, as well as an actor, playwright and educator. Philosopher of history, phenomenologist, mystic and a representative of Christian personalism.

~ Lech Wałęsa ~
(29th September 1943)
Polish politician, trade-union organizer and human-rights activist. He co-founded Solidarity (Solidarność), the Soviet bloc’s first independent trade union. He also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995.

~ Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński ~
(28th March 1928)
Polish (born in Warsaw) American political scientist, geostrategist and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981.

~ Józef Klemens Piłsudski ~
(5th December 1867 – 12th May 1935)
Polish statesman. Chief of State from 1918 to 1922. “First Marshal” from 1920 and leader of the Second Polish Republic from 1926 to 1935. From mid-World War I he had a major influence in Poland’s politics. He believed in a multicultural Poland with recognition of numerous ethnic and religious nationalities.

~ Tadeusz Mazowiecki ~
(18th April 1927 – 28th October 2013)
Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician. First non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe since 1946. Co-founder and chairman of Democratic Union and Freedom Union.

~ Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ~
(4th February 1746 – 15th October 1817)
Polish military engineer and a military leader. He fought in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth’s struggles against Russia and Prussia, and on the American side in the American Revolutionary War. As Supreme Commander of the Polish National Armed Forces, he led the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising.

~ Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski ~
(6th March 1745 – 11th October 1779)
Polish nobleman, soldier and military commander who has been called “the father of the American cavalry”.  At the Battle of Savannah, while leading a daring charge against British forces, he was gravely wounded, and died shortly thereafter.

~ Ryszard Jerzy Kukliński ~
13th June 1930 – 11th Februaru 2004)
Also known as Jack Strong. Polish colonel and Cold War spy for NATO. He passed top secret Warsaw Pact documents to the CIA between 1972 and 1981