{"id":1800,"date":"2011-05-20T17:29:21","date_gmt":"2011-05-20T17:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=1800"},"modified":"2011-05-21T12:45:43","modified_gmt":"2011-05-21T12:45:43","slug":"polish-presidents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/polish-presidents\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish Presidents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I wrote about Polish kings and today it is turn for Polish presidents (officially\u00a0Presidents of the Republic of Poland<\/strong><\/em>)!<\/p>\n

Institution of presidency in Poland was created after the WW I. Unfortunately the first Polish president was shot a week after being elected…<\/p>\n

Presidency institution in Poland was functioning in years: 1922-39, 1947-52 and since 1989.<\/p>\n

Institution of presidency was created in Polish legislation when Poland regained independence after WW I. Famous Marshal J\u00f3zef Pi\u0142sudski was never formally a president although he was a head of a state (1919-1922) with rights equivalent to a president. The first Polish president was Gabriel Narutowicz. He was chosen by votes of Polish left wing and minorities. Unfortunately he was also the first and only president shot dead on 16 December 1922 by a right wing artist painter E. Niewiadomski. It was only a week after being elected.<\/p>\n

Until the outbreak of World War II, the highest office was held by Stanis\u0142aw Wojciechowski (1922-1926) and Ignacy Mo\u015bcicki (1926-1939). During the German occupation, the institution of the President still existed in the Polish government in exile (W\u0142adyslaw Raczkiewicz).<\/p>\n

After liberation by Soviet army the institution of presidency was incidentally confirmed with Boleslaw Bierut as a president in years 1947-1952 and consequently removed by Constitution in 1952.<\/p>\n

The restoration of the highest office was brought by implementation of the Constitution amendment in April 1989. In July 1989 he first Polish president, Wojciech Jaruzelski was elected by Sejm (lower chamber of Polish Parliament) with the majority of just one voice supporting him (altogether there are 360 deputies in Polish Seim). The slogan was: “Yours President, our Prime-Minister”. Wojciech Jaruzelski was unpopular since he was responsible for the implementation of the military law in December 1981.<\/p>\n

Here is the chronological order:<\/p>\n

Second Republic (1918-1939)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

J\u00f3zef Pi\u0142sudski (Chief of State), 1918-1922<\/p>\n

Gabriel Narutowicz, 1922<\/p>\n

Maciej Rataj (acting), 1922<\/p>\n

Stanis\u0142aw Wojciechowski, 1922-1926<\/p>\n

Maciej Rataj (acting), 1926<\/p>\n

Ignacy Mo\u015bcicki, 1926-1939<\/p>\n

Government in exile (1939-1990)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Government in emigration was recognized internationally until 1945<\/p>\n

W\u0142adys\u0142aw Raczkiewicz, 1939-1947<\/p>\n

August Zaleski, 1947-1972<\/p>\n

Stanis\u0142aw Ostrowski, 1972-1979<\/p>\n

Edward Bernard Raczy\u0144ski, 1979-1986<\/p>\n

Kazimierz Sabbat, 1986-1989<\/p>\n

Ryszard Kaczorowski, 1989-1990<\/p>\n

Communist Poland (1944-1989)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Boles\u0142aw Bierut, 1944-1952<\/p>\n

Aleksander Zawadzki (Council of State), 1953-1964<\/p>\n

Edward Ochab (Council of State), 1964-1968<\/p>\n

Marian Spychalski (Council of State), 1968-1970<\/p>\n

J\u00f3zef Cyrankiewicz (Council of State), 1970-1972<\/p>\n

Henryk Jab\u0142o\u0144ski (Council of State), 1972-1985<\/p>\n

Wojciech Jaruzelski (Council of State), 1985-1989<\/p>\n

Third Republic (from 1989)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Wojciech Jaruzelski, 1989-1990<\/p>\n

Lech W\u0105\u0142\u0119sa, 1990-1995<\/p>\n

Aleksander Kwa\u015bniewski, 1995-2005<\/p>\n

Lech Kaczy\u0144ski, 2005-10 April 2010<\/p>\n

Bronis\u0142aw Komorowski (acting), 10 April 2010-8 July 2010<\/p>\n

Bogdan Borusewicz (acting), 8 July 2010<\/p>\n

Grzegorz Schetyna (acting), 8 July 2010 – 6 August 2010<\/p>\n

Bronis\u0142aw Komorowski, 6 August 2010 –<\/p>\n

I should mention one of the blogs from last year:<\/p>\n

\n

New president of Poland<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n