Jump to content

Zygmunt Modzelewski

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zygmunt Modzelewski
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
6 February 1947 – 20 March 1951
Preceded byWincenty Rzymowski
Succeeded byStanisław Skrzeszewski
Ambassador of Poland to the Soviet Union
In office
2 January 1945 – 28 June 1945
Preceded byStefan Jędrychowski
Succeeded byHenryk Raabe
Personal details
Born(1900-04-15)15 April 1900
Częstochowa, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
Died18 June 1954(1954-06-18) (aged 54)
Warsaw, Polish People's Republic
Political partyCommunist Party of Poland
Polish Workers' Party
Polish United Workers' Party
Alma materUniversity of Paris
ProfessionPolitician, diplomat, economist, professor

Zygmunt Modzelewski (15 April 1900 – 18 June 1954) was a Polish communist politician, professor, economist, and diplomat.

Life and career

[edit]

Modzelewski was born in to the family of a railroad worker. He was a member of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania[1] and Communist Party of Poland. From 1923 to 1937, he was a member of the French Communist Party and even joined its Central Committee. In 1937 he moved to the Soviet Union and was arrested by NKVD in the same year in the Great Purge. Despite torture he refused to give false confession and was released in 1939.[2]

During the Second World War he joined the Union of Polish Patriots and the Central Bureau of Polish Communists and became the first director of Polpress, a precursor to the Polish Press Agency. In May 1943 he was involved in the formation of the Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division in the camp in Seltsy. At the rank of captain he became a lecturer in the Political Section of the Division. He joined the Polish Workers' Party in 1944 (and later its successor, the Polish United Workers' Party) and eventually became the member of its Central Committee. On January 2, 1945, he was appointed Polish ambassador to the USSR. He held this position until June 28, 1945, when the Moscow Conference on the establishment of the Provisional Government of National Unity ended. After returning to Poland, he became Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, effectively heading the ministry in the TRJN between 1945 and 1947. He was a member of the Polish delegation to the Potsdam Conference. He was also a Polish delegate to the session of the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations. Involved in the work of the Slavic Committee in Poland. Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1947–1951. From 1951, Rector of the Institute for the Education of Scientific Personnel. From 1948, member of the Polish United Workers' Party and at the same time member of the Central Committee of the PZPR. In 1951, he defended his doctoral thesis in philosophy. From 1951, full professor, and from 1952, full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Between 1947 and 1952 he was a member of Legislative Sejm[3] and in the years 1952–1954 a member of the Polish Council of State.

He died on June 18, 1954. He was buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw.

He was the adoptive father of Karol Modzelewski.

Awards and decorations

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Karol Modzelewski (2013). Zajeździmy kobyłę historii. Warszawa: Iskry.
  2. ^ Karol Modzelewski (2013). Zajeździmy kobyłę historii. Warszawa: Iskry. p. 15.
  3. ^ "Profil na stronie Biblioteki Sejmowej".
  4. ^ Aleksander Kochański (2022). Polska 1944–1991. Informator historyczny Struktury i ludzie część 2. Zielona Góra: Drukarnia Wydawnicza im. W.L. Anczyca S.A. pp. 1118–1121.
  5. ^ (in Polish)M.P. z 1950 r. Nr 125, poz. 1539
  6. ^ (in Polish)M.P. z 1949 r. Nr 62, poz. 832
  7. ^ (18 September 1945)(in Polish)M.P. z 1945 r. Nr 38, poz. 91
  8. ^ (in Polish)M.P. z 1946 r. Nr 42, poz. 80
  9. ^ (in Polish)Podpisanie umowy o przyjaźni i wzajemnej pomocy pomiędzy Polską a Jugosławią, „Trybuna Robotnicza”, nr 77, 19 marca 1946, s. 1
  10. ^ (in Polish)M.P. z 1947 r. Nr 68, poz. 465.
  11. ^ (in Polish) Odznaczenia polsko-duńskie za zasługi na polu współpracy obu narodów, „Kurier Codzienny”, nr 286 z 29 października 1947, s. 2.
  12. ^ (in Polish)Wysokie odznaczenia dla osobistości polskich i węgierskich, „Dziennik Zachodni”, nr 32, 1–2 lutego 1948, s. 1.
  13. ^ (in Polish)Symbole braterskiej współpracy, „Gazeta Robotnicza”, nr 149, 1 czerwca 1948, s. 2.
  14. ^ (in Polish)Dekoracja odznaczeniami rumuńskimi Premiera i członków Rządu RP, „Trybuna Tygodnia”, nr 9 (1087), 29 lutego 1948, s. 3.


Stub icon

This biographical article about a Polish politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zygmunt_Modzelewski&oldid=1258366189"