Polish Canadians: Difference between revisions
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* [[Alexandra Szacka]] - CBC/Radio-Canada correspondant |
* [[Alexandra Szacka]] - CBC/Radio-Canada correspondant |
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* [[Zig Misiak]] - author, cocreator of Six Nations Iroquois Program Teachers Resource Guide |
* [[Zig Misiak]] - author, cocreator of Six Nations Iroquois Program Teachers Resource Guide |
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* [[Kris Kotarski]] - journalist |
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===Actors=== |
===Actors=== |
Revision as of 21:51, 15 November 2012
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
Ontario, Western Canada, Atlantic Canada, Quebec | |
Languages | |
Polish, Canadian English and/or Canadian French | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Polonia, Western Slavs |
Polish Canadians are Citizens of Canada with Polish ancestry, and Poles who immigrated to Canada from abroad. According to the 2001 census by Statistics Canada, 984,585 Canadians claim full or partial Polish ancestry.[1]
History
The first Polish immigrant on record, Dominik Barcz, is known to have come to Canada in 1752. He was a fur merchant from Gdańsk who settled in Montreal. He was followed in 1757 by Charles Blaskowicz, who worked as deputy surveyor-general of lands. In 1776 arrived army surgeon, August Franz Globensky. His grandson, Charles Auguste Maximilien Globensky was elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa in 1875.
Among the earliest Polish immigrants to Canada were members of the Watt and De Meuron military regiments from Saxony and Switzerland sent overseas to help the British Army in North America. Several were émigrés from Poland who took part in the November Uprising of 1830 and the 1863 insurrection against the Russian "occupation" of their own homeland.[2]
In 1841, Casimir Stanislaus Gzowski arrived in Canada from the partitioned Poland via U.S.A. and for 50 years worked in engineering, military and community sectors in Toronto and Southern Ontario, for which he was knighted by Queen Victoria. His great-grandson, Peter Gzowski, became one of Canada's famous radio personalities.
Charles Horecki immigrated in 1872. He was an engineer with the cross-Canada railway construction from Edmonton to the Pacific Ocean through the Peace River Valley. Today, a mountain and a body of water in British Columbia are named after him.
Group-settlers
See also Kashubians#Diaspora
The first significant group of Polish group-settlers were Kashubians from Northern Poland, who were escaping Prussian oppression resulting from the occupation. They arrived in Renfrew County of Ontario in 1858, where they founded the settlements of Wilno, Barry’s Bay, and Round Lake (Ontario). By 1890 there were about 270 Kashubian families working in the Madawaska Valley of Renfrew County, mostly in the lumber industry of the Ottawa Valley.
The consecutive waves of Polish immigrants in periods from 1890–1914, 1920–1939, and 1941 to this day, settled across Canada from Cape Breton to Vancouver, and made numerous and significant contributions to the agricultural, manufacturing, engineering, teaching, publishing, religious, mining, cultural, professional, sports, military, research, business, governmental and political life in Canada.
Religious services
All Polish Canadians including their descendants are encouraged by organizations such as the Congress, to preserve their background and retain some ties with Poland and its people. In the past, the most significant role in the preservation of various aspects of Polish traditions and customs among the Polish communities in Canada fell for the Polish urban parishes, which retain the use of Polish language during services.[3]
The first Polish Catholic priest visited Polish immigrants in 1862 in Kitchener. The first church serving Polish immigrants was built in 1875 in Wilno, Ontario. In Winnipeg, the Holy Ghost Church was built in 1899.
The first Polish-Canadian Roman Catholic bishop is Reverend Mathew Ustrzycki, consecrated in June 1985, auxiliary bishop of the Hamilton Diocese. There are Polish-Canadian priests in many congregations and orders, such as the Franciscans, Jesuits, Redemptorists, Saletinians, Resurrectionists, Oblates, Michaelites, and the Society of Christ. In addition, 80 priests are serving in 120 parishes.
Largest Polish Canadian communities
The Victoria Cross
Numerous Polish-Canadians have been recognized with awards and appointments by the Queen and the Canadian governments as well as universities and various organizations. One of the most notable recipients was Andrew Mynarski, pilot-gunner from Winnipeg, awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for extreme valor in World War II.
Polish Canadian recipients of the Order of Canada
- B. Dubienski of Winnipeg, lawyer
- Jan Drygala of Oshawa, WWII staff-sergeant of the Polish Army.
- Captain Andrew Garlicki of Ottawa
- Rt. Rev. Monsignor Anthony Gocki of Regina
- Rev. Anthony Hylla, Oblate priest
- Rev. Michael Smith, missionary Oblate priest
- Casimir Stanczykowski of Montreal, multilingual radio station founder and broadcaster
- Stefan Sznuk, Group Captain
- Peter Taraska of Winnipeg, Knight of St. Gregory, alderman and citizenship judge
- Irena Ungar, Citizenship Judge
- Dr. Henry Wojcicki, Edmonton, distinguished psychiatrist, Univ. of Alberta senator [2]
- Walter Gretzky, Brantford, Ontario, Canada, father of Wayne Gretzky
Polish Canadian Queen’s Counsels and lawyers appointed as judges
- Their Honors
- Judge Paul Staniszewski, of Toronto, Montreal and the County Court of Windsor
- Judge P. Swiecicki, of the Superior Court of BC in Vancouver
- Judge Allan H. J. Wachowich, of the Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton
- Judge E.F. Wrzeszczinski-Wren, of the County Court of Toronto.
Notable Polish Canadians
Science and Engineering
- Casimir Gzowski Engineer who worked on Welland Canal,New York & Erie Railway (first Commissioner of the Niagara Parks Commission)
- Leon Katz (physicist) (1909-2004), FRSC, Officer of the Order of Canada, Professor University of Saskatchewan
- Karol Józef Krótki FRSC, demography professor, statistician
- Victor Prus, architect
- Witold Rybczynski, architect, professor and writer
- Adam Skorek, professor of electrical and computer engineering
- Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann FRSC, mathematics professor
- Janusz Żurakowski, Battle of Britain fighter pilot
Education
- Isaac Hellmuth, from Warsaw, via England, one of the founders of the University of Western Ontario.
Politics
- Leon David Crestohl - Liberal MP Cartier 1950-1963
- Bonnie Crombie - former Liberal Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Streetsville (2008–2011)
- Jan Dukszta - former Ontario NDP MPP
- Gary Filmon - former Premier of Manitoba
- Jesse Flis - Liberal MP Parkdale—High Park 1979-1984; 1988–1997
- Casimir Gzowski - Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
- Wladyslaw Lizon - Conservative MP for Mississauga East-Cooksville (2011-present) and former president of the Canadian Polish Congress
- Ted Opitz - Conservative MP for Etobicoke Centre (2011–present)
- Stanley Haidasz - Liberal MP: for Trinity: 1957-1958, for Parkdale: 1962-1978, Minister of State, Senator
- Andrew Kania - former Liberal Member of Parliament for Brampton West (2008–2011)
- Stan Kazmierczak Keyes - former national chair of Liberal Party of Canada; Liberal MP Hamilton West 1988-2004
- Alexandre Edouard Kierzkowski - Liberal MP St. Hyacinthe 1867-1870, First MP of Polish Decent
- Chris Korwin-Kuczynski - former Toronto city councillor (1981–2003)
- Ken Kowalski, former Deputy Premier of Alberta, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
- Don Mazankowski - Deputy Prime Minister for Brian Mulroney, Progressive Conservative MP Vegreville 1968-1993
- Gary Malkowski - former Ontario NDP MPP, Canada's first deaf parliamentarian
- Peter Milczyn - Member of Toronto City Council 2000–present
- Fred Rose - Labour Progressive (Communist) MP Cartier 1943-1947; his capture as a Soviet spy helped to start the Cold War
- Paul Yakabuski - former Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP
- Elaine Ziemba - former Ontario NDP MPP
Music
- Jacob Kuba Rybicki - Music Producer, Born in Toronto
- Dan Bryk - singer-songwriter
- Basia Bulat - singer-songwriter
- Anna Cyzon - singer-songwriter
- Captian G.Q. - singer-songwriter
- Janina Fialkowska - renown pianist, born in Montreal [3]
- Marek Jablonski - pianist-virtuoso, born in Cracow [4]
- Steve Jocz - drummer for Sum 41
- Ben Kowalewicz - lead singer for Billy Talent
- Geddy Lee - bassist, keyboardist and lead vocalist for Rush
- Jan Lisiecki - pianist-virtuoso, born in Calgary
- Margaret Maye - singer and actress
- Daniel Wnukowski - pianist
Walter Buczynski - composer, Kinga Mitrowska - singer, Kornel Wolak - clarinet virtuoso
Culture and Media
- Andrzej Busza - poet
- Bogdan Czaykowski - poet, translator, essayist
- Alex Debogorski - veteran ice road trucker on the series Ice Road truckers.
- Peter Gzowski - broadcaster, writer and reporter
- Wacław Iwaniuk - poet in Polish, literary critic and essayist [4]
- Jacqueline Milczarek - journalist, news anchor
- Anne Mroczkowski - journalist, news anchor
- Bogumil Pacak-Gamalski - poet, essayist, editor-in-chief of 'Strumien' art annual [5]
- George Radwanski - Editor-in-Chief of the Toronto Star
- Chava Rosenfarb - novelist, poet in Yiddish, wife of Henry Morgentaler
- Adam Smoluk - director, screenwriter and actor
- Izabela Ciesinska - director, writer, illustrator
- Mark Starowicz - head of CBC Television Documentary Programming unit, journalist and TV producer
- Alexandra Szacka - CBC/Radio-Canada correspondant
- Zig Misiak - author, cocreator of Six Nations Iroquois Program Teachers Resource Guide
- Kris Kotarski - journalist
Actors
- Magda Apanowicz - actress
- Henry Czerny - actor
- Paloma Kwiatkowski - actress[5]
- Lisa Ray - actress
- Devon Sawa - actor
Military
- Andrew Charles Mynarski VC, Second World War airman
- Stefan Sznuk - Major General.
- Walter J. Natynczyk - Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Forces
Sports
- Turk Broda - ice hockey goalie
- Wayne Gretzky - Hockey Legend
- Robert Swiercz - Hockey Player Europe
- Michael Klukowski - soccer player for Club Brugge
- Walter "Killer" Kowalski - professional wrestler
- Tomasz Kucharzewski - martial artist
- Jim Peplinski - Calgary Flames NHL
- Chris Pozniak - soccer player who currently plays for San Jose Earthquakes.
- Tomasz Radzinski - soccer player
- Krzysztof Soszynski - Mixed Martial Artist
- Larry Trader - played for Detroit, St. Louis, Montreal, 1982–1988
- Wojtek Wolski - Player NHL
- John Tavares - ice hockey player for the New York Islanders
- Aleksandra Wozniak - professional tennis Player
- Stan Mikawos - Winnipeg Blue Bombers Player CFL
- Dave Stala - Hamilton Tiger-Cats Player CFL
Fictional Characters
- Walter "Sasquatch" Langkowski, a Marvel superhero
- Jude Lizowsky, a 6teen character
See also
- Great Emigration
- Canadian-Polish Congress
- Polish Culture Society of Edmonton
- Polish Americans
- Polish Cathedral style of North American church architecture
- Polish British
- Polish Australians
- Polish Brazilians
- Kashubians#Diaspora
References
- ^ a b Statistics Canada, [1], 2001 Census, last modified: 2005-01-25. Accessed 2008-01-03.
- ^ Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2002, Archival Sources for the Study of Polish Canadians. Accessed 2008-01-03
- ^ Henry Radecki, Ethnic organizational dynamics: the Polish group in Canada. Page 102 Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 1979 - 275 pages
- ^ Archival Sources for the Study of Polish Canadians
- ^ Schaefer, Glen (June 3, 2012). "Teen actor's career catapults into Hollywood overnight". The Province. Archived from the original on June 15, 2012.
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External links
- Canadian Polish Congress
- History of Ours: the Polish Community in Brantford
- Polish: Polonijne parafie rzymskokatolickie w Kanadzie
- Multicultural Canada website digitized issues of Toronto newspaper Zwiazkowiec (Alliancer), 1935–1978