Edward Franciszek Szczepanik (; 22 August 1915 – 11 October 2005) was a Polish economist and the last

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

of the Polish Government in Exile.

Biography

Szczepanik was born on 21 August 1915 (his birth was registered with the birth date of 22 August 1915) in

Suwałki Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki ...

, a small town in northern Poland, while the country was part of Imperial Russia under German occupation.

Early life

Edward lived in Kościuszko street, he went to the local grammar school and then studied at the

Warsaw School of Economics SGH Warsaw School of Economics ( pl, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie, ''SGH''Edward Lipiński in 1936. During his compulsory military service he was stationed at the Artillery Officers' School with the 29th Light Artillery Regiment. He won a scholarship to study at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

, studying under Professors

Lionel Robbins Lionel Charles Robbins, Baron Robbins, (22 November 1898 – 15 May 1984) was a British economist, and prominent member of the economics department at the London School of Economics (LSE). He is known for his leadership at LSE, his proposed def ...

Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Haye ...

and Paul Narcyz Rosenstein-Rodan. On his return he became an assistant in Lipiński's department in SGH. After the interruption of the War, he completed his education with an MSc in economics from the

LSE LSE may refer to: Computing * LSE (programming language), a computer programming language * LSE, Latent sector error, a media assessment measure related to the hard disk drive storage technology * Language-Sensitive Editor, a text editor used ...

in 1953 and also a PhD in economics in 1956.

World War II

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2005-0004, Italien, Monte Cassino

During the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, Szczepanik was interned in Lithuania and later captured by the Soviet forces. From 1940 until 1942, he was held prisoner in the Soviet

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

camps in Kozielsk and

Kola Peninsula sjd, Куэлнэгк нёа̄ррк , image_name= Kola peninsula.png , image_caption= Kola Peninsula as a part of Murmansk Oblast , image_size= 300px , image_alt= , map_image= Murmansk in Russia.svg , map_caption = Location of Murmansk Oblas ...

. Following the outbreak of the Russo-German War and signing of the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement, he was released and joined the Polish II Corps under general Władysław Anders. As an Officer (and eventually Major) in the Polish Army, he served with distinction in the Fifth Polish Artillery Regiment – notably in the battles of

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first ho ...

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

, and

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. He was one of the first members of the Allied troops to enter

. In 1945 he received the Cross of the Valorous, and the following year was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit with Swords. In addition, Szczepanik was awarded the Italian Cross of Military Merit by the

King of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader ...

and several other Polish and British campaign medals. He also served as a liaison officer with the Royal Artillery Training Team, commanded by Colonel R.R. Hoare.

Marriage and children

Edward Szczepanik married Hanna Maria Janikowska on 29 June 1946 in Rome. They had four children, Barbara, Tadeusz, Zofia and Tomasz, all of whom were born in London.

Economics career

Szczepanik's career as an economist encompassed many educational institutions, including: *assistant lecturer –

Warsaw School of Economics SGH Warsaw School of Economics ( pl, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie, ''SGH''University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the f ...

(1953–1961) *advisor –

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Advisory Team,

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

, Pakistan (1961–1963) *senior research fellow –

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

, England (1978–1981) *professor of economics – Polish University Abroad, London (Polski Uniwersytet na Obczyznie – PUNO) 1981. In addition, Szczepanik also performed consulting for the following: *

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(UNHCR), Hong Kong (1954) * United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (UN-ECAFE),

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

(1956) * International Coffee Organization (ICO), London (1975) Szczepanik also worked with the Food and Agricultural Organisation (

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

) of the UN – first as a consultant in Hong Kong from 1954 to 1955; and later as Senior Economist in Rome, Italy from 1963 until 1977.

Polish politics

Szczepanik was the founder and chairman of the ''Polish Institute for Research into National Affairs'' (Instytut Badań Zagadnień Krajowych) in London during 1951 to 1953 and 1983 to 1986. While in Rome, Italy from 1963 to 1977, he was also the Polish representative to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

– one of only three states that still continued its relations with the Polish Government in Exile. He was a director of the ''Council for Understanding Research on Poles Living Abroad'' (Rada Porozumiewawcza Badań nad Polonią), and was President of the ''Polish Society of Arts and Sciences Abroad'' (Polskie Towarzystwo Naukowe na Obczyźnie – PTNO) in London. In 1981, he also became the Minister of Home Affairs of the Polish Government in Exile. On 7 April 1986 he was chosen the successor of Kazimierz Sabbat to be the next

of that government. After Sabbat's death, his successor as the president of Poland in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, asked him to continue with his mission, which ended in 1990. This is when Szczepanik's cabinet advised their last President in Exile to accept the invitation of Poland's Speaker of the Senate to transfer the Flag and other Office pre-war Insignia to

Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democrati ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, as the "President of the Republic elected by Polish people in free general elections".

Polish honours

Szczepanik was honoured to be named a Knight of the Order of Polonia Restituta by the Polish Government in Exile in 1981. In 1982 he obtained the freedom of his native town

as its honorary citizen. The President of the Republic of Poland in London awarded him with a Commander's Star in 1985, to which a Grand Sash was added in 1989. He was awarded the title of Doctor of Economic Science – Honoris Causa in 1995 by the

Warsaw School of Economics SGH Warsaw School of Economics ( pl, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie, ''SGH''Powiat of Suwałki the Medal for Merits to the Powiat of Suwałki; and from Poland's Minister of Culture, the Medal for Merits to Polish Culture. Szczepanik died on 11 October 2005 in Worcestershire. His ashes were buried with military honours in his home town of Suwałki following a

requiem mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

at St Alexander's Church.Polish Białystok Regional government report on funeral (automatic translation)
/ref>

Szczepanik cabinets

Works

* ''Zagadnienia neutralnego pieniądza''. (Warsaw, 1938
SGH
* ''Factors determining the mark of interest''. (MSc (Econ.) (London) thesis LSE, 1953) * ''Zarys polityki dobrobytu gospodarczego''. (London, 1953) * ''A study in the economic problems of central & eastern Europe''. Lectures. (London, 1954) * co-author MA, Ronald A., ''The National Income of Hong Kong, 1947–1950''. (Hong Kong University Press: Hong Kong, 1955) * ''The Cost of Living in Hong Kong''. (Hong Kong University Press: Hong Kong, 1956) * ''The Economic Growth of Hong Kong'' (with special reference to the post-war industrialisation). (University of London / Oxford University Press: London, 1958) c.f.
Britannica
* Editor, ''The Economic Role of Middlemen and Co-operatives in Indo-Pacific Fisheries''. (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 1960) * Editor, ''Economic and social problems of the Far East : Symposium : Golden jubilee congress : Papers and discussions''. (Hong Kong University Press, 1962) * ''National accounting as a tool of economic planning''. (Lectures). (Mouton & Co.: The Hague, 1965) * ''Agricultural policies at different levels of development''. (Rome, 1976) * ''Kształtowanie się poglądów polskiego ruchu oporu na politykę gospodarczą''. (London, 1979
SGH
* co-author Duchêne, François, ''New limits on European agriculture : politics and the Common Agricultural Policy''. (Totowa: Rowman & Allanheld / Croom Helm, London, 1985.) (US) / (UK) c.f
Duchêne
* Editor, ''Napaść sowiecka i okupacja polskich ziem wschodnich, wrzesień 1939''. (Polskie Towarzystwo Naukowe na Obczyźnie, Polska Fundacja Kulturalna, London, 1985) / (Warsaw : Międzyzakładowa Struktura "Solidarności" V, 1985) * Editor, ''Kongres Kultury Polskiej Ojczyzna w sercach : pokłosie kongresowe : prace Kongresu Kultury Polskiej : tom 1'' (Polskie Towarzystwo Naukowe na Obczyżnie, London, 1986) * Editor, ''The Polish Cultural And Scientific Heritage at the Dawn of the Third Millennium'' (Polish Society of Arts and Sciences Abroad, 240 King Street, London, W6 ORF, 2003)

Notes

External links

Leszek Balcerowicz Leszek Henryk Balcerowicz (pronounced ; born 19 January 1947) is a Polish economist, statesman, and Professor at Warsaw School of Economics. He served as Chairman of the National Bank of Poland (2001–2007) and twice as Deputy Prime Minister o ...

.
Daily Telegraph Obituary, 17/10/2005

*

* ttps://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=http://www.1lo.suwalki.pl/szczep.php Biography on Polish website of Suwałki grammar school (automatic translation) *
Biography on Polish website of Suwałki City Hall (automatic translation)
*

* ttps://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=http://www.sgh.waw.pl/ogolnouczelniane/100lat/Sylwetki/lipinski/view?searchterm=szczepanik Lipiński's department in SGH (automatic translation)*
Note on Szczepanik's doctorate honoris causa in his Alma Mater's website (automatic translation)