Józef Kowalski (2 February 1900? – 7 December 2013) was a Polish

supercentenarian A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian) is a person who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of major age-related diseases u ...

claimant, who was the last surviving military veteran of the Polish-Soviet War.

Biography

Kowalski was born in Wicyń, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) and was a military veteran who served in the Polish Army in the 22nd Uhlan Regiment. He served in several important battles of the war, including the Battle of Warsaw and

Battle of Komarów The Battle of Komarów, or the Zamość Ring, was one of the most important battles of the Polish-Soviet War. It took place between 30 August and 2 September 1920, near the village of Komarowo (now Komarów) near Zamość. It was the last larg ...

. In World War II, he took part in the September Campaign. After being captured he was held in a concentration camp. On 2 February 2010, his claimed 110th birthday, he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for his war service by

Polish President The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Polan ...

Lech Kaczyński He lived in Tursk, near

Sulęcin Sulęcin (; german: Zielenzig) is a town in western Poland with 10,117 inhabitants (2019), the capital of Sulecin County, since 1999 in Lubusz Voivodeship. Geography Sulęcin is located in the center of Lubusz Voivodeship (Lubuskie province), b ...

, in western Poland a care home. On 23 February 2012 Kowalski was promoted to the rank of ''kapitan'', and on 16 August 2012 he was nominated to become an honorary citizen of the city of

Wołomin Wołomin is the main town of Wołomin County situated in the Masovian Voivodship. Wołomin is situated approximately east of Warsaw, the capital of Poland, near the railway to Białystok. It has approximately 36,000 inhabitants and covers an ar ...

, having already become an honorary citizen of both Warsaw and Radzymin.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kowalski, Jozef Polish supercentenarians Polish soldiers Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish military personnel of World War II 2013 deaths Longevity claims