Wincenty Rzymowski (19 July 1883, in

Kuczbork-Osada Kuczbork-Osada (german: Trutzburg) is a village in Żuromin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Kuczbork-Osada. It lies approximately east of Żuromin Żu ...

– 30 April 1950, in

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 officiall ...

) was a Polish politician and writer. Rzymowski was one of the many faces of Stalinism in postwar Poland.

Background

In the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

, Wincenty Rzymowski was a member of the Democratic Party and a known publicist. He was also forced to resign his membership in the

Polish Academy of Literature The Polish Academy of Literature ( pl, Polska Akademia Literatury, PAL) was one of the most important state institutions of literary life in the Second Polish Republic, operating between 1933 and 1939 with the headquarters in Warsaw. It was foun ...

in a controversy involving allegations of

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and though ...

. During World War II he began collaborating with the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...

. He joined the Union of Polish Patriots, was a Minister of Arts and Culture in the

Polish Committee of National Liberation The Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polish: ''Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego'', ''PKWN''), also known as the Lublin Committee, was an executive governing authority established by the Soviet-backed communists in Poland at the la ...

and a Minister of Foreign Affairs in the

Provisional Government of National Unity The Provisional Government of National Unity ( pl, Tymczasowy Rząd Jedności Narodowej - TRJN) was a puppet government formed by the decree of the State National Council () on 28 June 1945 as a result of reshuffling the Soviet-backed Provisio ...

, formed by

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

. He represented Poland during the signing of the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the United Nations System, UN system, including its Organ ...

. Wincenty Rzymowski was also a deputy to the State National Council and Legislative Sejm. From 1947 till the end of his life he was a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...

in the Polish communist government.

References

External links

* 1883 births 1950 deaths People from Żuromin County Alliance of Democrats (Poland) politicians Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland Government ministers of Poland Members of the State National Council Members of the Polish Sejm 1947–1952 Diplomats of the Polish People's Republic Controversies in Poland Members of the Polish Academy of Literature People involved in plagiarism controversies Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Burials at Powązki Cemetery {{Poland-politician-stub