Amicus Poloniae () is a distinction, established in 1996 by the
Polish ambassador to the United States
The Poland Ambassador to the United States (officially the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the United States) is the official representative of the government of the Poland to the government of the United ...
and conferred annually to the citizens of the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
for merits in the field of Polish-American relations, especially in the popularization of achievements of Polish culture, sciences and the promotion of Poland in the United States.
Together with the distinction the laureate receives a plaque made from cherry wood and adorned with a brass White Eagle – the
Coat of arms of Poland
The coat of arms of Poland is the Coat of arms, heraldic symbol representing Poland. The current version was adopted in 1990. It is a white, crowned Eagle (heraldry), eagle with a golden beak and talons, on a red background.
In Poland, the coat ...
- and an engraved plate with the name of the laureate.
Laureates
*1996 Stefan & Wanda Wilk – Los Angeles, California, Polish Music Center, University of Southern California
*1997 Ellen K. Lee – La Senda, California, Helena Modrzejewska Foundation, California
*1998 Paulina Babinski – Denver, Colorado, American Council of Polish Culture in Denver
*1999 Joshua Siegel – New York, NY, Department of Film and Video Museum of Modern Art., New York
*2000
Paul Mazursky
Irwin Lawrence "Paul" Mazursky (; April 25, 1930 – June 30, 2014) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. Known for his dramatic comedies that often dealt with modern social issues, he was nominated for five Academy Awards for '' ...
– Beverly Hills, California, Actor, film director; Kevin Mulroy, Los Angeles, California, Research Director, Autry Museum
*2001 Hanna Saxon – Miami, Florida, Chopin Foundation in the USA
*2002
George E. Pataki – governor of New York State
*2003 Richard Farwell – Executive Director of
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, previously known as Villa Vizcaya, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick- International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present-day Coconut Grove neighbo ...
*2004 Frank Barnyak – President of the U. S. Navy League in Los Angeles
*2005
Anna M. Cienciala – Professor of History and Russian and Eastern European Studies, University of Kansas
*2006 Salme Harju Steinberg – President of Northeastern Illinois University
*2007
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
– cinema director
*2007 Clay Bullwinkel - Silicon Valley businessman and mentor of Poland-based technology companies
*2008 Yola Czaderska-Hayek, Mahendra Patel – Chief Executive Officer, Hope Medical Institute
*2009
Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Lois on the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned her 3 Golden Globe nominations and 7 Primetime Emmy nominat ...
– actress graduated from the University of Wisconsin and the Yale School of Drama.
*2010 Wojciech Kielak – Former president of the Polish American Congress in Nebraska and a commanding officer in Gen. Maczek's Division in the Western European Front
*2012 Paula Freer – Director of International Government Relations for Marathon Oil Corporation
*2013 Teresa Lowenthal, Paul Lowenthal – American Institute of Polish Culture, Miami, Florida
*2014
Bruce Rauner
Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, venture capitalist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he had a decades-long career in inves ...
– governor of Illinois
*2015
Georgetown University Press
Georgetown University Press is a university press affiliated with Georgetown University that publishes about forty new books a year. The press's major subject areas include bioethics, international affairs, languages and linguistics, political s ...
*2017 Zbigniew Kantorosinski – Chief of the Germanic and Slavic Division,
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
*2018 Stephanie Kraft, journalist, translator
*2019 Normal Kelker - microbiologist and historian, Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences and Joann Falleta, Music Director, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, New York
*2020 Neal Pease, Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
*2021 John Dunn - Professor of History, Valdosta State University, Georgia
*2022 David Strathairn, actor, Clark Young, script writer, Derek Golden, writer, "Remember this. The lesson of Jan Karski," theatrical production.
*2023 Rick Huard - Editor in Chief, Ohio University Press
References
{{Reflist
External links
Embassy of Poland
Polish awards
Poland–United States relations