Franciszek Edward Pfeiffer, nom-de-guerre ''Radwan'' (January 21, 1895 in
Åódź
Åódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Åódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Åódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...
– June 13, 1964 in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
) was a
Polish military commander,
Brigadier General of the
Polish Army
The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...
, commander of the Region I
Śródmieście of the
Home Army
The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier ZwiÄ…zek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
during the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...
, cavalier of the
Order of Virtuti Militari
Edward Pfeiffer was born in 1895 in a middle-class family in Åódź. He also attended high school there and between 1910 and 1912 he helped to found the
Polish Scouting Association and a secret school organization "Collegial Self-Help" whose purpose was education in the
Polish language
Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...
(partly banned or restricted in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
) and the study of
Polish history. The group also distributed books which had been banned by the Tsarist censors.
Honours and awards
* Gold Cross of the
Order of Virtuti Militari, previously awarded the Silver Cross
*
Cross of Independence
Cross of Independence () was the second highest Polish military decoration between World Wars I and II. It was awarded to individuals who had fought actively for the independence of Poland, and was released in three classes.
History
The Cr ...
*
Cross of Valour - four times
*
Gold Cross of Merit with Swords
*
Order of LÄÄplÄ“sis
The Order of LÄÄplÄ“sis (also LÄÄplÄ“sis Military Order, ), the first and the highest Latvian military award, was established in 1919 on the initiative of JÄnis Balodis, the Commander of the Latvian Army during the Latvian War of Independ ...
, 3rd class (Latvia)
References
1895 births
1964 deaths
Home Army members
Polish military personnel of World War II
Warsaw Uprising insurgents
Recipients of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari
Recipients of the Cross of Independence
Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland)
Recipients of the Cross of Merit with Swords (Poland)
Recipients of the Order of LÄÄplÄ“sis, 3rd class
Military personnel from Åódź
Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom
Polish people of German descent
{{Poland-mil-bio-stub