Juliusz Nowina-Sokolnicki (born December 16, 1925, in

Pinsk Pinsk (; , ; ; ; ) is a city in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Pinsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is located in the historical region of Polesia, at the confluence of t ...

, d. August 17, 2009 in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) was a Polish pretender to presidency and head of one of the two governments which claimed, in 1972, to be the successor to the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...

that was created to replace original Polish government, which fled to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in September 1939 at the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The legitimacy of his government was disputed.

Career

Nowina-Sokolnicki, who previously held several minor positions such as communications secretary within the Government of the Polish Republic in Exile and was close to President August Zaleski, claimed that Zaleski nominated him as his successor instead of Stanisław Ostrowski. This claim, however, remains disputed, as there is little evidence in support of it. Most of the Polish emigrant community as well as the

Government of Poland The government of Poland takes the form of a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised, within the ...

recognised Ostrowski and his successors as the legitimate Presidents in exile. (

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 Polish presidential election, 1990 election, Wałę ...

accepted symbols of the pre-war presidency from Ryszard Kaczorowski). Nowina-Sokolnicki is known for establishing the self styled Ordo Sancti Stanislai, an attempted revival of the Polish

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

, founded in 1765.Norbert Wójtowicz, ''Praemiando Incitat. Order Świętego Stanisława'', Warszawa 2007, s. 113-129, He also used the titles of

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

even though there is no record of any such titles for either himself or his family, and no proof of his kinship to an aristocratic family bearing a similar name. There is no indication that the noble family ever resided in the Pinsk area in present-day

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

References

1925 births 2009 deaths Polish politicians {{Poland-politician-stub