Krzysztof Jan Skubiszewski (8 October 1926 – 8 February 2010) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

politician, a former

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

(1989–1993) and an established scholar in the field of

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

Early life and education

Skubiszewski was born in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

on 8 October 1926. He attended high school in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. He held a law degree, which he received from Poznan University. He also attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and Nancy University in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

for postgraduate studies. He graduated from Harvard University in 1958.

Career

Skubiszewski taught international law at his alma mater, Poznan University. He was an expert on Polish-German relations. He was a member of the Curatorium of

The Hague Academy of International Law The Hague Academy of International Law () is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taught in English and French and, except for External ...

. He was a pioneer in scholarship on the law-making authority of international organizations. During the communist regime in the country he was an active member of the Solidarity movement. After the fall of communism, he served in the successive cabinets of

Tadeusz Mazowiecki Tadeusz Mazowiecki (; 18 April 1927 – 28 October 2013) was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime minister since 1946, hav ...

Jan Krzysztof Bielecki Jan Krzysztof Bielecki (born 3 May 1951) is a Polish liberal politician and economist. A leading figure of the Gdańsk-based Liberal Democratic Congress in the early 1990s, Bielecki served as Prime Minister of Poland for most of 1991. In his p ...

Jan Olszewski Jan Ferdynand Olszewski (; 20 August 1930 – 7 February 2019) was a Polish conservative lawyer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Poland for five months between December 1991 and early June 1992 and later became a leading figure ...

and

Hanna Suchocka Hanna Stanisława Suchocka (; born 3 April 1946) is a Polish political figure, lawyer, professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and Chair of the Constitutional Law Department, former First Vice-President and Honorary President of the V ...

and was the first

minister of foreign affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

of the Third Republic of Poland. He was in office from 12 September 1989 to 26 October 1993. In 1992, Skubiszewski, together with 9 other ministers of foreign affairs from the Baltic Sea area, and an EU commissioner, founded the

Council of the Baltic Sea States The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation working on three priority areas: regional identity; regional safety and security; regional sustainability and prosperity. These three priority areas aim ...

(CBSS) and the

EuroFaculty EuroFaculty was an educational institution in the Baltic states in reforming higher education in Economics, Law, Public Administration and Business Administration. History At the founding meeting of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) ...

.Kristensen, Gustav N. 2010. Born into a Dream. EuroFaculty and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. Berliner Wissentshafts-Verlag. . He was awarded with the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state decoration. In 1993, he was appointed an ad hoc judge in

the International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues as interpretati ...

the Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. An acclaimed international lawyer, he served as the president of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal there from 16 February 1994 until his death. In 2006 he was awarded by the French-German-Polish for French-German-Polish Committee together with the other two co-founders of the Weimar Triangle, the former Foreign Ministers

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

and

Roland Dumas Roland Dumas (; 23 August 1922 – 3 July 2024) was a French lawyer and Socialist politician who served as Foreign Minister under President François Mitterrand from 1984 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1993. He was also President of the Constitutio ...

, the Adam-Mickiewicz Prize. together

Death and legacy

Skubiszewski died on 8 February 2010 at the age of 83. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland initiated a scholarship and a research grant for the candidates from

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

the Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

the Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

and

the Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, incl ...

for his memory in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skubiszewski, Krzysztof 1926 births 2010 deaths Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań alumni Harvard University alumni Politicians from Poznań Polish academics Ministers of foreign affairs of Poland Members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Nancy-Université alumni International Court of Justice judges Polish judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)