Stefan Przanowski (12 April 1874 - 17 February 1938) was a Polish engineer and politician who served as Minister of Provisions from 1917 to 1920 and Minister of Industry and Trade from 1920 to 1921. He was also disputed

prime minister of Poland A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only wa ...

in 1922.

Biography

Stefan Przanowski was the son of Edward Przanowski (1845–1929), soldier of the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

, member of the Public Charity Council of the

Łęczyca County __NOTOC__ Łęczyca County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Łódź Voivodeship, central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms in 1998. Its admi ...

. Przanowski’s had four brothers, , who was Director of National Institute of Handwork nowiki/>:pl: Państwowy Instytut Robót Ręcznych">:pl: Państwowy Instytut Robót Ręcznych">nowiki/>:pl: Państwowy Instytut Robót Ręcznych , who was a lawman and member of the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

of the 3rd term in the Second Polish Republic, Second Republic of Poland on behalf of the National Party (Poland), National Party; Michał Przanowski, who was a merchant in Przasnysz; and Kazimierz Przanowski, who was the director of . Stefan Przanowski graduated from Gimnazjum Realne in

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,436 inhabitants (2021). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a major rail junction of central Poland, where the line from Warsaw splits into ...

and later from the

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; ) is both a German public research university in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, and a research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT was created in 2009 when the University of Karlsruhe (), founde ...

in Germany. He returned to Poland and moved to

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 ...

. There, he was initially employed at multiple family-owned companies. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was appointed as a member of the (Civic Committee of the Capital City of Warsaw) and the Council of the Capital City of Warsaw. He later headed the food department. In Warsaw, Przanowski was increasingly involved in political activity within the (Inter-Party Political Circle). On December 17, 1917, Przanowski joined

Jan Kucharzewski Jan Kucharzewski (; 27 May 1876 in Wysokie Mazowieckie – 4 July 1952) was a Polish historian, lawyer, and politician. He was the prime minister of Poland from 1917 to 1918. In 1898 he graduated from Warsaw University. He was a member of the ' ...

's government as the Minister of Provisions. He later resigned along with the rest of the cabinet in protest against the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...

. In 1920, he was appointed as the Minister of Industry and Trade by

Wincenty Witos Wincenty Witos (; 21 or 22 January 1874 – 31 October 1945) was a Polish statesman, prominent member and leader of the Polish People's Party (PSL), who served three times as the Prime Minister of Poland in the 1920s. He was a member of the Pol ...

. Stefan Przanowski was a supporter of the free market and liquidated the previously operating statist offices pl">:pl:Etatyzm">pl coal, oil, grain. He was often referred to as “the pope of Polish liberalism”. In honour of Stefan Przanowski’s merits, in 1921, the ministries decided to name the salt cave located in the Wieliczka Salt Mine, the Przanowski Chamber. In 1922, during the government crisis, Stefan Przanowski was appointed as

Prime Minister of Poland A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only wa ...

. He was not able to create a cabinet due to objections from the Chief of State (Equivalent to President)

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

. Przanowski ran for the

later in 1922 and lost, then withdrawing from politics. From 1918 to 1930, Stefan Przanowski was chief executive officer of . In 1934, he was appointed president and chairman of the supervisory board of Norblin, Bracia Buch i T.Werner in Warsaw. Stefan Przanowski is noted among the most influential industrialists and economic activists; and retained independence from foreign capital. Przanowski was a member of the supervisory boards and investor representative boards of many industrial companies and banks. Some notable examples are: * Bank Polski (vice-chairman: today

PKO Bank Polski Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski Spółka Akcyjna or PKO Bank Polski S.A. (), in short PKO BP or simply PKO, is a multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. It is one of the largest financial i ...

, Poland's largest bank) * Bank Śląski (vice-chairman: today

ING Bank Śląski ING Bank Śląski SA (, ING BSK) is a Polish bank based in Katowice. The majority owner is ING Group. It is the 5th bank in Poland in terms of assets. In Q2 2021, the bank served over 4.3 million retail customers and over 504 000 corporate clients ...

, Polands second largest bank) * Bank Dyskontowski (deputy chairman: seized by the central government) * Polskiej Wytwórni Papierów Wartościowych (President of Council and chairman) * Giełda Pieniężna w Warszawie (vice-chairman and President of the Council: today

Warsaw Stock Exchange The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) () is a stock exchange in Warsaw, Poland. Founded in 1817, it was located in the Saxon Palace until 1877 when it was moved to the Exchange Building at the Saxon Garden. Currently, it is located at ul. Książęca ...

) * Górnośląskie Zjednoczone Huty „Królewska” i „Laura” w Katowicach. He was a member of the

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

of the Council of the Central Association of Polish Industry, Mining, Trade and Finance "Lewiatan", vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Warsaw, vice-president and member of the Council of the Polish Association of Metal Industrialists. From 1924, Stefan Przanowski alongside the Circle of Karlsruhenians at the Association of Technicians belonged to the Polish Academic Corporation ZAG Wisła (

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 ...

: '' Polska Korporacja Akademicka Związek Akademików Gdańskich Wisła''). He lived in Warsaw at Aleje Ujazdowskie 36 (Kamienica pod Gigantami). In 1924, the Przanowski family acquired an estate of 600 hectares and a grand palace. The estate is located in Nowa Wieś near

Starogard Gdański Starogard Gdański (; until 1950: ''Starogard''; formerly ) is a city in Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland with 48,328 inhabitants (2004). Starogard is the capital of Starogard County. Founded in the Middle Ages, Starogard is a city with ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

. He was married to Zofia Przanowska (born: Grabowska). The couple had a son Wojciech Przanowski, who was a soldier of 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 ...

and an engineer. The couple further had a daughter Izabela Wasiak, a

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 ...

teacher, lector and underground publisher. He is buried at the

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; ), also known as Stare Powązki (), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of the oldest, having been established in 179 ...

(section 170-6-25); a tombstone decorated with a bas-relief "Sadness" - by :pl:Leon Szatzsznajder. file:Grób_ministra_Stefana_Przanowskiego_na_Starych_Powązkach_w_Warszawie_po_renowacji_w_2022_roku.jpg, link=https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plik:Gr%C3%B3b_ministra_Stefana_Przanowskiego_na_Starych_Pow%C4%85zkach_w_Warszawie_po_renowacji_w_2022_roku.jpg, The grave of Minister Stefan Przanowski at Stare Powązki in Warsaw after renovation in 2022 In 2022 the grave of Stefan Przanowski was renovated. The entire project was implemented by the Stare Powązki, Stare Powązki Foundation in cooperation with the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.

Orders and decorations

* Commander's Cross with Star of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(May 2, 1924) * Commander's Cross of the

(May 2, 1924) * Golden Cross of Merit (1937) * Commander's Cross with Star of the

Order of the Crown of Romania The Order of the Crown of Romania is a chivalric order set up on 14 March 1881 by King Carol I of Romania to commemorate the establishment of the Kingdom of Romania. It was awarded as a state order until the end of the Romanian monarchy in 1947. ...

(Romania, 1922)

Bibliography

*
Przanowski Stefan (1874–1938)
', :''

Polski Słownik Biograficzny ''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'' (''PSB''; Polish Biographical Dictionary) is a Polish-language biographical dictionary, comprising an alphabetically arranged compilation of authoritative biographies of some 25,000 notable Poles and of foreigner ...

''. Wrocław: Ossolineum, 1985 tom XXVIII/4, s. 640–642 (autor biogramu: Ryszard Szwoch). * ''Ministrowie Polski Niepodległej 1918–1945'', pod red. Marka Baumgarta, Henryka Walczaka i Adama Wątora. Szczecin: Wyd. Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego, 2001, s. 327–329, . * '' Encyklopedia historii gospodarczej Polski do 1945 roku''. * '' Encyklopedia Warszawy'' (suplement). * ''Słownik biograficzny techników polskich'', tom 10 (autor biogramu: Józef Piłatowicz).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Przanowski, Stefan 1938 deaths 1874 births Local politicians in Poland 20th-century Polish businesspeople Polish mechanical engineers Burials at Powązki Cemetery Karlsruhe Institute of Technology alumni