Tadeusz Kowalski (31 May 1894 – April 1940) was a Polish

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

and sportsman.

Biography

Kowalski was a competitive

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

with partner

Zofia Bilorówna Zofia Bilorówna (or Zofia Bilor) (16 June 1895 in Lwów – 23 June 1962 in Rzeszów) was a Polish figure skater who competed in pair skating. With partner Tadeusz Kowalski, she won bronze at the 1934 European Figure Skating Championships. B ...

. They were nine time (1927–1935) Polish national champions. They won the bronze medal at the 1934

European Figure Skating Championships The European Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medals are awarded in single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The ...

. It was the first medal at that event for Poland. Their highest placement at the

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). The first World Championships were held in 1896 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and they have been held e ...

was 4th, which they accomplished in 1934. Kowalski was also a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. Between 1912 and 1928, he played for the

Czarni Lwow Czarni, means "The Blacks" in the Polish language, and is a name commonly given to Polish sports teams, including: *Czarni Dęblin, men's association football club *Czarni Jasło, men's association football club *Czarni Lwów, men's association foo ...

team. He was unsuccessfully trialled for entry into the

Poland national football team The Poland national football team () represents Poland in men's international Association football, football competitions since their first match in 1921. It is governed by the Polish Football Association (PZPN), the governing body for football ...

which was projected to appear in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

but its attendance cancelled due to the outbreak of the Polish-Bolshevik War. He was an officer 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 ...

, lieutenant of artillery, who served in both the Polish-Bolshevik War and the Defensive War of 1939 at 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 ...

when he was captured by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He was killed at

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

during the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

, aged 45. In 2007, the Polish Minister of Defense posthumously awarded him the rank of major.

Competitive highlights

References

European Championships medalists at the ISU official homepage
1894 births 1940 deaths Sportspeople from Lviv Polish male pair skaters Polish men's footballers Polish Army officers Katyn massacre victims European Figure Skating Championships medalists Men's association football players not categorized by position Polish military personnel killed in World War II 20th-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-footy-bio-stub