Józef Klemens Piłsudski

Peter Hetherington (Independent Scholar - North America)

Ed. by Ewa M. Thompson, Rice University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.8.3: Polish Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Roman Koropeckyj (University of California, Los Angeles), Ewa M. Thompson (Rice University)

Dates

Born 5 Dec 1867
Died 12 May 1935
Activity 1918-1935

Places

Born in Poland
Active in Poland

Activities

Primary

Statesman

Resources

Piłsudski's Works

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Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935) was one of the most consequential statesmen of the twentieth century. He was the person most responsible for the establishment of an independent Polish state in the aftermath of World War I. His inspirational leadership was the determinate factor in Poland’s dramatic and improbable defeat of the Red Army in 1920, which not only preserved Poland’s sovereignty, but likely saved Europe from Bolshevik revolution.

The “Father of Polish Independence” was not born in Poland, but in the Russian Empire. “Poland” had been partitioned in 1795, her lands distributed among Russian, Prussian, and Austrian neighbors. The second son in a family of eleven children, Józef was born on December 5, 1867 at the village of Zułów (Zalavas), fifty kilometers northeast

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2455 words

Citation: Hetherington, Peter. "Józef Klemens Piłsudski". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 April 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13104, accessed 22 November 2024.]