Historically, Poland has always been one of the worst-ravaged, war-torn countries in the world. Unfortunately squeezed between two aggressive powers, Russia on one hand and Western Europe on the other, Poland has always been witness to some conflict. Yet, despite the ever-present tensions, Poland has unfailingly produced world-leaders in various fields. Here is a list of 7 Polish people whose achievements changed their respective fields of work, and often the world, forever.
1. Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin
Widely considered to be one of the greatest composers and pianists of all time, Chopin was born in Zelazowa Wola, Poland, in the year 1810, although he later moved to Paris, where he composed most of his classic works. He is said to have contributed greatly to creating a Polish national style of music, as he incorporated several Polish folk influences in his compositions. Although he died at the young age of 39 of tuberculosis, Chopin was extremely prolific in his lifetime. He has to his credit, a large number of polonaises (slow Polish dances), mazurkas (Polish folk dance with a lively tempo), nocturnes (musical composition inspired by the night), études (instrumental musical composition), preludes etc. Although he died in Paris, as per his dying wish, his heart was removed from his body and taken back to Poland where it now lays in a church not far from his last Polish residence.
2. Marie Skłodowska Curie
Marie Curie, born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, is famous for being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for Physics for her pioneering work on Radioactivity. She also became the first person to be awarded two Nobel prizes, when she was awarded the Nobel again, in 1911, this time in the field of Chemistry, for the discovery of the elements Radium and Polonium. When Poland was partitioned into three parts and governed by three foreign powers, Curie was born in Warsaw, in the Russian-ruled part and educated via Poland’s underground Universities during Russian rule. She later moved to Paris for higher education where she subsequently settled down with her husband, Pierre Curie. She always remained attached to her homeland however, visiting frequently with her children.
3. Karol Wojtyla – Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II, who held the Papacy from 1978 until his death in 2005, was the first non-Italian to be elected as Pope by the Catholic Church since 1523. Born Karol Józef Wojtyła in the small Polish town of Wadowice, he was educated in Poland, and became the youngest Pope in 132 years. John Paul II has been widely credited for modernizing the Papacy and played a significant role in the fall of Communism, particularly in his native Poland. Upon his death, John Paul II was popularly bestowed the title “the Great”, becoming only the fourth Pope in history to be so acclaimed. Despite facing both criticism and controversy during his reign, Pope John Paul II is today fondly remembered by Catholics the world over.
4. Wisława Szymborska
Contemporary Polish poet Wisława Szymborska drew international attention when she was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1996 for “poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality”. Writing in her native Polish, Szymborska’s work often posed a challenge to translators because of her tendency to play on the language with invented words and ‘syntactic tricks’, yet her poems have been read and acclaimed worldwide. One of the most popular poets in Poland, the sale of her collections of poems have often rivaled the sale of several popular prose authors. Szymborska died very recently, on 1st February 2012, leaving behind a body of work which, although not very large, continues to draw the emotions and sensibilities of Poles, as well as poetry lovers from around the world.
5. Henryk Sienkiewicz
Born in Wola Okrzejska, a village in eastern Poland, Sienkiewicz is famous for being the first Pole to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1905 for highly popular novel, Quo Vadis? Translated into more than 50 languages and made into a film multiple times, Quo Vadis has been Sienkiewicz’s most widely-read work internationally, which his historic novels “With Fire and Sword”, “The Deluge” and “Fire in the Steppe” are best known in Poland.
6. Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus, born Mikolaj Kopernik, was one of the most famous scientists of all time, who is most renowned for changing the way science perceived the Universe by being the first one to propose that the Earth was not the centre of the Universe. Born in the year 1473 in the city of Torun, Poland, Copernicus went on to become one of the most revolutionary Renaissance astronomers and one of the most important figures in the history of science.
7. Irina Sendler
Irena Sendler, commonly referred to as Irena Sendlerowa in Poland, was a Polish Catholic social worker who served in the Polish Underground and the resistance organization in German-occupied Warsaw during WW II. Sendler’s heroic efforts came to light after the end of the War, when it was discovered that she, with the help of some other members of the Polish resistance had saved the lives of 2500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw ghetto, providing them with false documents and sheltering them in individual and group children’s homes outside the ghetto. Numerous children rescued by her came back often in the course of their lifetimes and maintained a relationship with her. Sendler was awarded Poland’s highest civilian award, the ‘Order of the White Eagle’ in 2003 and was posthumously awarded the Audrey Hepburn humanitarian award in 2009 for her monumental and inspiring efforts.
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