Famous Polish People

Polish Culture: Poland Glossary

Famous Polish People

From religious leaders to sports stars, Poland is the birthplace of many a famous personality. While some individuals in this list died many years ago, their legacy lives on while others are still alive and making their mark on the world today.

Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II is considered by many as the country's most famous son. He was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in a small Polish town called Wadowice in 1920 and became a bishop in Krakow in the late 1950s. Karol Jozef Wojtyla was elected as head of the Catholic Church in 1978 - becoming the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. During his papacy, he gained approval for his modernisation of the papacy and frequent meetings with heads of state in many different countries. He also reached out to Catholics across the world through massive gatherings. Pope John Paul II passed away in 2005.

Marie Curie

While Pope John Paul II brought religious advancement, fellow Pole Marie Curie-Sklodowska is renowned for her pioneering research on radioactivity and the fight against cancer. Through her discovery of radium, Marie Curie paved the way for nuclear physics and cancer therapy and is the first person ever to be honoured with Nobel prizes in two different fields - physics and chemistry. Sadly her work came at a cost and she died in 1934 due to exposure to radiation.

In a 2009 poll carried out by New Scientist, Marie Curie was voted the 'Most Inspirational Woman in Science' and her legacy lives on. In 1948 the Marie Curie Memorial Foundation was set up in London (now called Marie Curie Cancer care) to preserve the name of Marie Curie in the Charitable medical field. Their purpose is to ensure the best care and facilities are provided for cancer patients.

Fryderyk Chopin

Fryderyk Chopin was a Polish composer and pianist and considered something of a child-prodigy. Born in 1810 in a small village called Zelazowa Wola, it was his big sister who first gave him piano lessons and by the age of seven he was playing concerts to the public. He left Poland in 1831 and moved to Paris where he died in 1849 at the age of just 39. He was sick for most of his life with chronic lung disease. Known as 'Poet of the Piano' some of Chopin's most famous pieces are Revolutionary Etude, the third movement of his Funeral March, and the Minute Waltz for which a vocal version has been performed by many artists including Barbra Streisand.

Roman Polanski

Academy award winning film director Roman Polanski makes it onto the list of some of the most distinguished Poles with his life of personal tragedy as sombre as the films he made. Born in 1933 in Paris before moving back to Poland four years later, Polanski survived the Nazi atrocities committed in Krakow but lost his mother in a concentration camp and later on his second wife, actress Sharon Tate, who was murdered in Los Angeles where he was living at the time.

Polanksi has spent a lot of his life in France and the US and has worked with many Hollywood actors like Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and Mia Farrow. He won his first Oscar for his 1968 horror film Rosemary's Baby and since then has directed other well-known award-winning films such as Chinatown in 1974, The Pianist in 2002 for which he won three Oscars and Oliver Twist in 2005.

Polanski has an outstanding case of sexual assault hanging over him in the US following an incident with a 13-year-old in 1977.

Irena Szewinska

Sprinter Irena Szewinska heads the list of Polish sport greats, with a long and successful athletics career. Between the ages of 18 and 34 she participated in five Olympic Games, winning seven medals, three of them gold. She also broke six world records and was the first woman ever to hold world records at 100m, 200m and 400m at the same time.

Adam Malysz

Ski jumper Adam Malysz is another well known and well loved personality in Poland. Having dazzled on the slopes for the best part of three decades, Malysz recently announced his retirement. Since 1995 he has won four individual Olympic Games medals, four individual World Championship gold medals and the same number of World Cup titles, altogether making the podium 92 times in competitions. Malysz' life motto is "Be good and just".

Kazimierz Deyna

Articles elsewhere on Soccerphile explore some of Poland's best footballers, but Kazimierz Deyna, arguably the best Polish football player in history must get a mention here too. The midfielder, who made his international debut in 1968, was top goal scorer four years later at the Olympic Games in Munich which the Poles won gold. Denya was also in the brilliant Poland World Cup team of 1974 which finished third at the tournament. He tragically lost his life aged 41, following a car accident.

There are a few more international celebrities who have their roots firmly planted in Poland. Actress Jane Seymour has Polish grandparents, Alex Rose of Guns ‘N’ Roses fame has a Polish grandmother and the mother of Richie Sambora who is Bon Jovi’s guitarist is also Polish.

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Famous Polish People

Polish Culture: Poland Glossary