December 19, 2011 <Back to Index>
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Edward
Bernard Raczyński (December
19, 1891 – July 30, 1993) was a Polish aristocrat, diplomat,
writer, politician and President of
Poland in exile
(between 1979 and 1986). He was both
longest living (102), and oldest Polish President (took office at 88,
left at 95). Count
Edward Bernard Maria Raczyński was born December 19, 1891 in Zakopane,
to a Polish aristocratic
family. His father was Count Edward
Aleksander Raczyński of Nałęcz Coat of
Arms, and his mother Róża née Countess Potocka.
The Raczyńskis were related to the Austro -
Hungarian house of Habsburgs.
The full name was "Raczyński z Małyszyna", as they were a branch
of the noble family Nałęcz - Małyski from Greater Poland (the
area of the town of Wieluń)
and about 1540 took their name from the estate of Raczyn near
Wieluń. However, the Raczyńskis remained relatively unknown until the
18th century, when four of them became Senators of Poland under
different reigns. One of the Raczyńskis became a Knight of the Order of the
White Eagle during the reign of king August the
Strong, six of them were awarded the Virtuti Militari order during the time of Duchy of Warsaw and three received the same
distinction during the November
Uprising of
1831. The title of Count was awarded to different branches of the
family by Prussian Kings Friedrich
Wilhelm III (in
1824) and Wilhelm II (in 1905). One of their kin
was a Knight of the highest Prussian Order of the
Black Eagle. Raczyński
spent most of his childhood in Cracow, in the family palace Pod Baranami and in the family palace in Rogalin in Greater Poland.
He studied law in Lipsk, Cracow, and London (the London School of
Economics) and was awarded a doctorate of the Jagiellonian
University in
Cracow in 1915. In November 1918, Raczynski joined the army of the
ressuscitated Poland, from which he was called to the diplomatic
service in may 1919. Until 1925, he was employed in the Polish
embassies and
missions in Bern, Copenhagen and London.
Back in Warsaw,
he became the head of the department of international agreements. The
same year Raczyński married Joyous
née Markham, daughter of a British coal mining mogul. His
wife died soon afterwards and on August 25, 1932 he married his second
wife, Cecylia Maria
née Jaroszyńska, by whom he had three daughters. Earlier
the same year Raczyński was appointed Polish ambassador to the League of
Nations and in
1934 he became the ambassador of the Republic of Poland in the United Kingdom.
On
behalf of Poland, he signed the Polish - British alliance (25 august
1939) which ultimately led the United Kingdom to declare war on Nazi
Germany after its aggression on Poland. Following
the Polish
Defensive War Raczyński
remained in London where he continued to serve as the ambassador of the Polish
Government in Exile and
one
of its prominent members. Between July 22, 1941 and July 14, 1943
he was also the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Władysław
Sikorski.
In this capacity, he provided the Allies with one of the earliest and
most accurate account of the ongoing Holocaust ("The mass extermination
of Jews in German occupied Poland", Raczynski's "Note addressed to the
Governments of the United Nations on December 10th, 1942") and pleaded for action. After
1945,
when the government of the United Kingdom broke the pacts with
Poland and withdrew support for the Polish government, Raczyński
remained in London,
where he acted as one of the most notable members of Polish diaspora
there. He was active in various political and social organisations in
exile, including the Fundusz
Pomocy Krajowi (Help
for the Country Fund)
which actively supported the democratic opposition in
communist controlled Poland. Between 1954 and 1972 he was one of the
members of the Council of the
Three,
the collective presidential body of the Polish government in exile. He
was also a member of the Committee for Polish Affairs and an advisor of
various British
governmental agencies and ministries. In
1962, his second wife Cecylia
Maria née Jaroszyńska died.
In March 1979, Raczyński became President in exile, after being
previously chosen by the outgoing President Stanisław
Ostrowski. In turn, he chose as his successor Prime Minister Kazimierz Sabbat. During
the Raczyński presidency (1979 - 1986) the Solidarity movement
was established in Poland. Raczyński played an important role in
raising awareness about the events in Poland in Western countries and
in establishing closer ties with the opposition movement in Poland.
President Raczyński at some point considered naming Władysław
Bartoszewski as
his successor, as he wanted to choose someone "from the country" and
with strong ties to the Polish opposition movement. Bartoszewski,
however, declined the offer.
After
serving a 7-year term he resigned from his post on April 8, 1986. He
was the last Polish President-in-Exile who had held an important office
during the era of the 2nd Republic: his successors, Kazimierz Sabbat and Ryszard
Kaczorowski were
in their twenties at the outset of the Second World War.
As he left office he received a praise for reuniting the Polish
political emigration and reshaping the Government in exile. At the age of 97, Raczyński married, his
third wife, Aniela Lilpop, thus legalizing a union of many years.
Edward Raczyński died July 30, 1993, in London as the last male descendant of his line.
His coffin was placed in the mausoleum of
his family located at the chapel in Rogalin. In his last will and
testament, Count Raczyński bequeathed his family's palace in Rogalin, and his library to the Polish nation.
He was the longest living Head of State in Poland's history and one of
the very few centenarians among European politicians of the 20th
century. |