Leopold Skulski

Leopold Skulski pronounced [lɛˈɔpɔlt ˈskulskʲi]; (15 November 1878, Zamość – Brest, 11 June 1940) served as prime minister of Poland for six months from 13 December 1919 until 9 June 1920 in the interim Legislative Sejm during the formation of sovereign Second Polish Republic following World War I.[1]

Leopold Skulski
Leopold Skulski
4th Prime Minister of Poland 3rd Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Poland
In office 13 December 1919 – 9 June 1920
President	Józef Piłsudski (Chief of State)
Preceded by	Ignacy Paderewski
Succeeded by	Władysław Grabski
Minister of Interior
In office 24 July 1920 – 28 June 1921
Prime Minister	Władysław Grabski Wincenty Witos
Preceded by	Józef Kuczyński
Succeeded by	Władysław Raczkiewicz
Personal details
Born	15 November 1878 Zamość, Lublin Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
Died	11 June 1940 (aged 61) Brest, Soviet Union
Nationality	Polish
Political party	Polish People's Party "Piast"
Occupation	Politician, chemist

Life

Skulski was involved in politics from at least the mid 1910s, and served as mayor of Łódź between 1917 and 1919. During the rebirth of sovereign Poland, he was active in the conservative Zjednoczenie Narodowe, representing the interests of landowners from Liga Narodowa.[2]

He became a deputy in the Polish parliament (Sejm) after the 1919 elections from the parliamentary wing of Narodowe Zjednoczenie Ludowe (NZL) which split from Zwiazek Ludowo Narodowy (ZLN) under his leadership,[3] and on 13 December 1919 he became the Prime Minister of Poland. His government resigned on 9 June 1920, in the aftermath of the failure of the Kiev Offensive and the success of the Bolshevik counteroffensive, in as much as the constitutional impasse resulting from the split of PSL "Wyzwolenie".[4] Skulski was also the Minister of Internal Affairs under the government of Wincenty Witos (from 24 July 1920 to 28 June 1921). He was a member of the State Tribunal of Poland from 1925. President of the Polish Radio in the 1930s, he did not take an active role in political life in the last decade of his life.

Death

During the Invasion of Poland he was arrested in Pińsk by the Soviet NKVD; shortly thereafter he died in the NKVD prison in Brest.

References

1. Szymon Rudnicki (1981). Działalność polityczna polskich konserwatystów 1918-1926 (PDF). Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich – Wydawnictwo. ISBN 83-04-00866-1. Wojna w nierównym stopniu odbiła się na poziomie życia ziemian. Niektórzy nawet dorobili się na dostawach wojskowych. Jednak na terenie Galicji i Królestwa wiele majątków zostało zniszczonych w wyniku działań wojennych. Najgorzej odczuły skutki wojny i rewolucji kresy wschodnie. Jednak, mimo strat wojennych, ziemiaństwo zachowało swą pozycję w życiu gospodarczym kraju. – From "Introduction" by Szymon Rudnicki
2. Rudnicki 1981, p. 61 (of 285) in PDF.
3. Rudnicki 1981, p. 83 (of 285) in PDF.
4. Rudnicki 1981, p. 85 (of 285) in PDF.