Wincenty Rzymowski (19 July 1883, in Kuczbork-Osada – 30 April 1950, in Warsaw) was a Polish politician and writer. Rzymowski was one of the many faces of Stalinism in postwar Poland.

Wincenty Rzymowski
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
June 1945 – 6 February 1947
Preceded byEdward Osóbka-Morawski
Succeeded byZygmunt Modzelewski
Minister of Culture
In office
21 June 1944 – 2 May 1945
Preceded byZygmunt Kaczyński
Succeeded byEdmund Zalewski
Personal details
Born(1883-06-19)19 June 1883
Kuczbork-Osada, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
Died30 April 1950(1950-04-30) (aged 66)
Warsaw, Polish People's Republic
Political partyPolish United Workers' Party
Alma materOdesa University
ProfessionPolitician, diplomat, writer
AwardsOrder of the Banner of Labour
Order of Polonia Restituta
Medal for Warsaw 1939–1945
Medal of Victory and Freedom 1945
Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic
Order of Stara Planina

Career

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In the Second Polish Republic, Wincenty Rzymowski was a member of the Democratic Party and a known publicist. He was also forced to resign his membership in the Polish Academy of Literature in a controversy involving allegations of plagiarism.[1]

During World War II he began collaborating with the Soviets. He joined the Union of Polish Patriots, was a Minister of Arts and Culture in the Polish Committee of National Liberation and a Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Provisional Government of National Unity, formed by Stalin. He represented Poland during the signing of the United Nations Charter.[2] In January 1946, he was a Soviet candidate for the position of the first Secretary General of the United Nations, but opposed by the United States.[3] The two powers eventually compromised on Trygve Lie, a socialist from Norway.[3]

Wincenty Rzymowski was also a deputy to the State National Council and Legislative Sejm. From 1947 till the end of his life he was a minister without portfolio in the Polish communist government.

References

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  1. ^ "Wincenty Rzymowski (1883–1950)". Instytut Pamięci Narodowej. 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  2. ^ Wincenty Rzymowski of the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity Signing the United Nations Charter, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, retrieved 13 January 2020
  3. ^ a b Hamilton, Thomas J. (1950). "The U. N. and Trygve Lie". Foreign Affairs. 29 (1): 69. doi:10.2307/20030815. ISSN 0015-7120. JSTOR 20030815.
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