GREAT PERSONALITIES FROM POLAND

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John Paul II (1920-2005)

The Pope from Poland

Jan Paweł II, born Karol Wojtyła

(known as John Paul II) was the leader of the

Roman Catholic Church

John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455

years.

He was a vocal advocate for human rights. He spoke 8

languages.

His motto was ‘Totus Tuus’, which means

‘Totally Yours’.

John Paul II travelled a lot. He was in 129

countries. For example, as the first Pope he

visited the U.K.

He loved meetings with young people.

He initiated World Youth

Day.

The Pope loved mountain climbing

LECH WAŁĘSA Born in 1943

Lech Wałęsa won the Nobel Peace

Prize in 1983

A Polish politician and the former president

of Poland

He was in the music video of Michael

Jackson ‘Man in the Mirror’ and The

Scorpions ‘Wind of Change’

Wałęsa was the chairman and a co-founder of ‘Solidarity.’ In 1990 he won the elections

and became the first democratic President of

Poland after WWII.

‘Solidarity’- a social movement, the first non-communist trade union in

Poland .

⏎Wałęsa is an electrician

by profession.

When he got the Nobel Prize, he could not pick it

up in Sweden. He was afraid that he would not be able to come back to the country because of

the socialist political system in Poland. His

wife accepted the prize on Walesa’s behalf.

A poster encouraging people to vote in the first free elections in Poland after WWII. It portrays

Gary Cooper as a sheriff in ‘High Noon’ with the

‘Solidarity’ badge and holding a ballot. ‘High Noon - 4 June 1989’

⏎

FRYDERYK CHOPIN (1810-1849)

Fryderyk Chopin is one of the best known composers and pianists in the

world

A Polish composer

Fryderyk Chopin created over 200 masterpieces.

He composed various pieces of music, eg. mazurkas, preludes,

nocturnes, waltzes and polonaises.

Fryderk Chopin died in Paris but after his death his heart was removed

from his body and buried in Warsaw (the capital city of Poland) .

WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA(1923-2012)

A Polish writer

Wisława Szymborska received the

Nobel Prize in Literature in

1996

Her poems were translated into over

40 languages

Why did Wislawa Szymborska receive the

Nobel Prize? „For poetry that with ironic precision allows

the historical and biological context to

come to light in fragments of human

reality”.(nobelprize.org)

She wrote about 30 collections of poems.

She also wrote limericks.

She was often called the ‘Mozart of Poetry’.

CZESŁAW MIŁOSZ (1911-2004)

A Polish writer and translator

Czesław Miłosz received the Nobel Prize in Literature in

1980

Czesław Miłosz was one of the greatest

Polish writers

Until 1980 his lyrics were censored in Poland.

He wrote more than 50 lyrics.

He translated works of W. Shakespeare, J. Milton

and G. Eliot.

Czesław Miłosz received numerous awards and

medals in his life.

He was also the California University Professor.

MARIA SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE

(1867-1934)

A Polish scientist

Maria Skłodowska-

Curie is the only woman who received two Nobel Prizes

Skłodowska-Curie discovered Polonium

and Radium

She moved to Paris to study Physics and

Mathematics at the Sorbonne. She could not

do that in Poland.

She got the best scores there.

Maria Skłodowska-Curie and her husband (Pierre Curie) studied radioactive elements.

Maria Skłodowska- Curie received the Nobel

Prizes in Chemistry and Physics. The first one

she got with her husband Pierre Curie

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Skłodowska’s daughter, Irene, with her husband,

Frédérik, also won the Nobel Prize

(Chemistry).

Maria liked sports and got a driving license as one of

the first women.

MIKOŁAJ KOPERNIK (1473-1543)

A Polish mathematician

and astronomer

Mikołaj Kopernik was the author of

the Heliocentric Theory

He wrote a book which describes the

heliocentric model of the universe. Some people say that

this book was the beginning of a scientific

revolution.

In Toruń, you can buy some gingerbread called ‘Kopernik’s Gingerbread

Biscuits’.

ANDRZEJ WAJDA (Born in 1926)

A Polish director

He got the Academy Award (the

Honorary Oscar) in 2000

He has directed more than 50 movies and

received about 20 movies’ awards for

them

Wajda’s movies, which have been nominated

for the Academy Awards:

The Promised Land The Maids of Wilko

The Man of Iron Katyń

JAN MATEJKO (1838-1893)

A Polish painter

Jan Matejko was an

outstanding artist.

His most famous painting is

‘Battle of Grunwald’

A self-portrait

He painted more than 320 pictures, portraits and over a thousand drafts

Most of his paintings are in the National Museums

in Warsaw and Cracow.

Jan Matejko learned to play the piano before he

started to study art. ‘Battle of Grunwald ’

ADAM MAŁYSZ (Born in 1977)

A Polish ski jumper

He’s one of the best ski

jumpers in the world (He got 143

medals)

Right now, he is taking part in car

races

Adam Małysz started training

as the ski jumper when he was six. He won his

first medal at the age of 16.

He got 3 silver and 1 bronze

medal at the Olympic

Games.

Graphics: Google Graphics Music: Chopin- Polonaise C

major, op. 3 Made by: Martyna Bagińska, Marta Gałecka

Małgosia Waśkowska www.uind.eu

THE END