Political activist, born 1901 in Holsterhausen (Westphalia). Participated in the Wielkopolska Uprising of 1918/1919.

He started his political activity in 1922, becoming member of the Polish Peasants’ Party ‘Piast’ and acting as secretary to the Party’s unit of Dobrzyca (Pleszew district [powiat]). In 1927, he founded the Association of Rural Youth of Wielkopolska and was active with the Wielkopolska Group Farming Society. Chairman of the Peasants’ Party’s Superior Executive Committee since 1935.

He joined the armed forces for the September Campaign of 1939; this over, he reached France via Hungary to act as a Deputy President and subsequently, President of the National Council of the Republic of Poland. 1944 saw his appointment as Prime Minister of the Polish-Government-in-Exile. Once World War 2 came to an end, he returned to Poland, pursuant to the Moscow agreements – to serve as Deputy Prime Minister and, in parallel, to head the then newly established Polish Peasants’ Party.

He did his utmost at the time to rescue the democratic rules of State governance. Yet, expecting that he may be detained, he secretly left Poland in 1947. He died in Washington D.C. in 1966 and was buried at the Mount Olivet cemetery. His ashes were transferred in 2000 to the Poznań Cemetery of the Merited Individuals of Wielkopolska.