Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski | |
|---|---|
Paderewski c. 1935 | |
| Prime Minister of Poland | |
| In office 18 January 1919 – 27 November 1919 | |
| Preceded by | Jędrzej Moraczewski |
| Succeeded by | Leopold Skulski |
| Chief of State | Józef Piłsudski |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 16 January 1919 – 9 December 1919 | |
| Prime Minister |
|
| Preceded by | Leon Wasilewski |
| Succeeded by | Władysław Wróblewski |
| Chief of the National Council of Poland | |
| In office 9 December 1939 – 29 June 1941 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ignacy Jan Paderewski 6 November 1860 Kurylivka, Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 29 June 1941 (aged 80) New York City, US |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Warsaw Conservatory |
| Profession | Pianist, composer, politician, intellectual, and diplomat |
| Signature | |
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (Polish: [iɡˈnatsɨ ˈjan padɛˈrɛfskʲi] ⓘ; 6 November [O.S. 25 October] 1860 [or 1859] – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's prime minister and foreign minister during which time he signed the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I.
A favorite of concert audiences around the world, his musical fame gave him access to diplomacy and the media, as well as, possibly, his status as a freemason, and the charitable work of his second wife, Helena Paderewska. During World War I, Paderewski advocated for an independent Poland, including by touring the United States, where he met President Woodrow Wilson, who came to support the creation of an independent Poland. Wilson included that aim in his Fourteen Points and argued for it at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, which drew up the Treaty of Versailles.
Shortly after his resignation from office, Paderewski resumed his concert career to recoup his finances, and rarely visited the politically chaotic Poland thereafter, the last time being in 1924.