List of Famous people born in Poland
Franciszek Smuda
Franciszek Smuda is a Polish football coach and former footballer who also holds a German passport. As a player, he spent his career playing for clubs in Poland, the United States and Germany. In 1983, he turned to coaching, becoming the manager of Widzew Łódź, Wisła Kraków, Legia Warsaw and Lech Poznań, among others. He has won three Polish league titles. Since 2009 he was the manager of the Poland national football team, but resigned on 16 June 2012, following their elimination from Euro 2012.
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the last male monarch from the Jagiellonian dynasty.
Shmuel Flatto-Sharon
Shmuel "Samy" Flatto-Sharon was a controversial French-Israeli businessman, radio talk-show host and politician. After starting his own political party, he was a member of the Knesset between 1977 and 1981.
Philip I, Duke of Pomerania
Philip I of Pomerania was Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast.
Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Tadeusz Mazowiecki was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime minister since 1946.
Wilhelm Brasse
Wilhelm Brasse was a Polish professional photographer and a prisoner in Auschwitz during World War II. He became known as the "famous photographer of Auschwitz concentration camp." His life and work were the subject of the 2005 Polish television documentary film The Portraitist (Portrecista), which first aired in the Proud to Present series on the Polish TVP1 on 1 January 2006.
Stanisław Tymiński
Stanisław "Stan" Tymiński is a Canadian businessman of Polish origin, dealing in electronics and computers, and a sometime-politician in both Poland and Canada. Although Tymiński was born in Pruszków, he was a completely unknown person in his native Poland until shortly before the 1990 presidential election, he emerged from the first ballot as the second strongest candidate; defeating liberal prime minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and forcing Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa to stand a second ballot. After Wałęsa defeated him by a wide margin, Tymiński was a leader of Party X in Poland (1990–1995) and then returned to Canada to resume his business activities. Tymiński also contested the 2005 Polish presidential election.
Hugo Conwentz
Hugo Wilhelm Conwentz was a German botanist. He is best known for his paleobotany studies of Baltic amber.
Casimir II the Just
Casimir II the Just was a Lesser Polish Duke of Wiślica from 1166–1173, and of Sandomierz after 1173. He became ruler over the Polish Seniorate Province at Kraków and thereby High Duke of Poland in 1177; a position he held until his death, though interrupted once by his elder brother and predecessor Mieszko III the Old. In 1186 Casimir also inherited the Duchy of Masovia from his nephew Leszek, becoming the progenitor of the Masovian branch of the royal Piast dynasty, and great-grandfather of the later Polish king Władysław I the Elbow-high. The honorific title "the Just" was not contemporary and first appeared in the 16th century.
Adolf Anderssen
Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He won the great international tournaments of 1851 and 1862, but lost matches to Paul Morphy in 1858, and to Wilhelm Steinitz in 1866. Accordingly, he is generally regarded as having been the world's leading chess player from 1851 to 1858, and leading active player from 1862 to 1866, although the title of World Chess Champion did not yet exist.