Wincenty Witos

Wincenty Witos (Polish pronunciation: [vinˈt͡sɛntɨ ˈvitɔs]; 22 January 1874 - 31 October 1945) was a prominent member of the Polish People's Party (PSL) from 1895, and leader of its "Piast" faction from 1913. He was a member of parliament in the Galician Sejm from 1908–1914, and an envoy to Reichsrat in Vienna from 1911 to 1918. Witos was also a leader of Polish Liquidation Committee (Polish: Polska Komisja Likwidacyjna) in 1918, head of the Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe Piast party, and member of parliament in the Polish Sejm from 1919-1920.

He served thrice as the premier of Poland, in 1920-1921, 1923 (Chjeno-Piast), and 1926.

In 1926 the third Witos government was overthrown by the May coup d'état led by Józef Piłsudski. Witos had been one of the leaders of the opposition to the Sanacja-government as head of Centrolew (1929–1930) and co-founded the Stronnictwo Ludowe. Having been imprisoned shortly thereafter and for a time living in exile in Czechoslovakia from 1933, he returned to Poland in 1939 only to be imprisoned again by the invading Germans.

In ill health by 1945, he became one of vice-chairmen of the State National Council (Polish: Krajowa Rada Narodowa) after World War II.

External links

• Wincenty Witos - a short biography
• Polish People's Party - a longer, reverential biography