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100 Notable alumni of Jagiellonian University

Updated: June 22, 2026 EliteDegrees

Jagiellonian University is ranked #281 in the world and #2 in Poland by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Jagiellonian University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Jagiellonian University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.

Marcin Wrona

1. Marcin Wrona

1973-2015 (aged 42)
basketball player film director director screenwriter
Marcin Wrona was a Polish film director. His film Demon was shown at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. He debuted at the TIFF in 2010, with The Christening, and was also director of the Polish television series Medics.
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Piotr Szczęsny

2. Piotr Szczęsny

1963-2017 (aged 54)
chemist
Piotr Paweł Szczęsny was a Polish chemist and a Mensa member who committed suicide by immolation in protest against the policies of the ruling Law and Justice government.
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Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski

3. Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski

1503-1572 (aged 69)
humanist writer theologian scientist philosopher
Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, known in Latin as Andreas Fricius Modrevius, was a Polish Renaissance scholar, humanist and theologian, called "the father of Polish democracy". His book De Republica emendanda (O poprawie Rzeczypospolitej) was widely read and praised across most of Renaissance Europe, influencing thinkers such as Jean Bodin, Hugo Grotius and Johannes Althusius.
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Rafał Bochenek

4. Rafał Bochenek

1986-. (aged 40)
weather presenter jurist politician
Rafał Bochenek is a Polish lawyer and politician.
Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski

5. Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski

1885-1962 (aged 77)
politician military officer
Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski was a Polish physician, general, and politician who served as Minister of Internal Affairs and as the 28th Prime Minister of Poland before and at the outbreak of World War II.
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Andrzej Zoll

6. Andrzej Zoll

1942-. (aged 84)
university teacher lawyer judge
Andrzej Stanisław Zoll is a Polish lawyer, former judge and president of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, former Polish Ombudsman, former president of the State Electoral Commission, former president of the Legislative Council, co-author of the Polish Penal Code of 1997. Professor of criminal law at the Jagiellonian University.
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Oskar Lange

7. Oskar Lange

1904-1965 (aged 61)
politician diplomat mathematician professor economist
Oskar Ryszard Lange was a Polish economist and diplomat. He is best known for advocating the use of market pricing tools in socialist systems and providing a model of market socialism. He responded to the economic calculation problem proposed by Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek by claiming that managers in a centrally-planned economy would be able to monitor supply...
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Zbigniew Wassermann

8. Zbigniew Wassermann

1949-2010 (aged 61)
politician
Zbigniew Franciszek Wassermann was a Polish politician. He was an MP representing Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość).
Stanisław Koniecpolski

9. Stanisław Koniecpolski

castellan military commander starosta
Stanisław Koniecpolski was a Polish military commander, regarded as one of the most talented and capable in the history of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was also a magnate, a royal official (starosta), a castellan, a member of the Polish nobility (szlachta), and the voivode (governor) of Sandomierz from 1625 until his death. He led many successful military campaigns against rebelling...
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Andrzej Nowak

10. Andrzej Nowak

1960-. (aged 66)
historian opinion journalist university teacher librarian
Andrzej Witold Nowak is a Polish historian and opinion journalist.
Adam Zagajewski

11. Adam Zagajewski

1945-2021 (aged 76)
linguist university teacher writer translator author
Adam Zagajewski was a Polish poet, novelist, translator, and essayist.
Feliks Koneczny

12. Feliks Koneczny

1862-1949 (aged 87)
historian philosopher
Feliks Karol Koneczny was a Polish historian, theatrical critic, librarian, journalist and social philosopher. He founded the original system of the comparative science of civilizations.
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Jerzy Vetulani

13. Jerzy Vetulani

1936-2017 (aged 81)
biologist pharmacologist university teacher biochemist neuroscientist
Jerzy Adam Gracjan Vetulani was a Polish neuroscientist, psychopharmacologist and biochemist, professor of natural sciences, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Learning, between 1956–2017 employee at the Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków, where he was head of the Department of Biochemistry (1976–2006), deputy director for Science Affairs (1994–2002)...
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Piotr Skarga

14. Piotr Skarga

1536-1612 (aged 76)
preacher priest Catholic priest hagiographer missionary
Piotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-Reformation in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Due to his oratorical gifts, he has been called "the Polish Bossuet".
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Michał Woś

15. Michał Woś

1991-. (aged 35)
lawyer politician
Michał Piotr Woś is a Polish politician of Sovereign Poland serving as a member of the Sejm. He was first elected in the 2019 parliamentary election, and was re-elected in 2023. He served as deputy minister of justice from 2017 to 2018, minister for humanitarian aid in 2019, minister without portfolio from 2019 to 2020, minister of environment in 2020,...
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Stanisław Pięta

16. Stanisław Pięta

1971-. (aged 55)
politician
Stanisław Jan Pięta is a Polish politician. He was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 7,240 votes in 27 Bielsko-Biała district as a candidate from the Law and Justice list.
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Edward Bernard Raczyński

17. Edward Bernard Raczyński

1891-1993 (aged 102)
historian diplomat politician writer
Count Edward Bernard Raczyński was a Polish diplomat, writer, politician who served as President of Poland-in-exile (between 1979 and 1986).
Krzysztof Gonciarz

18. Krzysztof Gonciarz

1985-. (aged 41)
YouTuber explorer film director photographer
Krzysztof Jan Gonciarz is an internet creator, filmmaker, journalist, and YouTuber, responsible of the channels Zapytaj Beczkę, Krzysztof Gonciarz, and TheUwagaPies on YouTube. He is the owner and creator of Japanese-based filmmaking company Tofu Media. He formerly worked as a journalist for Gry-Online.
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Tadeusz Konwicki

19. Tadeusz Konwicki

1926-2015 (aged 89)
science fiction writer screenwriter writer dramaturge film director
Tadeusz Konwicki was a Polish writer and film director, as well as a member of the Polish Language Council.
Manuela Gretkowska

20. Manuela Gretkowska

1964-. (aged 62)
writer journalist screenwriter politician
Manuela Gretkowska is a Polish writer, screenwriter, feminist and politician. She is the foundress of the Feminist Initiative.
Józef Tischner

21. Józef Tischner

1931-2000 (aged 69)
university teacher philosopher Catholic priest
Józef Stanisław Tischner was a Polish priest and philosopher. The first chaplain of the trade union, "Solidarity" (Polish Solidarność).
Ryszard Legutko

22. Ryszard Legutko

1949-. (aged 77)
politician
Ryszard Antoni Legutko is a Polish philosopher and politician. He is a professor of philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, specializing in ancient philosophy and political theory. A member of right-wing Law and Justice party domestically, Legutko has also served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2024 being a prominent member of the minority European...
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Arkady Fiedler

23. Arkady Fiedler

1894-1985 (aged 91)
military officer writer journalist zoologist traveler
Arkady Fiedler was a Polish writer, journalist and adventurer.
Jacek Dukaj

24. Jacek Dukaj

1974-. (aged 52)
science fiction writer author writer
Jacek Józef Dukaj is a Polish science fiction and fantasy writer. His fiction explores such themes as alternate history, alternative physics and logic, human nature, religion, the relationship between science and power, technological singularity, artificial intelligence, and transhumanism. He is regarded among the most popular Polish contemporary science fiction authors.
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Joanna Lichocka

25. Joanna Lichocka

1969-. (aged 57)
journalist politician
Joanna Katarzyna Lichocka is a Polish journalist and politician serving as a member of the Sejm since 2015. She has been member of the National Media Council since 2016.
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Jerzy Pilch

26. Jerzy Pilch

1952-2020 (aged 68)
screenwriter opinion journalist writer journalist playwright
Jerzy Pilch was a Polish writer, columnist, and journalist. He is the winner of the 2001 Nike Award for his novel Pod Mocnym Aniołem. Critics have compared Pilch's style to Witold Gombrowicz, Milan Kundera, or Bohumil Hrabal.
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Marek Jackowski

27. Marek Jackowski

1946-2013 (aged 67)
composer guitarist
Marek Norbert Jackowski was a Polish rock musician, best known as a member of the rock band Maanam.
Maciej Stryjkowski

28. Maciej Stryjkowski

1547-1593 (aged 46)
historian poet diplomat writer
Maciej Stryjkowski was a Polish historian, writer and a poet, known as the author of Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all of Ruthenia (1582). The work is generally considered to be the first printed book on the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
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Jan Sztaudynger

29. Jan Sztaudynger

1904-1970 (aged 66)
translator satirist poet writer
Jan Izydor Sztaudynger was a Polish poet and satirist who enjoyed enormous popularity after World War II.
Izabela Leszczyna

30. Izabela Leszczyna

1962-. (aged 64)
teacher politician
Izabela Dorota Leszczyna is a Polish politician, teacher, who served as Minister of Health from December 2023 to July 2025. She is also a Member of the Sejm since 2007.
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Wacław Sierpiński

31. Wacław Sierpiński

1882-1969 (aged 87)
mathematician teacher university teacher topologist
Wacław Franciszek Sierpiński was a Polish mathematician. He was known for contributions to set theory (research on the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis), number theory, theory of functions, and topology. He published over 700 papers and 50 books.
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Yaroslav Stetsko

32. Yaroslav Stetsko

1912-1986 (aged 74)
politician
Yaroslav Semenovych Stetsko was a Ukrainian politician, writer and ideologist who served as the leader of Stepan Bandera's faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN-B, from 1941 until his death. During the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, he was named the temporary head of an independent Ukrainian government which was declared in the act of...
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Hugo Kołłątaj

33. Hugo Kołłątaj

1750-1812 (aged 62)
university teacher historian anthropologist public figure philosopher
Hugo Stumberg Kołłątaj, also spelled Kołłątay, was a prominent Polish constitutional reformer and educationalist, and one of the most prominent figures of the Polish Enlightenment. He served as Deputy Chancellor of the Crown between 1791–92. He was a Catholic priest, social and political activist, political thinker, historian, philosopher, and polymath.
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Elżbieta Bieńkowska

34. Elżbieta Bieńkowska

1964-. (aged 62)
politician economist
Elżbieta Ewa Bieńkowska is a Polish politician who served as Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development and Transport before becoming a European Commissioner in the team of Jean-Claude Juncker from 2014 to 2019.
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Paweł Kowal

35. Paweł Kowal

1975-. (aged 51)
political scientist museologist university teacher opinion journalist politician
Paweł Robert Kowal is a Polish politician and former Member of the European Parliament. During his time in the EP, he served as the Chairman of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in the European Parliament.
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Ignacy Daszyński

36. Ignacy Daszyński

1866-1936 (aged 70)
writer statesperson journalist politician
Ignacy Ewaryst Daszyński was a Polish socialist politician, journalist, and very briefly Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic's first government, formed in Lublin in 1918.
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Jacek Majchrowski

37. Jacek Majchrowski

1947-. (aged 79)
historian teacher politician
Jacek Maria Majchrowski is a Polish politician, lawyer, historian, and professor at the Jagiellonian University, who served as the Mayor of Kraków between 2002 and 2024.
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Wanda Wasilewska

38. Wanda Wasilewska

1905-1964 (aged 59)
playwright editing staff journalist poet screenwriter
Wanda Wasilewska, also known by her Russian name Vanda Lvovna Vasilevskaya (Russian: Ва́нда Льво́вна Василе́вская) (21 January 1905 – 29 July 1964), was a Polish and Soviet novelist and journalist and a left-wing political activist.
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Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer

39. Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer

1865-1940 (aged 75)
prose writer writer journalist playwright poet
Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer was a Polish Goral poet, novelist, playwright, journalist and writer. He was a member of the Young Poland movement.
Stanisław Żółtek

40. Stanisław Żółtek

1956-. (aged 70)
entrepreneur politician
Stanisław Józef Żółtek is a Polish politician who is the current leader of the Congress of the New Right. He was a Member of the European Parliament representing Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie. He was a candidate for president of Poland in the 2020 Polish presidential election.
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Edward Ochab

41. Edward Ochab

1906-1989 (aged 83)
politician
Edward Ochab was a Polish communist politician and top leader of Poland between March and October 1956.
Jadwiga Emilewicz

42. Jadwiga Emilewicz

1974-. (aged 52)
political scientist cultural manager politician
Jadwiga Katarzyna Emilewicz is a Polish politician and political scientist. In 2020, she was Deputy Prime Minister of Poland. In 2019, she became Minister of Development, upon her three-year service as an undersecretary of state in the Ministry of Development, and from 2018 to 2019, she was Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology in the government of Mateusz Morawiecki.
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Wanda Półtawska

43. Wanda Półtawska

1921-2023 (aged 102)
psychiatrist physician
Wanda Wiktoria Półtawska was a Polish physician, author, Holocaust survivor and pro-life activist.
Marian Banaś

44. Marian Banaś

1955-. (aged 71)
politician official
Marian Banaś is a Polish politician and civil servant. He served twice as Chief Executive of the Customs Service from 2005 to 2008 and 2015 to 2017. He briefly served in politics as the Minister of Finance for the First Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki from 4 June to 30 August 2019. From 2019-2025 He served as the President of the...
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Norman Davies

45. Norman Davies

1939-. (aged 87)
historian university teacher
Ivor Norman Richard Davies CMG FBA FRHistS is a British and Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor at the Jagiellonian University, professor emeritus at University College London, a visiting professor at the Collège d'Europe, and an...
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Vasyl Stefanyk

46. Vasyl Stefanyk

1871-1936 (aged 65)
short story writer writer politician
Vasyl Semenovych Stefanyk was an influential Ukrainian modernist writer and political activist. He was a member of the Austrian parliament from 1908 to 1918.
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Jan Długosz

47. Jan Długosz

1415-1480 (aged 65)
Catholic priest historian heraldist diplomat Catholic bishop
Jan Długosz, also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first historian.
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Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński

48. Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński

1874-1941 (aged 67)
university teacher pediatrician writer linguist literary critic
Tadeusz Kamil Marcjan Żeleński, better known by his pen name Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński or simply as Boy, was a Polish stage writer, poet, critic and, above all, the translator of over 100 French literary classics into Polish. He was a pediatrician by profession.
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Franciszek Macharski

49. Franciszek Macharski

1927-2016 (aged 89)
theologian Catholic bishop Catholic priest
Franciszek Macharski was a Polish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed Archbishop of Kraków from 1978, named by Pope John Paul II to succeed him in that role. Macharski was elevated to the cardinalate in 1979, and resigned as archbishop in 2005.
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Jakub Żulczyk

50. Jakub Żulczyk

1983-. (aged 43)
screenwriter writer journalist
Jakub Żulczyk is a Polish writer and journalist who writes for Elle, Machina, Przekrój and Onet.pl. He lives in Warsaw.
Małgosia Bela

51. Małgosia Bela

1977-. (aged 49)
model actor
Małgosia Bela is a Polish fashion model and actress. She made her debut as a runway model for Comme des Garçons, Givenchy, and Balenciaga in 1998, and appeared in various photoshoots for Vogue. In 2004, she made her film debut in the Polish film Ono, and in 2018 appeared in Luca Guadagnino's remake of Suspiria.
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Tadeusz Różewicz

52. Tadeusz Różewicz

1921-2014 (aged 93)
playwright poet writer translator dramaturge
Tadeusz Różewicz was a Polish poet, playwright, writer, and translator. Różewicz was in the first generation of Polish writers born after Poland regained its independence in 1918, following the century of foreign partitions. He was born in Radomsko, near Łódź, in 1921. He first published his poetry in 1938. During World War II, he served in the Polish underground Home...
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Małgorzata Wassermann

53. Małgorzata Wassermann

1978-. (aged 48)
lawyer politician
Małgorzata Ewa Wassermann is a Polish politician of Law and Justice. She has been a member of the Sejm since 2015, and was the candidate of Law and Justice for mayor of Kraków in 2018. She is the daughter of Zbigniew Wassermann, who died in the Smolensk air disaster in 2010.
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Krzysztof Zanussi

54. Krzysztof Zanussi

1939-. (aged 87)
writer film director film producer screenwriter
Krzysztof Pius Zanussi is a Polish film and theatre director, producer and screenwriter. He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop. He is also a professor at the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School of the University of Silesia in Katowice.
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Rudolf Weigl

55. Rudolf Weigl

1883-1957 (aged 74)
physician biologist immunologist university teacher
Rudolf Stefan Jan Weigl was a Polish biologist, physician and inventor, known for creating the first effective vaccine against epidemic typhus. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine each year between 1930 and 1934, and from 1936 to 1939.
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Ignacy Łukasiewicz

56. Ignacy Łukasiewicz

1822-1882 (aged 60)
chemist entrepreneur politician academic inventor
Jan Józef Ignacy Łukasiewicz was a Polish pharmacist, engineer, businessman, inventor, and philanthropist. He was one of the most prominent philanthropists in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, crown land of Austria-Hungary. He was a pioneer who in 1856 built the world's first modern oil refinery.
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Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz

57. Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz

1961-. (aged 65)
minister opinion journalist politician historian journalist
Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz is a Polish politician who served as Minister of the Interior in the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk from 25 February 2013 to 22 September 2014. From 13 December 2023 to 13 May 2024, Sienkiewicz has served as Minister of Culture and National Heritage in the third cabinet of Donald Tusk.
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Róża Thun

58. Róża Thun

1954-. (aged 72)
translator politician
Róża Maria Thun, is a Polish politician, more usually known as Róża Thun than by her formal style of Countess and from 1990 her style changed to Princess.
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Zbigniew Preisner

59. Zbigniew Preisner

1955-. (aged 71)
film score composer composer musician
Zbigniew Preisner is a Polish film score composer, best known for his work with film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. He is the recipient of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis as well as the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. He is a member of the French Film Academy.
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Wojciech Smarzowski

60. Wojciech Smarzowski

1963-. (aged 63)
screenwriter director film director
Wojciech Smarzowski is a Polish screenwriter and director.
Zygmunt Berling

61. Zygmunt Berling

1896-1980 (aged 84)
military officer
Zygmunt Henryk Berling was a Polish general and politician. He fought for the independence of Poland in the early 20th century. Berling was a co-founder and commander of the First Polish Army, which fought on the Eastern Front of World War II.
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Mikołaj Rej

62. Mikołaj Rej

1505-1569 (aged 64)
musician politician writer translator poet
Mikołaj Rej or Mikołaj Rey of Nagłowice was a Polish poet and prose writer of the emerging Renaissance in Poland as it succeeded the Middle Ages, as well as a politician and musician. He was the first Polish author to write exclusively in the Polish language, and is considered (with Biernat of Lublin and Jan Kochanowski), to be one of...
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Ivan Fyodorov

63. Ivan Fyodorov

1510-1583 (aged 73)
printer typographer publisher
Ivan Fyodorov or Ivan Fеdorov sometimes transliterated as Fiodorov, was one of the fathers of Eastern Slavonic printing (along with Schweipolt Fiol and Francysk Skaryna). He was also a skilled cannon maker and the inventor of a multibarreled mortar. Fyodorov was forced out of Moscow because of his attempts to employ the “blasphemous” new printing techniques, and found refuge in...
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Ryszard Terlecki

64. Ryszard Terlecki

1949-. (aged 77)
historian journalist university teacher politician
Ryszard Iwon Terlecki is a Polish politician, the Parliamentary Caucus Head of the Law and Justice party between 2015–2023. Terlecki, a historian and professor of humanities, lectures at the Pontifical University of John Paul II. He is a member of the Sejm, serving since 2007. He served as the Deputy Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland 2015–2023.
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Jarosław Gowin

65. Jarosław Gowin

1961-. (aged 65)
philosopher opinion journalist university teacher politician
Jarosław Adam Gowin is a Polish conservative politician and editor. Gowin served as Minister of Justice in the cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk between 2011 and 2013, and as Minister of Science and Higher Education in the cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki between 2015 and 2020, Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology and Deputy Prime Minister from October 2020...
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Józef Cyrankiewicz

66. Józef Cyrankiewicz

1911-1989 (aged 78)
politician
Józef Adam Zygmunt Cyrankiewicz was a Polish Socialist (PPS) and after 1948 Communist politician. He served as premier of the Polish People's Republic between 1947 and 1952, and again for 16 years between 1954 and 1970. He also served as Chairman of the Polish Council of State from 1970 to 1972.
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Adam Bielecki

67. Adam Bielecki

1983-. (aged 43)
mountaineer
Adam Radosław Bielecki is a Polish alpine and high-altitude climber, known for the first winter ascents of the eight-thousanders: Gasherbrum I and Broad Peak. In his book Spod zamarzniętych powiek, written with co-author Dominik Szczepański, Bielecki tells the story of his climbings, memories from Himalayan expeditions, and the effort the highest mountains demand.
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Stanisław Sosabowski

68. Stanisław Sosabowski

1892-1967 (aged 75)
military officer
Stanisław Franciszek Sosabowski CBE was a Polish general in World War II. He fought in the Polish Campaign of 1939 and at the Battle of Arnhem (Netherlands), as a part of Operation Market Garden, in 1944 as commander of the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade.
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Agata Kornhauser-Duda

69. Agata Kornhauser-Duda

1972-. (aged 54)
teacher germanist
Agata Kornhauser-Duda is a Polish teacher who served as the First Lady of Poland from 2015 to 2025 as the wife of the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda.
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Stefan Banach

70. Stefan Banach

1892-1945 (aged 53)
mathematician university teacher
Stefan Banach was a Polish mathematician who is generally considered one of the 20th century's most important and influential mathematicians. He was the founder of modern functional analysis, and an original member of the Lwów School of Mathematics. His major work was the 1932 book, Théorie des opérations linéaires (Theory of Linear Operations), the first monograph on the general theory...
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Karl Radek

71. Karl Radek

1885-1939 (aged 54)
university teacher revolutionary politician political prisoner journalist
Karl Berngardovich Radek was a revolutionary and writer active in the Polish and German social democratic movements before World War I and a Communist International leader in the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution.
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Andrzej Duda

72. Andrzej Duda

1972-. (aged 54)
jurist lawyer university teacher politician
Andrzej Sebastian Duda is a Polish lawyer and politician who served as the 6th president of Poland from 2015 to 2025. Before becoming president, he served as Member of the Sejm (MP) from 2011 to 2014 and as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2014 to 2015.
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Stanisław Lem

73. Stanisław Lem

1921-2006 (aged 85)
philosopher researcher futurist essayist screenwriter
Stanisław Herman Lem was a Polish writer. He was the author of many novels, short stories, and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical and humorous character. Lem's books have been translated into more than 50 languages and have sold more than 45 million copies. Worldwide, he is...
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John III Sobieski

74. John III Sobieski

1629-1696 (aged 67)
military leader monarch politician
John III Sobieski was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696.
Wisława Szymborska

75. Wisława Szymborska

1923-2012 (aged 89)
critic essayist mechanic poet literary critic
Maria Wisława Anna Szymborska was a Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Prowent (now part of Kórnik in west-central Poland), she resided in Kraków until the end of her life. In Poland, Szymborska's books have reached sales rivaling prominent prose authors, though she wrote in a poem, "Some Like Poetry" ("Niektórzy...
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Zbigniew Ziobro

76. Zbigniew Ziobro

1970-. (aged 56)
jurist lawyer politician
Zbigniew Tadeusz Ziobro is a Polish politician. He served as the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Poland in the Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki until 27 November 2023. He previously served in the same role from October 2005 to November 2007, simultaneously serving as the Public Prosecutor General. He was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005 in...
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Beata Szydło

77. Beata Szydło

1963-. (aged 63)
ethnologist politician
Beata Maria Szydło is a Polish politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. A member of Law and Justice (PiS), she previously served as the prime minister of Poland from 2015 to 2017. Szydło became the third woman to hold the office, after Hanna Suchocka and her immediate predecessor Ewa Kopacz. She currently...
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Stanisław Wyspiański

78. Stanisław Wyspiański

1869-1907 (aged 38)
playwright pedagogue scenographer architect writer
Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański was a Polish playwright, painter, poet, and interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created symbolic national dramas accordant with the artistic premises of the Young Poland movement.
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Edward Rydz-Śmigły

79. Edward Rydz-Śmigły

1886-1941 (aged 55)
military officer politician painter writer poet
Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz [ˈɛdvard ˈɕmiɡɫɨ rɨdz] also Edward Rydz-Śmigły, was a Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, as well as a painter and poet.
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Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka

80. Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka

1923-2014 (aged 91)
phenomenologist philosopher university teacher
Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka was a Polish philosopher, phenomenologist, founder and president of The World Phenomenology Institute, and editor (from its inception in the late 1960s) of the book series, Analecta Husserliana. She had a thirty-two-year friendship and occasional academic collaboration with Pope John Paul II.
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Krystyna Zachwatowicz

81. Krystyna Zachwatowicz

1930-. (aged 96)
costume designer athlete university teacher theatrical director social activist
Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda is a Polish scenographer, costume designer and actress. She is a daughter of architect and restorer Jan Zachwatowicz and Maria Chodźko h. Kościesza, and wife of film director Andrzej Wajda. Member of the Polish Film Academy.
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Krzysztof Warlikowski

82. Krzysztof Warlikowski

1962-. (aged 64)
opera director artistic director theatrical director
Krzysztof Warlikowski is a Polish theatre director. He is the creator and artistic director of Nowy Teatr (New Theatre) in Warsaw.
Jerzy Stuhr

83. Jerzy Stuhr

1947-2024 (aged 77)
director film actor university teacher theatrical director film director
Jerzy Oskar Stuhr was a Polish film and theatre actor. Considered one of the most popular, influential and versatile Polish actors and an icon of Polish cinema, he also worked as a screenwriter, film director, voice actor and drama professor. He served as the rector of the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts in Kraków for two terms: from...
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Maciej Stuhr

84. Maciej Stuhr

1975-. (aged 51)
stage actor comedian performing artist actor film actor
Maciej Jerzy Stuhr is a Polish actor, comedian and occasional film director. In 2022, he was the recipient of the Polish Academy Award for Best Actor.
Zbigniew Herbert

85. Zbigniew Herbert

1924-1998 (aged 74)
essayist writer playwright author poet
Zbigniew Herbert was a Polish poet, essayist, drama writer and moralist. He is one of the best known and the most translated post-war Polish writers. While he was first published in the 1950s (a volume titled Chord of Light was issued in 1956), soon after he voluntarily ceased submitting most of his works to official Polish government publications. He resumed...
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Franciszek Blachnicki

86. Franciszek Blachnicki

1921-1987 (aged 66)
lecturer writer Catholic priest university teacher educator
Franciszek Blachnicki was a Polish Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Light-Life movement, also known as the Oasis Movement, and the Secular Institute of the Immaculate Mother of the Church. He founded several other movements and religious congregations that would address a range of social and ethical issues. These issues included anti-alcoholism and human rights. His movements first...
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Jan Hartman

87. Jan Hartman

1967-. (aged 59)
author philosopher non-fiction writer university teacher
Jan Marek Hartman is a Polish-Jewish philosopher specializing in bioethics, writer, anticlerical, opinion journalist and politician, professor of the humanities.
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Yuriy Drohobych

88. Yuriy Drohobych

1450-1494 (aged 44)
astrologer philosopher university teacher writer editor
Yuriy Drohobych or Yuriy Kotermak was a Ruthenian philosopher, astronomer, writer, medical doctor, rector of the University of Bologna, and professor of Kraków Academy, and the first publisher of a Church Slavonic printed text. He is the author of Iudicium Pronosticon Anni 1483 Currentis.
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Francysk Skaryna

89. Francysk Skaryna

1486-1541 (aged 55)
Bible translator publisher writer public figure typographer
Francysk Skaryna was a Belarusian humanist, physician and translator. He is known to be one of the first book printers in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in all of Eastern Europe, laying the groundwork for the development of the Belarusian izvod of the Church Slavonic language.
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Jan Kochanowski

90. Jan Kochanowski

1530-1584 (aged 54)
translator playwright poet writer
Jan Kochanowski was a Polish Renaissance poet who wrote in Latin and Polish and established poetic patterns that would become integral to the Polish literary language. He has been called the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz (the latter, a leading Romantic writer) and one of the most influential Slavic poets prior to the 19th century.
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Nicolaus Copernicus

91. Nicolaus Copernicus

1473-1543 (aged 70)
astronomer legal scholar canon mathematician physicist
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. The publication of Copernicus's model in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), just before his death in 1543, was a major event in the history of science, triggering the Copernican...
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Józef Maria Bocheński

92. Józef Maria Bocheński

1902-1995 (aged 93)
theologian mathematician philosopher
Józef Maria Bocheński or Innocentius Bochenski was a Polish Dominican, logician and philosopher.
John Paul II

93. John Paul II

1920-2005 (aged 85)
author autobiographer archbishop professor politician
Pope John Paul II was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century, as well as the third-longest-serving pope in history, after St. Peter and Pius IX.
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Bronisław Malinowski

94. Bronisław Malinowski

1884-1942 (aged 58)
photographer anthropologist ethnographer university teacher ethnologist
Bronisław Kasper Malinowski was a Polish anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropology.
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Juli Zeh

95. Juli Zeh

1974-. (aged 52)
essayist judge writer science fiction writer jurist
Juli Zeh is a German writer and judge. She is known for novels such as The Method (2009), Unterleuten (2016) and About People (2021).
Jan Matejko

96. Jan Matejko

1838-1893 (aged 55)
painter university teacher
Jan Alojzy Matejko was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale oil paintings such as Stańczyk (1862), Rejtan (1866), Union of Lublin (1869), Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God (1873), or Battle of Grunwald (1878). He was the author of numerous portraits, a gallery...
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Jan Baudouin de Courtenay

97. Jan Baudouin de Courtenay

1845-1929 (aged 84)
linguist esperantologist professor phonetician philologist
Jan Niecisław Ignacy Baudouin de Courtenay, also known as Ivan Alexandrovich Baudouin de Courtenay, was a Polish linguist and Slavist, best known for his theory of the phoneme and phonetic alternations.
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Adam Stefan Sapieha

98. Adam Stefan Sapieha

1867-1951 (aged 84)
Catholic deacon Catholic priest politician Catholic bishop theologian
Prince Adam Stefan Stanisław Bonifacy Józef Sapieha was a Polish Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Kraków from 1911 to 1951. A member of the Polish nobility, between 1922 and 1923 he was a senator of the Second Polish Republic. In 1946, Pope Pius XII made him a cardinal.
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Carl Menger

99. Carl Menger

1840-1921 (aged 81)
professor economist
Carl Menger von Wolfensgrün was an Austrian economist who contributed to the marginal theory of value. Menger is considered the founder of the Austrian school of economics.
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Ivo Andrić

100. Ivo Andrić

1892-1975 (aged 83)
poet writer novelist essayist short story writer
Ivo Andrić was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in his native Bosnia under Ottoman rule.
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