List of Polish people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a partial list of notable Polish or Polish-speaking or -writing people. People of partial Polish heritage have their respective ancestries credited.

Physics

Czesław Białobrzeski
Andrzej Buras
Georges Charpak, 1995 Nobel Prize
Jan Kazimierz Danysz
Marian Danysz
Tomasz Dietl
Maria Dworzecka, Polish-American computational nuclear physicist
Artur Ekert, British-Polish, one of the independent inventors (in 1991) of quantum cryptography
Krzysztof Gawedzki, mathematical physicist
Marek Gazdzicki, high-energy nuclear physicist
Ryszard Horodecki
Leopold Infeld
Aleksander Jabłoński
Jerzy Stanisław Janicki
Sylwester Kaliski
Elżbieta Kossecka
Jan Eugeniusz Krysiński
Stanislas Leibler, Polish-French-American
Maciej Lewenstein, theoretical physicist
Olga Malinkiewicz
Albert A. Michelson, American, 1907 Nobel Prize
Lidia Morawska, Polish-Australian
Stanisław Mrozowski
Władysław Natanson
Witold Nazarewicz, Polish-American nuclear physicist
Henryk Niewodniczański
Georges Nomarski
Karol Olszewski
Jerzy Plebański, theoretical physicist
Jerzy Pniewski
Nikodem Popławski, theoretical physicist
Sylwester Porowski, blue laser
Józef Rotblat, 1995 Nobel Peace Prize
Stefan Rozental, nuclear physicist
Wojciech Rubinowicz, theoretical physicist
Maria Skłodowska Curie (Marie Curie), two Nobel Prizes
Jan Sładkowski
Marian Smoluchowski, kinetic theory, Einstein–Smoluchowski relation
Andrzej Sobolewski
Haroun Tazieff, geologist, volcanologist, cinematographer, writer and French Cabinet minister
Andrzej Trautman, mathematical physicist
Witelo, philosopher, medieval optics
August Witkowski
Stanley Wojcicki, Polish-American
Mieczysław Wolfke
Stanisław Lech Woronowicz, theoretical physicist
Zygmunt Wróblewski
Marek Żukowski, theoretical physicist
Wojciech H. Zurek, theoretical physicist

Chemistry

Osman Achmatowicz
Józef Boguski
Kazimierz Boratyński
Jan Czochralski, modern semiconductors
Emil Czyrniański
Tadeusz Estreicher, cryogenics pioneer
Kazimierz Fajans, Polish-American physical chemist
Kazimierz Funk, biochemist, the concept of vitamins
Andrzej Górak
Antoni Grabowski, chemical engineer
Konstanty Hrynakowski
Andrzej Jajszczyk
Alina Kabata-Pendias
Aharon Katzir, Israeli pioneer in electrochemistry of biopolymers
Wiktor Kemula
Włodzimierz Kołos
Stanisław Kostanecki, organic chemist
Marek Gatty-Kostyal
Józef R. Lewandowski
Ignacy Łukasiewicz, inventor of kerosene lamp
Mieczysław Mąkosza
Leon Marchlewski
Bolesław Masłowski
Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Polish-American
Mark Miodownik, British materials scientist and engineer
Ignacy Mościcki
Marceli Nencki
Karol Olszewski
Krzysztof Palczewski, biochemist
Janusz Pawliszyn
Sylwester Porowski
Tadeusz Reichstein, Polish-Swiss Nobel Prize winner
Michał Sędziwój, Latinized as Sendivogius: alchemist, physician, discoverer of oxygen
Zuzanna S. Siwy, Polish-American
Maria Skłodowska Curie (Marie Curie), two-time Nobel Prize winner
Edward Sucharda
Jędrzej Śniadecki
Wojciech Świętosławski, "father of thermochemistry"
Bohdan Szyszkowski
Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski
Filip Neriusz Walter, pioneer of organic chemistry
Zygmunt Wróblewski
Józef Zawadzki, physical chemist

Biology, medicine

Joseph Babinski, French-Polish neurologist, discoverer of the Babinski reflex
Gabriela Balicka-Iwanowska, botanist
Napoleon Baniewicz, Polish-Lithuanian nobleman and neurologist, discoverer of the Baniewicz reflex
Edmund Biernacki, physician, discoverer of erythrocyte sedimentation rate
Czesław Bieżanko, entomologist
Jan Biziel, physician, social activist
Tytus Chałubiński, physician
Napoleon Cybulski, neurophysiologist, discoverer of adrenaline
Maria Antonina Czaplicka, anthropologist
Jan Czekanowski, anthropologist
Kazimierz Dąbrowski, psychiatrist, creator of the theory of positive disintegration
Wiktor Dega, surgeon and orthopedist
August Dehnel, biologist
Józef Dietl, physician
Hermann Dietz, physician, senator of the Republic of Poland, social activist
Jan Dzierżon, zoologist, apiarist
Stefan Falimierz, physician, herbalist
Sidney Farber, American pediatric pathologist and cancer biologist, founder of the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute
Edward Flatau, neurologist
Ludwik Fleck, Polish-Israeli microbiologist, philosopher of science
Eva Frommer, child psychiatrist and anthroposophist
Kazimierz Funk, biochemist, coined the term vitamin
Marian Gieszczykiewicz, physician and bacteriologist
Emil Godlewski, embryologist
Samuel Goldflam, neurologist
Adam Gruca, surgeon and orthopaedist
Ryszard Gryglewski, pharmacologist, physician
Tomasz Guzik (born 1974), physician
Ludwik Hirszfeld, microbiologist and serologist
Janina Hurynowicz, neurophysiologist
Feliks Paweł Jarocki, zoologist and entomologist
Stefania Jabłońska, dermatologist
Walery Jaworski, physician
Konstanty Jelski, ornithologist
Zbigniew Kabata, biologist
Ewa Kamler (born 1937), biologist and ichthyologist
Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, paleobiologist
Aleksander Koj, physician, scientist
Ryszard Kole, Polish-American pharmacologist
Jerzy Konorski, neurophysiologist
Stefan Kopeć, biologist
Hilary Koprowski, polio vaccine
Tadeusz Krwawicz, medical pioneer
Elwira Lisowska (born 1930), biochemist
Abraham Low, American neuropsychiatrist
Margaret Lowenfeld, British paediatrician and pioneer of Sandplay Therapy
Liliana Lubińska, neuroscientist
Zofia Majewska, neurologist and professor
Karol Marcinkowski, physician
Eugène Minkowski, psychiatrist influenced by Bergson and phenomenology
Ludwik Młokosiewicz, botanist
Maksymilian Nowicki, biologist
Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, biologist
Marek Pienkowski (born 1945), Polish-American immunologist
Piotr Ponikowski, cardiologist
Moshe Prywes (1914–1998), Israeli physician and educator; first President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Tadeusz Reichstein (1897–1996), Polish-Swiss physiologist; 1950 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
Zbigniew Religa, cardiologist
Józef Rostafiński, biologist
Albert Sabin, polio vaccine; President of the Weizmann Institute of Science
Andrzej Wiktor Schally (1926–2024), Polish-American Nobel-laureate endocrinologist
Hanna Segal, British leading Kleinian psychoanalyst
Michael Sela (1924–2022), Israeli immunologist; President of the Weizmann Institute of Science
Henryk Skarżyński, otolaryngologist, audiologist, phoniatrist
Michalina Stefanowska, neurophysiologist
Eduard Adolf Strasburger (born in Poland, of German descent), botanist
Andrzej Szczeklik, immunologist
Jan Sztolcman, ornithologist
Wacław Szybalski, Polish-American physician
Władysław Taczanowski, zoologist
Andrzej K. Tarkowski, embryologist
Zbylut Twardowski, Polish-American physician
Jerzy Vetulani, neuroscientist, pharmacologist and biochemist
Emil Warmiński, physician, social and national activist
Józef Warszewicz, botanist and biologist
Rudolf Weigl, typhus vaccine
Wanda Wesołowska, zoologist
Helena Rosa Wright, English physician influential in family planning
Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska, Polish-American physician
Jozef J. Zwislocki, neuroscientist

Astronomy

Franciszek Armiński
Tadeusz Banachiewicz
Jan Brożek
Albert Brudzewski
Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer, the son of a Polish father and a mother who was of mixed German-Polish descent; he is also often considered a German by Germans
Wojciech Dziembowski
Władysław Dziewulski
Michał Falkener
Jan Gadomski
Elisabeth Hevelius, astronomer and wife of Johannes Hevelius
Johannes Hevelius, mayor of Gdańsk; often also considered a German
Felicjan Kępiński
Marian Albertovich Kowalski
Kazimierz Kordylewski
Wojciech Krzemiński
Jan Latosz
Stanisław Lubieniecki
Bohdan Paczyński
Marcin Poczobutt-Odlanicki
Alexius Sylvius Polonus
Adam Prażmowski
Antoni Przybylski
Agata Różańska
Konrad Rudnicki
Jan Mikołaj Smogulecki
Jan Śniadecki
Andrzej Udalski
Wiesław Wiśniewski
Aleksander Wolszczan, first discovery of extrasolar planets
Thomas Zebrowski
Anna N. Żytkow

Mathematics

Computer science

Krzysztof R. Apt
Paul Baran, American
Krzysztof Cios, Polish-American
Jarosław Duda
Andrzej Ehrenfeucht, Polish-American
Siemion Fajtlowicz, Polish-American, known for his Graffiti
Tomasz Imieliński, Polish-American
Piotr Indyk
Jacek Karpiński
Marek Karpiński
Marian Mazur
Jan Mycielski, Polish-American
Zdzislaw Pawlak
Emil Leon Post, American
Stanisław Radziszowski, Polish-American
Andrew Targowski, Polish-American
Jack Tramiel, Polish-American
Andrzej Trybulec, Mizar system
Stanisław Ulam
Jan Węglarz
Michał Zalewski

Linguistics

Jolanta Antas
Jerzy Bartmiński
Jan Niecisław Baudouin de Courtenay (1845–1929), developed the theory of the phoneme and phonetic alternations.
Andrzej Bogusławski (1931–2026), Russian-Polish-Russian lexicographer, philosopher of language, semioticist
Aleksander Brückner (1856–1939), Slavicist and Polish-language lexicographer
Kazimierz Bulas (1903–1970), Polish–English lexicographer (Kościuszko Foundation Dictionary)
Jan Bystroń
Jan Czekanowski
Andrzej Gawroński
Grzegorz Knapski
Władysław Kopaliński
Onufry Kopczyński (1736–1817), creator of Polish-grammar terminology
Alfred Korzybski, originator of general semantics
Mikołaj Kruszewski
Jerzy Kuryłowicz
Samuel Bogumił Linde (1771–1847), Polish-language lexicographer
Jan Mączyński
Halina Mierzejewska
Jan Miodek
Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski (1921–2016), Polish–English lexicographer, historian, and engineer
Anna Siewierska
Jan Stanisławski, Polish–English lexicographer
Antoni Józef Śmieszek
Michel Thomas
Zdzisław Wąsik
Anna Wierzbicka
L. L. Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto

Invention

Bruno Abakanowicz, mathematician, engineer, inventor of the integraph
Stefan Bryła, first welded road bridge
Mieczysław G. Bekker, Lunar Roving Vehicle
Jan Czochralski, Czochralski process
Juliusz Bogdan Deczkowski, medical equipment
Stefan Drzewiecki in 1884 built the first electric-battery-powered submarine
Jan Dzierżoń, first successful movable-frame beehive
Leo Gerstenzang, Q-Tips
Rudolf Gundlach, Gundlach Rotary Periscope
Józef Hofmann, pneumatic shock absorbers
Stefan Kudelski, Nagra audio recorders
Stephanie Kwolek, inventor of Kevlar
Kazimierz Leski, ballast tank funnels
Janusz Liberkowski, Anecia Safety Capsule
Ignacy Łukasiewicz, kerosene lamp, oil refinery
Henryk Magnuski, walkie-talkie
Julian Ochorowicz, precursor of radio and television; philosopher, psychologist
Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski, petroleum-drilling platform inventor
Kazimierz Proszyński, cinematic camera
Marian Rejewski, broke German Enigma-machine ciphers, invented the cryptologic bomb
Jerzy Różycki, invented "clock" method used in breaking German Enigma-machine ciphers
Tadeusz Sendzimir, processing steel
Władysław Starewicz, first puppet-animated film
Abraham Stern, first computing-machine and device for calculating the square roots of numbers
Wacław Struszyński, seaborne direction finding antenna, which made a vital contribution to the defeat of U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic
Jan Szczepanik, television patents
Władysław Tryliński,^[1] trylinka
Józef Tykociński, sound film
Stefan Tyszkiewicz, automotive and audio improvements
Mieczysław Wolfke, precursor of holography
Casimir Zeglen, bullet-proof vest
Henryk Zygalski, Zygalski sheets

Engineering

Karol Adamiecki
Krzysztof Arciszewski
Mieczysław G. Bekker, first moon rover
Włodzimierz Błasiak
Stefan Bryła, first welded road bridge
Romuald Cebertowicz, soil solidification
Zdzisław Celiński
Georges Charpak, particle detector
Jerzy Dąbrowski, designer of PZL.37 Łoś bomber
Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, Polish-Russian engineer, electrician, and inventor
Adam Freytag
Rudolf Gundlach, tank designer
Kazimierz Gzowski
Edward Jan Habich
Tytus Maksymilian Huber
Jacek Jędruch
Stanisław Kierbedź
Stefan Kudelski, electronics engineer, inventor of the Nagra tape recorder
Józef Kosacki, Polish mine detector
Janusz Liberkowski, inventor
Henryk Magnuski, walkie-talkie
Ernest Malinowski, 19th-century constructor of Peru's Ferrovias Central, the world's highest railway at the time
Henry Millicer, aviation
Ralph Modjeski, bridge designer
Zenon Mróz, materials science engineer
Jan Nagórski, first man to fly over the North Pole
Martin Ostoja-Starzewski, engineering scientist
Antoni Patek, pioneer in watchmaking and a creator of Patek Philippe & Co.
Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski
Zygmunt Puławski, designer of PZL P.11 fighter
Bogdan Raczkowski, engineer and urbanist in Bydgoszcz
Ludwik Regamey, engineer and social activist
Wojciech Rostafiński, NASA
Kazimierz Siemienowicz,^[2] pioneer of rocket
Stefan Tyszkiewicz, automotive engineer, inventor of the airport luggage trolley
Stanisław Wigura, aviation
Piotr Wilniewczyc, weaponry
Jan Zarzycki, telecommunications
Franciszek Żwirko, aviation

Social sciences

Tadeusz Andrzejewski, archeologist, Egyptologist
Zygmunt Bauman, sociologist, philosopher
Stefan Błachowski, psychologist
Maria Czaplicka, anthropologist
Kazimierz Dąbrowski, psychologist
Jan Władysław Dawid, psychologist
Tomasz Drezner, Renaissance jurist
Agnieszka Dudzińska, sociologist
Barbara Engelking, sociologist
Zygmunt Gloger, ethnographer, archaeologist, historian
Kazimierz Godłowski, historian and archeologist
Ludwig Gumplowicz, a founder of sociology
Norbert Guterman
Alicja Iwańska, sociologist
Franciszek Kasparek, jurist, professor of international law, rector of Kraków University
Oskar Kolberg, ethnographer
Józef Kostrzewski, archeologist, museologist
Marek Kotański, psychologist
Leon Kozłowski (1892–1944), archeologist; Prime Minister of Poland, 1934–35.
Ludwik Krzywicki, anthropologist, economist, sociologist
Jan Kubary, naturalist, ethnographer
Hersch Lauterpacht, creator of the legal concept of crimes against humanity
Raphael Lemkin, creator of the legal concept of genocide
Andrzej Łobaczewski, psychiatrist, originator of political ponerology
Wiesław Łukaszewski, psychologist
Bronisław Malinowski, anthropologist
Władysław Markiewicz, sociologist
Kazimierz Michałowski, archeologist, Egyptologist
Karol Myśliwiec, archeologist, Egyptologist
Julian Ochorowicz, psychologist, philosopher, inventor
Maria Ossowska, sociologist
Stanisław Ossowski, sociologist
Bronisław Piłsudski, cultural anthropologist
Jadwiga Staniszkis, sociologist
Paweł Śpiewak, sociologist
Henryk Stroband, jurist and mayor of Toruń
Tadeusz Sulimirski, historian and archeologist
Jerzy Szacki, historian of ideas
Zbigniew Szafrański, Egyptologist, archeologist
Jacek Szmatka, sociologist
Piotr Sztompka, sociologist
Edmund Wnuk-Lipiński, sociologist, founder of PAN's Institute of Political Studies
Robert Zajonc, psychologist
Florian Znaniecki, sociologist

Economics

Other sciences

Henryk Arctowski (1871-1958), geophysicist, meteorologist, Antarctic explorer
Leon Barszczewski, explorer^[3]
Piotr Ignacy Bieńkowski, scholar, archaeologist, professor
Karol Bohdanowicz, geologist^[3]
Aleksander Czekanowski,^[3] explorer of Siberia
Jan Czerski, paleontologist, explorer of Siberia
Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska, socialist politician, suffragist
Helene Deutsch, psychoanalyst
Antoni Bolesław Dobrowolski, geophysicist, meteorologist, polar explorer
Ignacy Domeyko, geologist^[4]^[5]
Benedykt Dybowski, naturalist, explorer of Siberia
Gaspar da Gama, traveller, interpreter, explorer
Bronisław Grąbczewski, explorer^[3]
Mirosław Hermaszewski, the first Polish cosmonaut
Leonard Jaczewski, engineer, explorer of Asian Russia^[3]^[6]
Maria Janion, critic and theoretician of literature, feminist
Henryk Jordan, founding father of physical education
Józefa Joteyko, physiologist, psychologist and pedagogue
Antoni Kępiński, psychiatrist
Janusz Korczak, pedagogue, writer
Irena Krzywicka, feminist, writer, translator
Zofia Licharewa, geologist, museum founder
Henryk Lipszyc, specialist in Japanese culture, translator, ambassador of Poland in Tokyo
Rosa Luxemburg, Marxist political theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary
Józef Morozewicz, mineralogist, petrographer^[3]
Halszka Osmólska, paleontologist
Jacek Pałkiewicz, journalist and explorer, best known for discovering the sources of the Amazon River
Michael Alfred Peszke (1932-2015), psychiatrist, historian
Benedykt Polak (Benedict the Pole, Benedictus Polonus), explorer
Jan Potocki, linguist, Egyptologist, sociologist, author of The Saragossa Manuscript
Eugeniusz Romer, cartographer
Stanisław of Skarbimierz, political scientist
Paweł Edmund Strzelecki (1797-1873), geologist, explorer of Australia
Antoni Józef Śmieszek, Egyptologist
Józef Trzemeski, polar explorer^[3]
Bernard Wapowski, "father of Polish cartography"
Andrzej Wawrzyniak (1931-2020), diplomat, founder of the Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw
Paweł Włodkowic, jurist
Czesław Zakaszewski, hydrologist

History

Roman Aftanazy, historian of former Eastern Borderlands and librarian
Szymon Askenazy, historian and diplomat
Marcin Bielski, chronicler
Michał Bobrzyński, historian and politician
Józef Borzyszkowski, Kashubian historian
Filip Callimachus
Alina Cała
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz
Piotr Cywiński
Tadeusz Czacki
Norman Davies, British-Polish historian
Małgorzata Dąbrowska, historian, Byzantist
Jan Długosz, 15th-century chronicler of Poland
Maria Dzielska
Marian Kamil Dziewanowski, Poland, Russia, modern Europe
Karol Estreicher (senior), father of Polish Bibliography
Stanisław Estreicher
Tadeusz Estreicher
Józef Feldman
Mieczysław Gębarowicz, art historian, museum director, custodian of Ossolineum
Aleksander Gieysztor
Władysław Grabski
Roman Grodecki
Oskar Halecki, historian of Poland
Marceli Handelsman, historian of Poland
Paweł Jasienica, historian of Poland
Jacek Jędruch
Wincenty Kadłubek, 13th-century historian of Poland
Stefan Kieniewicz, 19th-century Polish history
Jerzy Kirchmayer, 1944 Warsaw Uprising
Jerzy Kolendo, archaeologist, epigraphist and historian of the Mediterranean Basin in antiquity^[7]
Hugo Kołłątaj, 18th–19th-century historian, philosopher and politician
Feliks Koneczny, Polish history, social philosophy
Władysław Konopczyński, Polish and world history
Iwona Korga, historian, president of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America
Stanisław Kot, historian, politician, diplomat
Władysław Kozaczuk, military history, military intelligence, World War II
Manfred Kridl, history of Polish culture and literature
Marcin Kromer, 16th-century Bishop of Warmia, secretary to two Polish kings, and historian of Poland
Jan Kucharzewski, historian and politician
Marian Kukiel, military historian and politician
Lucyna Kulińska
Ewa Kurek
Stanisław Kutrzeba, Poland, Polish law, Kraków
Gerard Labuda
Joachim Lelewel, historian of Poland
Jerzy Jan Lerski
Dariusz Libionka
Wacław Lipiński
Stanisław Lorentz, art historian
Czesław Madajczyk, World War II
Janusz Magnuski, World War II Polish and Soviet armor
Tadeusz Manteuffel, medievalist
Maciej Masłowski, art historian
Benjamin Mazar (1906–1995), Israeli historian and archeologist; President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Maciej Miechowita
Lidia Milka-Wieczorkiewicz
Karol Modzelewski
Stephen Mizwa
Teodor Narbutt,^[8] Polish historian of Lithuania
Adam Naruszewicz,^[9] 18th-century historian, participant in the Great Sejm
Kasper Niesiecki, Jesuit lexicographer and heraldic scholar
Szymon Okolski, 17th-century historian
Bartosz Paprocki, Polish and Czech heraldic scholar
Michael Alfred Peszke (1932–2015), Polish Armed Forces, World War II
Tadeusz Piotrowski, historian of Poland during World War II
Richard Pipes, Polish-American historian of Russia and the Soviet Union
Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski, World War II, Polish-Jewish relations; engineer; lexicographer
Teresa Prekerowa
Stanisław Salmonowicz, historian of law
Henryk Samsonowicz, historian specializing in medieval Poland
Konstancja Skirmuntt
Julian Stachiewicz, military historian
Szymon Starowolski
Aneta Stawiszyńska
Dariusz Stola
Maciej Stryjkowski, historian, writer, poet
Irena Strzelecka
Tomasz Strzembosz, Polish World War II history
Karol Szajnocha, historian and novelist
Józef Szujski
Zygmunt Szweykowski, Polish literature
Władysław Tatarkiewicz, philosophy and aesthetics
Rafał Taubenschlag, history of law
Janusz Tazbir, historian, specializing in the culture and religion of Poland in the 16th and 17th centuries
Józef Turowski, World War II OUN massacres of Poles
Adam Ulam, Polish-American historian of Russia and the Soviet Union
Adam Vetulani, history of law
Piotr S. Wandycz, Polish-American historian of Central and Eastern Europe
Leon Wasilewski
Ewa Wipszycka, historian and papyrologist
Richard Woytak, World War II era
Julia Zabłocka (1931–1993), historian, classical scholar, archaeologist
Wincenty Zakrzewski, 16th-century Poland
Adam Zamoyski
Janusz K. Zawodny, World War II
Ignacy Żagiell (1826–1891), historian of ancient Egypt
Marek Żukow-Karczewski, historian and journalist
Kazimierz Żurowski, archaeologist

Philosophy

Prose literature

Franciszka Arnsztajnowa, playwright
S. Ansky, Bielorussian, Polish-Jewish author of The Dybbuk
Joanna Bator, novelist, feminist
Witold Bełza, librarian, writer, publicist on Bydgoszcz
Halina Birenbaum, Polish Israeli writer, translator, chronicler of the martyrdom of Polish Jewry
Karol Olgierd Borchardt, maritime author
Tadeusz Borowski, writer and journalist
Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, writer; translator of over 100 French literary classics
Edmund Chojecki, journalist based in France
Joanna Chmielewska, crime writer
Sylwia Chutnik, novelist, feminist, social activist
Joseph Conrad (Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski), English-language novelist
Stanisław Czerniecki, landowner and chef, author of the first Cookery book in Polish 1682
Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa, cookbook author
Maria Dąbrowska, novelist and translator of the Diary of Samuel Pepys into Polish
Johannes Dantiscus (Jan Dantyszek), Latin poet and Prince-Bishop of Warmia
Jacek Dehnel, writer, poet, translator, painter
Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz, author of the novel, The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma
Jacek Dukaj, science-fiction writer
Adolf Dygasiński, novelist
Leszek Engelking, short story writer
Felicjan Medard Faleński, poet, novelist
Aleksander Fredro, poet, comedy writer
Jerzy Giedroyć, legendary émigré editor (Kultura)
Janusz Głowacki, playwright, nonfiction author
Ferdynand Goetel, novelist, playwright, essayist
Witold Gombrowicz, novelist, playwright
Stefan Grabiński, horror writer
Mieczysław Grydzewski, legendary editor (Skamander, Wiadomości Literackie)
Henryk Grynberg, writer
Adam Grzymała-Siedlecki, literary and theater critic
Józef Hen, novelist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and reporter
Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, writer, journalist, essayist, World War II underground fighter
Marek Hłasko, novelist, short story writer
Klementyna Hoffmanowa, writer of memoir and children's literature
Paweł Huelle, essayist
Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski
Wincenty Kadłubek, political scientist, writer, chronicler
Ryszard Kapuściński, writer and journalist
Wojciech Karpiński, writer and essayist
Maria Konopnicka, writer, novelist
Tadeusz Konwicki, writer
Janusz Korczak, writer, pedagogist
Jerzy Kosiński, writer
Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, novelist and World War II resistance fighter
Stefania Kossowska, journalist, writer, editor and broadcaster in emigré London
Marek Krajewski, crime writer, known for his series of novels set in pre-war Wrocław with Eberhard Mock as the protagonist
Hanna Krall, writer
Ignacy Krasicki, author of the first Polish novel, The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom, and of Fables and Parables
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, Poland's most prolific writer (and one of the world's most prolific), noted especially for his historical novels
Wojciech Kuczok, novelist, screenwriter, film critic
Antoni Lange, writer, poet, philosopher
Stanisław Lem, science-fiction writer, essayist, philosopher
Stanisław Lubieniecki, writer, astronomer* Waldemar Łysiak, writer
Józef Mackiewicz, writer, journalist
Kornel Makuszyński, children's writer
Dorota Masłowska, writer and playwright
Juliusz Mieroszewski, publicist, translator of Orwell's 1984 into Polish
Kazimierz Moczarski, writer and journalist
Sławomir Mrożek, dramatist and writer
Wiesław Myśliwski, novelist
Anna Nakwaska, children's author and educationist
Joanna Olczak-Ronikier, novelist
Eliza Orzeszkowa, Positivist writer
Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, writer
Teodor Parnicki, historical novelist
Jan Chryzostom Pasek, memoirist
Sergiusz Piasecki, writer
Krzysztof Piesiewicz, screenwriter and politician
Jerzy Pilch, writer, columnist, journalist
Elena Poniatowska, columnist and novelist
Jan Potocki, The Saragossa Manuscript
Bolesław Prus, The Doll and Pharaoh
Ksawery Pruszyński, writer and journalist
Stanisława Przybyszewska
Stanisław Przybyszewski, novelist, dramatist, and poet who wrote in both German and Polish
Mikołaj Rej, a founder of Polish literary language and literature
Małgorzata Rejmer, writer
Sydor Rey, writer, poet, novelist
Władysław Reymont, 1924 Nobel laureate
Zyta Rudzka, novelist
Henryk Rzewuski, novelist
Pinchas Sadeh, Israeli novelist and poet
Barbara Sanguszko, enlightenment writer and salon hostess
Andrzej Sapkowski, fantasy writer
Sat-Okh, Polish-Shawnee writer
Bruno Schulz, novelist and painter
Henryk Sienkiewicz, 1905 Nobel laureate
Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1978 Nobel laureate
Piotr Skarga, poet, writer, humanist
Andrzej Stasiuk, writer, journalist, literary critic
Jędrzej Śniadecki, terminologist, writer
Stefan Themerson, children's writer, film maker, inventor of "semantic poetry", philosopher
Olga Tokarczuk, writer, psychologist, 2019 Nobel laureate
Magdalena Tulli, novelist, translator
Marian Turwid, writer and painter from Bydgoszcz
Leopold Tyrmand, writer
Meyer Wolf Weisgal, American journalist, publisher, and playwright; President of the Weizmann Institute of Science
Józef Weyssenhoff, novelist, poet, literary critic
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy)
Stanisław Wyspiański, painter and writer
Franciszek Zabłocki, comic dramatist and satirist
Janusz A. Zajdel, science-fiction writer
Gabriela Zapolska, novelist
Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz, political fiction and science-fiction writer
Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm, writer
Antonina Żabińska, writer
Stefan Żeromski, novelist
Jerzy Żuławski, novelist

Journalism

Poetry

Music

Chava Alberstein, Israeli singer-songwriter
Piotr Anderszewski, pianist
Stefan Askenase, Polish-Belgian pianist
Emanuel Ax, American pianist
Grażyna Bacewicz, composer
Stanisław Barcewicz, conductor, violinist
Edyta Bartosiewicz, singer
Kamil Bednarek, reggae and dancehall vocalist, songwriter, composer and musician
Michał Bergson, pianist composer, promoter of Chopin and father of Henri Bergson
Marek Biliński, electronic music composer
Rafał Blechacz, pianist
Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz, composer ("the Chopin of guitar")
Stan Borys, singer-songwriter
Monika Brodka, singer
Dariusz Brzozowski, drummer
Jan Borysewicz, composer, singer, guitarist
Grzegorz Ciechowski, composer, singer
Fryderyk Chopin, composer and pianist
Agnieszka Chylińska, singer-songwriter, author and television personality
Marcel Chyrzyński, composer
Cleo, singer
Krzysztof Czerwiński, conductor and organist
Adam Darski, singer-songwriter, guitarist
Ania Dąbrowska, singer-songwriter, composer
Ewa Demarczyk, singer
Krzesimir Dębski, composer
Wojciech Długoraj, lutenist, composer
Andrzej Dobrowolski, composer
Doda, singer
Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński, composer
Jan Drozdowski, pianist and music teacher
Urszula Dudziak, singer
Walek Dzedzej, punk performer
Józef Elsner, composer, Chopin's piano teacher
Ewa Farna, Polish-Czech singer
Mieczysław Fogg, singer
Robert 'Litza' Friedrich, rock singer
Anna German, singer
Mikołaj Gomółka, composer
Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki, composer
Kasia Glowicka, composer
Konstanty Gorski, composer and violinist
Henryk Górecki, composer
Edyta Górniak, singer
Marek Grechuta, singer-songwriter, composer, and lyricist
Roman Haubenstock-Ramati (1919–1994), composer and music editor
Taco Hemingway, rapper
Jan Hoffman, pianist and pedagogue
Józef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist
Mieczysław Horszowski, Polish-American pianist
Bronisław Huberman, violinist
Grzegorz Hyży, singer-songwriter
Zdzisław Jachimecki, musicologist, composer
Alicja Janosz, singer
Anna Jantar, singer
Adam Jarzębski, composer
Anna Maria Jopek, singer, musician
Jula, singer-songwriter
Reni Jusis, singer
Jan A. P. Kaczmarek, Oscar-winning film composer
Jacek Kaczmarski, singer-songwriter
Maria Kalergis, Polish-German pianist
Bronisław Kaper, film composer
Mieczysław Karłowicz, composer
Jerzy Katlewicz, conductor
Kayah, singer
Wacław Kiełtyka, guitarist
Stefan Kisielewski, composer, writer
Wojciech Kilar, composer
Krzysztof Komeda, jazz composer
Zygmunt Konieczny, composer
Abel Korzeniowski, film score composer
Roman Kostrzewski, controversial singer-songwriter
Kasia Kowalska, singer
Henryk Kowalski (1911–1982), violinist and composer
Seweryn Krajewski, singer-songwriter
Dawid Kwiatkowski, singer-songwriter
Rafał Kuczynski ('Human Error')
Hanna Kulenty, composer
Karol Kurpiński, composer
Lucjan Kydryński, music critic, writer
Wanda Landowska, harpsichordist
Teodor Leszetycki, Austrian-Polish pianist, pedagogue
Monika Lewczuk, singer-songwriter, model
Franciszek Lilius, composer
Lydia Kindermann, opera singer
Karol Lipiński, composer, virtuoso violinist (about equal to Niccolò Paganini)
Jan Lisiecki, Canadian pianist
Ewelina Lisowska, singer-songwriter
Michał Lorenc, film score composer
Jan z Lublina, composer
Witold Lutosławski, composer
Jerzy Maksymiuk, conductor
Ray Manzarek, American musician, singer, keyboardist of The Doors
Margaret, singer-songwriter
Patrycja Markowska, pop rock singer
Mata, rapper
Paweł Mąciwoda, bassist, member of the German rock band Scorpions
Megitza, singer, double bass player, and composer
Krzysztof Meyer, composer
Aleksander Michałowski, pianist and pedagogue
Marcin Mielczewski, composer
Maciek Miernik, producer
Carl Mikuli, composer
Emil Młynarski, conductor and composer
Stanisław Moniuszko, composer
Moritz Moszkowski, German-Polish composer
Czesław Mozil, Polish-Danish singer and musician
Leszek Możdżer, pianist and composer
Tadeusz Nalepa, composer, guitar player, vocalist, and lyricist
Czesław Niemen, singer-songwriter
Katarzyna Nosowska, singer-songwriter
Marcin Nowak, guitarist and singer
Feliks Nowowiejski, composer
Zygmunt Noskowski, composer
Natalia Nykiel, singer-songwriter
Wiesław Ochman, opera singer
Michał Kazimierz Ogiński, composer
Michał Kleofas Ogiński,^[11] composer
Hanka Ordonówna, singer, actress, dancer
O.S.T.R., rapper, musician
Tede, rapper, musician
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, pianist, composer
Andrzej Panufnik, composer
Włodek Pawlik, jazz musician, composer
Krzysztof Penderecki, composer
Maria Peszek, singer-songwriter
Jerzy Petersburski, pianist, composer
Egon Petri (1881–1962), pianist of Dutch extraction who never lived in Holland; lived and worked in Poland, 1927–31 August 1939; was fluent in Polish.
Pezet, rapper
Bartłomiej Pękiel, composer
Andrzej Piaseczny, singer-songwriter, actor, and television personality
Svika Pick, Israeli pop singer, composer
Dawid Podsiadło, singer
Jerzy Połomski, singer
Piotr Półtorak, guitarist
Zbigniew Preisner, composer
Zbigniew Robert Promiński, drummer
Natalia Przybysz, rhythm and blues singer
Pawel Przytocki, conductor
Tomasz "Titus" Pukacki, singer
Krzysztof Raczkowski, drummer
Mikołaj z Radomia, Middle Ages composer
Édouard de Reszke, bass
Jan and Emilja Reszke, violinist and mezzo-soprano, parents of opera stars
Jean de Reszke, tenor
Josephine de Reszke, soprano
Ryszard Riedel, singer
Maryla Rodowicz, singer
Artur Rodziński, Polish-American conductor
Eddie Rosner, jazz, "Polish (or: The White) Louis Armstrong"
Piotr Rubik, composer
Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist
Sanah, singer-songwriter
Ada Sari, opera singer
Jadwiga Sarnecka, composer and pianist
Sarsa, singer-songwriter
Bogusław Schaeffer, composer
Xaver Scharwenka, composer
Marcella Sembrich (1858–1935), coloratura soprano
Kazimierz Serocki, composer
Witold Silewicz, Polish-Austrian composer, bassist
Józef Skrzek, composer and leader of SBB band
Cezary Skubiszewski, Polish-Australian composer
Marek Stachowski, composer
Tomasz Stańko, jazz trumpeter
Kazik Staszewski, singer-songwriter
Muniek Staszczyk, singer
Justyna Steczkowska, singer
Zygmunt Stojowski, composer
Jadwiga Szamotulska, pianist
Wacław of Szamotuły
Aleksander Szeligowski, composer, pedagog
Tadeusz Szeligowski, composer, conductor
Henryk Szeryng, Polish-Mexican violinist
Władysław Szpilman, pianist
Patryk Dominik Sztyber, guitarist, singer
Maria Agata Szymanowska, composer, concert pianist
Karol Szymanowski, composer, pianist
Paweł Szymański, composer
Andrzej Szwalbe, first director of the Pomeranian Philharmonic
André Tchaikowsky, pianist, composer
Barbara Trzetrzelewska, singer popularly known as "Basia"
Grzegorz Turnau, singer
Ifi Ude, Nigerian and Polish singer
Michał Urbaniak, jazz musician
Moshe Vilenski, Polish-Israeli composer, lyricist, and pianist
Violetta Villas, singer-songwriter
Andrzej Wasowski, pianist
Henryk Wieniawski, composer
Wanda Wiłkomirska, violinist
Antoni Wit, conductor
Piotr Wiwczarek, guitarist, singer
Zbigniew Wodecki, singer, musician, composer, actor and TV presenter
Tomasz Wróblewski, guitarist, singer
Aga Zaryan, jazz singer
Mikołaj Zieleński, composer
Krystian Zimerman, pianist
Władysław Żeleński, composer
Wojciech Żywny, Czech-born Polish composer, Chopin's first professional piano teacher

Visual arts

Magdalena Abakanowicz, sculptor
Tadeusz Ajdukiewicz, painter
Zygmunt Ajdukiewicz, painter
Sylwester Ambroziak, sculptor
Chrystian Piotr Aigner, architect
Paweł Althamer, contemporary artist
Michał Elwiro Andriolli (1836–93), illustrator, painter, architect
Teodor Axentowicz, painter and rector of Krakow Academy of Fine Arts
Marcello Bacciarelli, Italian-Polish portrait painter
Tomasz Bagiński, computer graphics
Balthus (Balthasar Kłossowski de Rola), Polish-French painter
Mirosław Bałka, contemporary painter and sculptor
Krzysztof Bednarski, sculptor
Zdzisław Beksiński, painter
Bernardo Bellotto, Italian-Polish landscape and court painter
Władysław T. Benda, painter, illustrator, designer
Henryka Beyer (1782–1855), painter
Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz, painter
Walerian Borowczyk, painter, lithographer and film director
Olga Boznańska, painter
Józef Brandt, battle-scene painter
Maximilian Cercha, painter and drawer
Jan Chełmiński (1851–1925), painter of historical and military subjects
Józef Marian Chełmoński, painter
Gerard Ciołek, architect and historian of gardens
Józef Czapski, painter
Tytus Czyżewski, painter, poet, art critic
Jacenty Dędek, photographer
Zbigniew Dłubak, painter
Andrzej Dłużniewski, contemporary sculptor
Karl Duldig (1902–1986)
Xawery Dunikowski, sculptor
Maksymilian Fajans, Jewish–Polish artist, lithographer, photographer
Julian Fałat, painter
Wojciech Fangor, painter
Jakub Fontana, baroque and neoclassical architect
Teodor and Franciszek Gajewski, sculptors and painters
Wojciech Gerson, painter
Stefan Gierowski, painter
Aleksander Gierymski, painter, brother of Maksymilian Gierymski
Maksymilian Gierymski, painter
Paweł Giżycki, architect
Cyprian Godebski, sculptor
Chaim Goldberg, Painter, Sculptor and Engraver
Zygmunt Gorgolewski, architect
Józef Gosławski, sculptor and medallist
Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak, architect
Artur Grottger, painter, illustrator
Aleksander Gryglewski, interior portraits
Władysław Hasior, sculptor, painter, stage designer
Józef Hecht, engraver, printmaker
Anton Hoffmann, 19th century architect in Bydgoszcz
Józef Holewiński (1848–1917), graphic artist and painter
Stanisław Horno-Popławski, painter, sculptor, pedagogue
Władysław Horodecki, architect
Ryszard Horowitz, photographer
Maria Jarema, painter, sculptor
Ewa Juszkiewicz, painter
Anna Kamieńska-Łapińska, sculptor, animated-film scenarist
Johann Christian Kammsetzer, architect
Tadeusz Kantor (1915–1990), painter, theater director
Rudolf Kern, Art Nouveau architect in Bydgoszcz
Stefan Klajbor, architect
Marta Klonowska, glass maker and sculptor
Katarzyna Kobro, sculptor
Roman Kochanowski, landscape painter
Robert Konieczny, architect
Gloria Kossak, painter, poet
Jerzy Kossak, painter
Juliusz Kossak, painter, illustrator
Wojciech Kossak, painter
Jan Kossowski, modernist architect
Katarzyna Kozyra, video artist
Lucjan Kraszewski, painter, photographer, illustrator; brother of Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
Nikifor Krynicki, painter
Alexander Kucharsky, painter
Zofia Kulik, performer
Stefan Kuryłowicz, architect
Teofil Kwiatkowski, painter
Tamara de Lempicka, painter
Zbigniew Lengren, cartoonist and illustrator
Jan Lenica, graphic designer and cartoonist
Stanisław Lentz, painter
Aleksander Lesser, painter
Daniel Libeskind, architect
Bronisław Linke, graphic artist, painter of the horror of war
Mieczysław Lubelski, sculptor, ceramicist and creator of the Polish War Memorial
Władysław Łuszczkiewicz, painter
Tadeusz Makowski, painter member of Paris School
Jacek Malczewski, painter
Rafał Malczewski, painter, writer, climber
Kazimierz Malewicz, painter, founder of Suprematism
Stanisław Masłowski, painter
Jan Matejko, painter
Agata Materowicz, painter, photographer, graphic designer, FIMO figurines designer and hand-maker
Józef Mehoffer, painter^[12]
Piotr Michałowski, painter
Jacek Mierzejewski, painter
Jerzy Mierzejewski, painter and pedagogue
Ambroży Mieroszewski, Chopin's first portraitist
Igor Mitoraj, sculptor
Dorota Nieznalska, sculptor
Nikifor, naive artist of Lemko origin
Jan Piotr Norblin, painting, drawing, caricature
Jerzy Nowosielski, painter
Seweryn Obst (1847–1917), painter, illustrator, ethnographer
Rafał Olbiński, illustrator, painter
Roman Opałka, painter
Aleksander Orłowski, painter
Stanisław Julian Ostroróg, early portrait photographer, known as "Walery"
Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg, celebrated photographer son of the other Ostroróg
Józef Pankiewicz, painter, graphic artist
Aniela Pawlikowska, portrait painter
Maximilian Piotrowski, painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Königsberg
Władysław Podkowiński, painter and illustrator
Józef Pokutyński, architect
Peter Potworowski, painter
Stanislaw Przespolewski, painter, sculptor
Anna Rajecka, 18th-century portrait painter
Joanna Rajkowska, contemporary artist; designer of Warsaw's artificial palm tree
Zofia Romer, painter
Ferdynand Ruszczyc, painter, graphic artist, cartoonist, stage designer
Henryk Rodakowski, painter
Władysław Sadłowski, architect
Wilhelm Sasnal, painter
Jan Sawka, painter, print-maker, architect, graphic designer, multi-media artist
Johann Christian Schuch, garden designer, architect
Kazimierz Sichulski, painter^[12]
Władysław Sławny, photographer
Jan Stanisławski, painter
Henryk Stażewski, painter
Zofia Stryjeńska, illustrator, painter^[12]
Władysław Strzemiński, painter
January Suchodolski, painter
Józef Święcicki, 19th century architect
Józef Szajna, sculptor, stage designer, theatre director
Stanisław Szukalski, sculptor, painter
Arthur Szyk, illuminator, war cartoonist, book illustrator
Wacław Szymanowski, painter, sculptor, designer of Frederic Chopin Monument in Warsaw
Teodor Talowski, architect
Włodzimierz Tetmajer, painter^[12]
Franciszka Themerson, painter, illustrator, stage designer
Stanisław Tondos, painter
Feliks Topolski, expressionist painter and draughtsman
Roland Topor, illustrator, painter, writer and filmmaker
Piotr Triebler, sculptor
Armand Vetulani
Zygmunt Vogel, watercolor and drawing
Marian Walentynowicz, illustrator and comic strip pioneer
Walenty Wańkowicz, painter
Max Weber, painter
Fritz Weidner, designer and architect in Bydgoszcz
Michał Weinzieher, art critic
Wojciech Weiss, painter and draughtsman
Jan de Weryha-Wysoczański, sculptor
Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, painter
Stanisław Witkiewicz, painter, architect
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy), painter, photographer, playwright, novelist, philosopher
Kazimierz Wojniakowski, painter
Leon Wyczółkowski, painter
Stanisław Wyspiański, painter
August Zamoyski, sculptor
Jerzy Zaruba, graphic artist, caricaturist, stage designer
Jan Sas Zubrzycki, architect
Marek Zulawski, painter and art theorist

Entertainment

Piotr Andrejew (1947–2017), film director
Józef Arkusz, film director
Tomasz Bagiński, creator of short animated films, BAFTA Award winner, Academy Award nominee
Andrzej Bartkowiak, cinematographer, director, actor
Eugeniusz Bodo, singer and actor
Wojciech Bogusławski, actor, theater director, playwright; "father of the Polish Theater"
Walerian Borowczyk, film director
Ewa Braun, Academy Award-winning set decorator, costume designer, production designer
Ewa Demarczyk, actress, poetry singer
Doda (Dorota Rabczewska), actress, singer^[13]
Paweł Edelman, cinematographer, European Film Award winner
Aleksander Ford, director
Piotr Fronczewski, actor and singer
Jerzy Grotowski, theatre reformer
Loda Halama, dancer, actor
Adam Hanuszkiewicz, actor, theater director
Wojciech Has, film director
Marian Hemar, songwriter, cabaret artist
Jerzy Hoffman, film director
Agnieszka Holland, film director, nominated for Academy Awards and BAFTA Award
Miłosz Horodyski, film and television director
Sławomir Idziak, cinematographer, nominated for Oscar
Stanislas Idzikowski, ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher
Stefan Jaracz, actor, theater producer
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, Academy Award-winning composer, nominated to BAFTA Award
Jacek Kaczmarski, protest songwriter, poetry singer, guitarist
Janusz Kamiński, two-time-Oscars- and BAFTA Award-winning cinematographer and film director
Bronislau Kaper, Academy Award-winning composer
Krzysztof Kieślowski, film director, nominated for Academy Awards
Anna Kochanowska, radio journalist and politician
Max Kolonko, Polish-American TV personality, producer, writer
Joanna Krupa, actress and supermodel
Kazimierz Kutz, film director
Irena Kwiatkowska (1912–2011), actress
Pola Negri, film actress, singer
Vaslav Nijinsky (Wacław Niżyński), ballet dancer considered the greatest male lead of the early 20th century
Hanka Ordonówna (1902–1950), singer, dancer, actress
Jerzy Owsiak, broadcaster
Krzysztof Pastor, dancer, choreographer and ballet director
Paweł Pawlikowski, film director
Marianna Franciszka Pierożyńska (1763–1816), actress, opera singer
Jan Pietrzak (born 1937), satirist, cabaret performer
Roman Polanski, award-winning film director raised and educated in Poland
Beata Pozniak, Polish-American actress, director, activist, writer, producer
Jeremi Przybora, writer, actor and singer
Krzysztof Ptak, cinematographer
Marie Rambert, influential ballet pedagogue and director
Zbigniew Rybczyński, Oscar- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker
Lew Rywin, film producer
Andrzej Saramonowicz, screenwriter, film director
Olga Sawicka, ballet dancer and choreographer
Leon Schiller, theatre director
Izabella Scorupco, Polish-born Hollywood-actress and singer
Jerzy Skolimowski, film director
Przemysław Skwirczyński, cinematographer
Piotr Sobocinski, cinematographer
Allan Starski, Oscar-winning production designer, art director, set designer
Yvonne Strahovski (Strzechowski), Polish-Australian television, film, and voice actress
Jerzy Stuhr, actor, film director
Franciszka Themerson, filmmaker and artist
Henryk Tomaszewski, mime
Basia Trzetrzelewska, singer
Anna Tsuchiya, Japanese singer, actress, model of Polish descent
Andrzej Wajda, Academy Award, Golden Palm, BAFTA Award, Silver Berlin Bear, César Award and Golden Lion winning film director
Harry Warner, American Warner Bros. co-founder
Albert Warner, American Warner Bros. co-founder
Samuel Warner, American Warner Bros. co-founder
Jerzy Wasowski, radio announcer, composer, pianist, actor and director
Michał Waszyński, film director
Leon Woizikovsky, dancer and ballet master
Dariusz Wolski, cinematographer
Krzysztof Zanussi, film director
Zbigniew Zapasiewicz, actor, theater director
Benjamin Zemach (1901–1997), choreographer and dancer, nominated for an Academy Award
Andrzej Żuławski (1940–2016), film director

Business

Jan Gotlib Bloch, railway financier who in 1898 predicted the railroad-moblized industrial warfare of World War I
Count Xavier Branicki, financier, philanthropist, co-founder of Credit Foncier de France
Rafał Brzoska, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist, founder and CEO of InPost
Hipolit Cegielski, businessman and social and cultural activist
Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, Polish-British Antiquarian, gallery owner, collector and philanthropist
André Citroën, French automotive industrialist
Jack Cohen, English co-founder of the Tesco retail chain
Franciszek Czapek, co-partner in Patek, Czapek & Co.
Leszek Czarnecki, businessman
Irena Eris, businesswoman
Max Factor, Sr., Polish-American cosmetics entrepreneur
Françoise Frenkel, bookshop entrepreneur
Henryk Grohman, textile manufacturer and patron of the arts
Nathan Handwerker
Anna Jabłonowska, early social and industrial entrepreneur, magnate
Karol Jaroszyński, entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist
Barbara Piasecka Johnson, humanitarian, philanthropist, widow of J. Seward Johnson, Sr.
Leopold Stanisław Kronenberg, banker
Stanisław Kronenberg, financier
Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, merchant, spy, opened first Coffeehouse in Vienna (1683)
Dominika Kulczyk, businesswoman
Grażyna Kulczyk, businesswoman, philanthropist, art collector
Jan Kulczyk, CEO of Kulczyk Investments, richest 21st-century Pole
Sebastian Kulczyk, businessman
Michał Łempicki, mining engineer, entrepreneur, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Empire
Henry Lowenfeld, Polish-born British theatrical impresario and brewing entrepreneur
Tomasz Lubienski, early industrialist co-founder, with his brothers, of Zyrardow textile industry
Henryk Łubieński, banker, lawyer, industrial pioneer and Russian exile (1848)
Zofia Lubomirska, textile entrepreneur in Przeworsk
Michael Marks, co-founder of Marks and Spencer retail chain
Dariusz Miłek, businessman and entrepreneur, founder of CCC SA.
Henryk Orfinger, cosmetics entrepreneur
Samuel Orgelbrand, editor
Antoni Patek, co-founder of watchmakers Patek Philippe & Co.
Antoni Protazy Potocki, banker and industrialist who developed Odesa into an international port (1780s)
Izrael Poznański, textile magnate, philanthropist
Helena Rubinstein, Polish-American cosmetics entrepreneur, one of the richest women who ever lived
Frank Russek (1875/1876-1948), Polish-born American co-founder of the Russeks department store chain
Karol Scheibler, German-born Polish textile magnate
Feliks Sobański, landowner and philanthropist
Zygmunt Solorz-Żak, businessman and media tycoon, owner of Polsat and Plus
Michał Sołowow, businessman and rally driver
Piotr Steinkeller, German-Polish industrial pioneer, King of Zinc
Henri Strzelecki, founder of Henri Lloyd, Ltd., sportswear manufacturer
Piotr Szulczewski, Canadian-Polish businessman and computer scientist, co-founder of e-commerce platform Wish.com
Stefan Tyszkiewicz, founder of Stetysz early Polish car manufacturer
Hyppolite Wawelberg, Polish-Jewish banker and philanthropist
Karol Wedel, Chocolatier, confectioner
Antoni Weynerowski, founder in Bydgoszcz of the firm Leo, renamed Kobra
Louis Wolowski, financier co-founder of Credit Foncier de France
Andrzej Artur Zamoyski, initiated river transportation

Politics

Tomasz Arciszewski (1877–1955), first Prime Minister of Poland in exile (1944–47)
Kazimierz Feliks Badeni (1846–1909), count, Minister-President of Austria (1895–97)
Menachem Begin (1913–1992), founder of both Herut and Likud, sixth Prime Minister of Israel
David Ben-Gurion (born David Grün; 1886–1973), head of the Jewish Agency, first Prime Minister of Israel
Marek Belka (born 1952), director of economic policy in the interim coalition administration of Iraq, Prime Minister of Poland (2004–05)
Bolesław Bierut (1892–1956), leader of communist Poland (1948–56)
Michał Bobrzyński (1849–1935), Governor of Galicia (1908–13)
Anna Borucka-Cieślewicz (born 1941), elected to the Sejm in 2005
Zbigniew Brzeziński (1928–2017), Polish-American political scientist, advisor to US President Jimmy Carter
Matheus Butrymowicz (1745–1814), liberal member of the Great Sejm assembled in Warsaw (1788–92)
Jerzy Buzek (born 1940), Prime Minister of Poland (1997–2001), President of the European Parliament (2009–12)
Jan Ciechanowski (1887–1973), Ambassador to the United States
Alexandre Colonna-Walewski (1810–1868), Polish and French politician and diplomat; French Foreign Minister under Napoleon III.
Józef Cyrankiewicz (1911–1989), Prime Minister of communistic Poland (1947–52 and 1954–70)
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (1770–1861), prince, statesman, Prime Minister (1830–31)
Ignacy Daszyński (1866–1936), prime minister of the Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland (1918)
Jan Dekert (1738–1790), merchant, mayor of Warsaw (1789–90)
Isaac Deutscher (1907–1967), writer, journalist, political activist
Heinrich Dietz (1840–1901), member of the Prussian parliament, philanthropist
Roman Dmowski (1864–1939), nationalist politician, statesman
Andrzej Duda (born 1972), sixth President of the Third Polish Republic (2015-2025)
Feliks Dzierżyński (1877–1926), founder of Soviet State Security under the original name Cheka
Edward Gierek (1913–2001), leader of communist Poland (1970–80)
Maciej Golubiewski (born 1976), political scientist and diplomat
Władysław Gomułka (1905–1982), leader of communist Poland (1956–70)
Ludwik Gorzkowski (1811–1857), politician and revolutionary activist
Julian Gutowski (1823–1890), Mayor of Nowy Sącz (1867–70)
Piotr Jaroszewicz (1909–1992), Prime Minister of communist Poland (1970–80)
Wojciech Jaruzelski (1923–2014), last leader of communist Poland (1981–89), first President of the Third Polish Republic (1989–90)
Wojciech Jastrzębowski (1799–1882) was a polymath who in 1831, after fighting in Poland's November 1830 Uprising, drafted the first constitution for his proposed European union.
Ryszard Kaczorowski (1919–2010), sixth and last President of Poland in exile (1989–90)
Jarosław Kaczyński (born 1949), identical twin brother of Lech, leader of Law and Justice party, Prime Minister of Poland (2006–07)
Lech Kaczyński (1949–2010), fourth President (2005–10) of Third Polish Republic, died in Smolensk air crash
Hugo Kołłątaj (1750–1812), co-author of Constitution of 3 May 1791
Bronisław Komorowski (born 1952), fifth President of the Third Polish Republic (2010–15)
Wojciech Korfanty (1873–1939), leader of Silesians during the Third Silesian uprising
Janusz Korwin-Mikke (born 1942), far-right politician, former member of the Sejm
Stanisław Kot (1885–1975), historian, politician, diplomat
Leon Kozłowski (1892–1944), archeologist; Prime Minister of Poland (1934–35).
Adrian Kubicki (born 1987), Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York City
Jan Kucharzewski (1876–1952), first Prime Minister of Kingdom of Poland (1917–18)
Jacek Kuroń (1934–2004), politician, social activist
Anna Kurska (1929–2016), judge, lawyer, and member of the Polish Senate
Aleksander Kwaśniewski (born 1954), third President of the Third Polish Republic (1995–2005)
Andrzej Lepper (1954–2011, leader of Samoobrona and Deputy Prime Minister
Herman Lieberman (1870–1941), lawyer and prominent Socialist politician
Feliks Lubienski (1758–1848), Minister of Justice, introduced the Code Napoleon, state archives, and public libraries
Katarzyna Lubnauer (born 1969), leader of Modern political party
Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919), leading Marxist theoretician
Teofil Magdziński (1818–1889), political activist in Bydgoszcz, representative at the Reichstag
Julian Marchlewski (1866–1925), Soviet politician
Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz (born 1959), Prime Minister of Poland (2005–06)
Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1927–2013), politician, first Prime Minister of the Third Polish Republic (Poland)
Adam Michnik (born 1946), influential journalist
Ludwik Mierosławski (1814–1878), insurgent, general, Paris communard
Stanisław Mieroszewski (1827–1900), member of the Imperial Council of Austria
Stanisław Mikołajczyk (1901–1966), Prime Minister of Poland (1943–44), Agrarian Party politician
Karol Modzelewski (1937–2019), activist, politician and academic
Jędrzej Moraczewski (1870–1944), first Prime Minister of II RP (1918–19)
Ignacy Mościcki (1867–1946), third President (1926–39) of the Second Polish Republic
Walery Mroczkowski (1840–1889), anarchist, friend of Mikhail Bakunin
Lewis Bernstein Namier (1888–1960), British politician and historian
Gabriel Narutowicz (1865–1922), first President of the Second Polish Republic (1922)
Karol Nawrocki (born 1983), seventh President of the Third Polish Republic (since 2025)
Józef Oleksy, Prime Minister of III RP (1995–96), Speaker of the Sejm (1993–95; 2004–05)
Janusz Onyszkiewicz (born 1937), Solidarność spokesman, mathematician, alpinist, Minister of Defence
Marian P. Opala, Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court
Stanisław Osiecki, Minister of Agriculture 1923, Minister of Trade & Industry (1925-26)
Jozef Maksymilian Ossolinski (1748–1826), founder of Ossolineum, Poland's signal cultural patron
Stanisław Ostrowski (1892–1982), third President of Poland in exile (1972–79)
Ignacy Paderewski (1860–1941), second Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic (1919)
Longin Pastusiak (1935–2025), Marshal of the Senate (2001–05)
Waldemar Pawlak (born 1959), Prime Minister of Poland (1992 and 1993–95)
Karolina Pawliczak (born 1976), lawyer and politician
Shimon Peres (born Szymon Perski; 1923–2016), President of Israel (2007–14), Prime Minister of Israel (1984–86; 1995–96)
Teodoro Picado Michalski (1900–1960), Costa Rican president, Polish mother
Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935), statesman, politician and Marshal of Poland
Emilia Plater (1806–1831), revolutionary, independence leader
Władysław Broel-Plater (1808–1889), independence activist, founder of Polish Museum, Rapperswil
Alfred Józef Potocki (1817 or 1822–1889), count, Minister-President of Austria (1870–71)
Ignacy Potocki (1750–1809), co-author of Constitution of 3 May 1791
Adam Pragier (1886-1976), leading socialist deputy, exiled minister and writer
Władysław Raczkiewicz (1885–1947), first President of Poland in exile (1939–47)
Edward Raczyński (1891–1993), fourth President of Poland in exile (1979–86)
Antoni Radziwiłł (1775–1833), prince, the Duke-Governor of Grand Duchy of Posen (Poznań) (1815–31)
Józef Retinger (1888–1960), writer, adviser, grey eminence, founder of the Bilderberg conferences
Adam Ronikier (1881–1952), count, president of the Central Welfare Council (1916–18; 1940–43)
Kazimierz Sabbat (1913–1989), fifth President of Poland in exile (1986–89)
Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (born 1948), vice-president of European Parliament (2004–07)
Władysław Sikorski (1881–1943), general, Prime Minister of Poland (1939–43)
Radosław Sikorski (born 1963), politician and former foreign minister (2007–14)
Walery Sławek (1879–1939), independence fighter and former prime minister
Stefan Starzyński (1893–1939), President of Warsaw (1934–39)
Władysław Studnicki (1867–1953), politician and publicist
Romuald Szeremietiew (born 1945), independence activist and former Minister of National Defense
Krzysztof Szczerski (born 1973), Ambassador to the UN
Beata Szydło (born 1963), Prime Minister of Poland (2015–17)
Theodore de Korwin Szymanowski (1846–1901), conceptualised an economic union for Europe in 1885
Róża Thun (born 1954), anticommunist activist, activist for European Union
Donald Tusk (born 1957), chairman of Civic Platform; President of European Council (2014–19) and Prime Minister of Poland (2007–14; 2023–)
Kazimierz Tyszka (1872–1951), Minister of Railways (1923–25), in Władysław Grabski's government
Lech Wałęsa (born 1943), trade unionist who started dismantling of the Soviet bloc, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, second President of the Third Polish Republic (1990–95)
Ludwik Waryński (1856–1889), socialist activist in the 19th century
Wanda Wasilewska (1905–1964), communist activist during World War II
Edward Werner (1878–1945), born in Poland to parents of German origin; vice-Minister of Finance, and Polish diplomat during World War II
Alexander Wielopolski (1803–1877), count, Marquis of Gonzaga, statesman
Wincenty Witos (1874–1945), politician of the agrarian party
Stanisław Wojciechowski (1869–1953), second President of the Second Polish Republic (1922–26)
Walery Antoni Wróblewski (1836–1908), politician, insurgency commander
Joanna Wronecka (born 1958), Ambassador to the UN
August Zaleski (1883–1972), second President of Poland in exile (1947–72)
Jan Zamoyski (1542–1605), chancellor and grand hetman of the crown

Law

Diplomacy

Władysław Bartoszewski (1922–2015), foreign affairs minister of III RP (1995; 2000–2001)
Józef Beck (1894–1944), foreign affairs minister of II RP (1932–1939)
Alois Friedrich von Brühl (1739–1793), Polish-Saxon diplomat, starost of Warsaw
Matthew Bryza (born 1964), American diplomat
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (born 1950), foreign affairs minister of III RP (2001–2005)
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (1770–1861), Polish diplomat; Russian Imperial foreign minister (1804–1806)
Władysław Czartoryski (1828–1894), prince, the main diplomatic agent of the National Government (1863–1864)
Roman Dmowski, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1923)
Bronisław Geremek, foreign affairs minister of III RP (1997–2000)
Agenor Maria Gołuchowski, count, foreign affairs minister of Austria-Hungary (1895–1906)
Krzysztof Grzymułtowski, diplomat and voivod of Poznań, author of the Eternal Peace Treaty with Russia (1686)
Stanisław Janikowski, diplomat in Rome, to Holy See (1927–1954)
Wacław Jędrzejewicz (1893–1993)
Julian Klaczko (1825–1906), Polish diplomat
Stanisław Kot, historian, politician, diplomat. Polish ambassador to the Soviet Union (1941–1942), Italy (1945–1947).
Józef Lipski, Polish ambassador to Germany (1933–1939)
Juliusz Łukasiewicz, Polish ambassador to the Soviet Union (1934–1936) and France (1936–1939)
Ivan Maysky (1884–1975), Soviet diplomat
Stefan Meller, foreign affairs minister of III RP (2005–2006)
Lewis Bernstein Namier (1888–1960), British diplomat and historian
Andrzej Olechowski, foreign affairs minister of III RP (1993–1995)
Ignacy Paderewski, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1919) and third prime minister of Poland
Stanisław Patek, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1919–1920)
Edward Bernard Raczyński, count, Polish ambassador to the United Kingdom (1934–1945) and foreign affairs minister (1941–1943)
Adam Rapacki, foreign affairs minister of communist Poland (1956–1968)
Józef Retinger (1888–1960), advocate for a European Union
Tadeusz Romer, foreign affairs minister of the Polish Government in Exile (1943–1944)
Dariusz Rosati, foreign affairs minister of III RP (1995–1997)
Adam Daniel Rotfeld, foreign affairs minister of III RP (2005)
Radosław Sikorski, foreign affairs minister of III RP (2007–2014)
Konstanty Skirmunt, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1921–1922)
Aleksander Skrzyński, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1922–1923; 1924–1926)
Krzysztof Skubiszewski (1926– 2010), first foreign affairs minister of III RP (1989–1993)
Romuald Spasowski, Polish ambassador to the United States (1955–1961; 1978–1981)
Jan Szembek, count, foreign affairs deputy secretary (1932–1939)
Yosef Tekoah (1925–1991), Israeli diplomat and President of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Andrey Vyshinsky, Soviet jurist and diplomat
Alexandre Joseph Count Colonna-Walewski, Polish and French foreign affairs minister
Leon Wasilewski, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1918–1919)
Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski, general, Polish ambassador to Italy (1938–1940)
Sergey Yastrzhembsky (born 1953), Russian diplomat
August Zaleski (1883–1972), foreign affairs minister of II RP (1926–1932)
Maurycy Klemens Zamoyski (1871–1939), foreign affairs minister of II RP (1924)
Josef Zieleniec (born 1946), Czech foreign affairs minister

Military

Władysław Anders, general, military commander during the Battle of Monte Cassino (1944)
Krzysztof Arciszewski, general of artillery of Holland (1639), and Poland (1646)
Józef Bem, military commander, commander-in-chief of Hungarian army (1849)
Janusz Bokszczanin, colonel, last chief of staff of the Home Army (1944–1945)
Edmond Wilhelm Brillant (1916–2004)
Moshe Carmel (1911–2003), Israeli Major-General and Israeli Minister of Transportation
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, military commander, victor of Kircholm (1605)
Józef Chyliński, resistance fighter
Michał Czajkowski (Sadok Pasha) (1804–1886), Polish commander-in-chief of an Ottoman Cossack brigade during the Crimean War (1853–1856)
Stefan Czarniecki, Field Crown Hetman of Poland (1665)
Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, general, military commander during the Napoleonic Wars
Jarosław Dąbrowski, military commander during the January 1863 Uprising and the Paris Commune (1871)
Henryk Dembiński, military commander in the November uprising and the Hungarian uprising of 1849
Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski, general, ambassador, nominated President of Poland (1939)
Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki, general, military commander in the Greater Poland Uprising (1919)
Bolesław Bronisław Duch, World War II general
Jerzy Pajaczkowski-Dydynski (1894–2005), soldier in World War I and in the 1920–21 Polish-Soviet War; at his death, he was the oldest man in the United Kingdom (111 years old)^[14]
Emil August Fieldorf, general, last deputy commander-in-chief of the Home Army (1944–1945)
Wanda Gertz, major, soldier during World War I, Home Army commandant in World War II and in German POW camps
Józef Haller, politician, commander of the Polish Army in France during World War I
Stanisław Haller, general, murdered by the NKVD in the 1940 Katyn massacres
Hava Inbar (died 2024), Lieutenant Colonel of the Israeli Defense Forces and the first female military judge in the world
Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski, Grand Crown Hetman (1682/3–1702)
Jan Nowak-Jezioranski (1913–2005), journalist and World War II hero
Berek Joselewicz, Polish-Jewish colonel in the Kościuszko Uprising and in Napoleon's Polish Legions; commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history
Mikołaj Kamieniecki, first Grand Crown Hetman of Poland (1503–1515)
Werner Kampe, SS Hauptsturmführer war criminal, Kreisleiter of the NSDAP, Mayor of Bydgoszcz
Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski, general, founder of the resistance movement "Polish Victory Service" (27 September 1939)
Kazimierz J. Kasperek, most decorated Polish Navy officer of World War II
Wanda Józefa Maria Kirchmayer, second lieutenant of the Polish Secret Military Organization (1940–1944)
Tadeusz Klimecki, general, the Chief of the General staff of the Polish Army (1941–1943)
Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, general, commander-in-chief of the Home Army (1943–1944), during Warsaw Uprising (1944)
Stanisław Koniecpolski, Grand Crown Hetman (1632–1646)
Stanisław Kopański, general, the Chief of the General staff of the Polish Army (1943–1946)
Tadeusz Kościuszko, Polish and American commander, general and revolutionist
Jan Kozietulski, colonel, commander during the Napoleonic Wars
Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski, Polish Union general in the American Civil War; Chopin's first cousin
Marian Kukiel, World War II general, historian
Franciszek Latinik, general, military governor of Warsaw during the 1920 Battle of Warsaw
Aleksander Lisowski, commander of 17th-century Lisowczycy
Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski, Prince, Field Crown Hetman (1657–1664), victor at the Battle of Chudniv (Cudnów) (1660)
Walenty Łukawski, captain in the Bar Confederation, abductor of King Stanisław August Poniatowski
Stanisław Maczek (1892–1994), commander of the Polish Armored Division; after World War II, commander-in-chief of Polish forces in exile
Bernard Mond, Polish–Jewish general
Mieczysław Norwid-Neugebauer, general and minister of Polish–Jewish family
Leopold Okulicki, general, last commander-in-chief of the Home Army (1944–1945)
Juliusz Konstanty Ordon, officer in the November uprising (1830–1831)
Adam Ostrzycki, Marshall of the confederation army 1665-6
Tadeusz Pełczyński, chief of staff of the Home Army (ZWZ / AK) (1941–1944)
Józef Piłsudski, statesman, interwar Marshal of Poland
Emilia Plater, countess, heroine of the November 1830 Uprising
Józef Poniatowski, prince, Polish general and marshal of France
Kazimierz Pułaski (Casimir Pulaski), Polish and American military commander
Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union during WWII
Stefan Rowecki, general, military commander, commander-in-chief of the Armed Resistance (ZWZ) (1940–1942) and Home Army (1942–1943)
Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski, general, Chief of Staff during the Battle of Warsaw
Edward Rydz-Śmigły, marshal, military commander, successful in the Polish-Soviet War, C-in-C of the Polish Army in the September 1939 Campaign
Yitzhak Sadeh (born Isaac Landsberg; 1890–1952), a founder of the Israel Defense Forces
Danuta Siedzikówna (1928–1946), medical orderly in Polish Army
Władysław Sikorski, general, commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces and Prime Minister of Poland (1939–1943)
Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski (1885–1962), general, physician and 28th Prime Minister of Poland (1936–1939)
Piotr Skuratowicz, general of the Polish Army, was murdered by the NKVD in the Katyn massacre
Stanisław Sosabowski, commander of the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, which saw action at the Battle of Arnhem during Operation Market Garden (1944)
Kazimierz Sosnkowski, general, Commander-in-Chief of Polish Armed Forces (1943–1944)
Adam Sowa, former deputy chief executive of the European Defence Agency
Józef Sowiński, general, hero of the November uprising (1830–1831)
Zygmunt Szendzielarz ("Łupaszko")
Ignacy Szymanski, veteran of November 1830 Uprising and American Civil War (on the Confederate side)
Jerzy Świrski (1882–1959), vice admiral in the Polish navy under British command during World War II
Jan Tarnowski, Grand Crown Hetman (1527–1561), victor of Obertyn (1531)
Jozef Unrug (1884–1973), German-born vice-admiral in Polish navy, imprisoned in Colditz Castle during WWII
Maria Wittek (1899–1997), brigadier general, head of Women's Auxiliary Military Service (1928–1949)
Wojtek (1942–1963), a Persian bear, adopted during World War II by soldiers of the 2nd Polish Corps
Stefania Wojtulanis-Karpińska (1912–2005), Captain in the Polish Air Force, pilot in Air Transport Auxiliary during Second World War, where known as Barbara Wojtulanis
Piotr Wysocki, led the November Uprising (1830)
Aleksandra Zagórska, lieutenant colonel, independence activist and organiser of women's military squads (1917–1921)
Kordian Józef Zamorski, general; chief of the Polish state police (1935–1939)
Jan Zamoyski, Great Chancellor of Poland (1578–1605) and Grand Crown Hetman (1581–1605)
Władysław Stanisław Zamoyski, general in the Crimean War, diplomat (1803–1868)
Elżbieta Zawacka, general; the only woman among the Silent Unseen
Stanisław Żółkiewski, chancellor of Poland, military commander, conqueror of Moscow (1610), Grand Crown Hetman (1613–1620)
Janusz Żurakowski, World War II fighter pilot and Avro Arrow test pilot

Intelligence

Feliks Ankerstein, interwar covert-operations officer and deputy to Edmund Charaszkiewicz in Office 2 of the General Staff's Section II (Intelligence)
Edmund Charaszkiewicz, interwar covert-operations officer and coordinator of Józef Piłsudski's Promethean project to dismember the Soviet Union
Maksymilian Ciężki, chief of the Polish Cipher Bureau's German section (BS–4), which from 1932 decrypted German Enigma ciphers, paving the way for Britain's World War II Ultra secret
Roman Czerniawski, Polish Air Force captain and British Double Cross System agent
Marian Drobik, Home Army (AK) colonel, chief of the General Staff's Section II (intelligence) (1942–1943)
Wiktor Tomir Drymmer, close collaborator of Foreign Minister Józef Beck, and chief of the secret prewar K-7 organization that supervised certain Polish covert operations
Józef Englicht, prewar deputy chief of the Polish General Staff's Section II
Michael Goleniewski, Cold War Polish, Soviet, and American-CIA agent
Jan Karski, emissary who confirmed the reality of the Holocaust to Western Allies
Bolesław Kontrym, Polish agent, Red Army combrig, Polish Army major
Jan Kowalewski, engineer, intelligence officer and cryptologist, one of many who broke Soviet ciphers during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–1921
Andrzej Kowerski, Polish Army officer and World War II British SOE agent; colleague of Krystyna Skarbek
Ryszard Kukliński, Polish Army colonel, Cold War CIA master spy
Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, Polish spy at the Battle of Vienna (1683); founder of Vienna's first coffee house, which offered coffee produced from coffee beans captured from the Turks
Gwido Langer, head of Poland's Cipher Bureau, which from 1932 broke Germany's military Enigma ciphers
Kazimierz Leski, engineer, fighter pilot, World War II "Musketeers" and Home Army intelligence officer
Stefan Mayer, prewar Section II intelligence officer who supervised the General Staff's Cipher Bureau
Jerzy Pawłowski, Olympic gold-medalist fencer and Cold-War double agent
Tadeusz Pełczyński, general, chief of the General Staff's Section II (1929–1932; 1935–January 1938)
Sergiusz Piasecki, Polish agent, covering the area of Soviet Belarus (1922–1926)
Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish consul-general and intelligence agent in London (1948–1949); the most influential contemporary critic of German literature
Tadeusz Schaetzel, intelligence officer, chief of the General Staff's Section II (1926–1929)
Krystyna Skarbek, aka Christine Granville, World War II British SOE agent
Mieczysław Zygfryd Słowikowski (Rygor-Słowikowski), Polish Army intelligence officer whose work in North Africa facilitated Allied preparations for the 1942 Operation Torch landings
Jerzy Sosnowski, major, Polish spy in Germany (1926–1934) as Georg von Sosnowski, Ritter von Nalecz
Antoni Szymański, Polish military attaché in Berlin (1932–1939)
Halina Szymańska, World War II British intelligence agent; wife of Antoni Szymański
Jan Włodarkiewicz, lieutenant colonel, the first commander of Wachlarz
Marian Zacharski, Cold-War Polish intelligence agent convicted of espionage against the United States

Holocaust resistance

Irena Adamowicz
Mordechaj Anielewicz, Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Dawid Apfelbaum, Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Władysław Bartoszewski
Adolf Berman
Alexander Bogen (1916–2010), partisan leader
Anna Borkowska (Sister Bertranda)
Icchak Cukierman
Gusta Dawidson Draenger
Marek Edelman
Leon Feldhendler (1910–1945)
Hela Felenbaum-Weiss (1924–1988), partisan fighter
Tuviah Friedman (1922–2011), Nazi hunter
Izrael Kanal
Yitzhak Gitterman
Bernard Goldstein
Haika Grossman
Irena Gut
Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki, Polish Army officer, Home Army officer, historian of aid given to Jews in World War II by the Polish Underground State and by ordinary Polish civilians
Henryk Iwański
Jan Karski
Juliusz Kühl
Michał Klepfisz
Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, co-founder of Żegota
Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz, co-founder of Żegota
Countess Karolina Lanckorońska
Zivia Lubetkin
Aleksander Ładoś, Polish de facto Ambassador to Switzerland
Edward Mosberg (1926–2022), Polish-American Holocaust survivor, educator, and philanthropist
Maurycy Orzech
Witold Pilecki
Konstanty Rokicki, Polish consul in Bern who forged Paraguayan passports to rescue Jews
Tadeusz Romer, Polish ambassador to Japan and in Shanghai Ghetto
Stefan Ryniewicz, Polish diplomat
Irena Sendler, saved nearly 2,500 Jewish children in World War II
Joseph Serchuk (Józef Serczuk; 1919–1993), leader of a Jewish partisan unit in the Lublin area
Henryk Sławik, "Polish Schindler", diplomat in Hungary
Leopold Socha, another "Polish Schindler"
Chaim Sztajer (1909–2008), known for his participation in the Treblinka uprising
Simon Wiesenthal, Nazi hunter
Józef and Wiktoria Ulma
Jankiel Wiernik (י1888-1972), influential figure in the Treblinka extermination camp resistance
Samuel Willenberg (1923–2016)
Henryk Woliński
Lidia Zamenhof
Szmul Zygielbojm
Jan and Antonina Żabiński

Religion

Yitzchak Meir Alter, Rebbe founder of the Ger Hasidic dynasty
Andrzej Alojzy Ankwicz, Roman Catholic archbishop of Lwów (1815–33) and archbishop of Prague (1833–1838)
Baal Shem Tov (Yisroel ben Eliezer, 1698–1760), rabbi and founder of Hasidic Judaism
Blessed Jan Beyzym (1850–1912), Jesuit missionary among lepers in Madagascar
St. Józef Bilczewski, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lwów, 1900–1923
St. Andrew Bobola, Jesuit
St. Evan Yurewicz, Catholic, missionary
Tadeusz Brzozowski, elected first Jesuit Superior General after the restoration of the Society of Jesus
Szymon Budny, Polish-Belarusian humanist and Arian priest
Juliusz Bursche, Polish Lutheran bishop killed by the Germans at Sachsenhausen concentration camp
St. Casimir Jagiellon, grandson of King Władysław II Jagiełło
St. Adam (Albert) Chmielowski (Albertine order)
Bl. August Czartoryski, Prince
Edmund Dalbor, Primate of Poland, Cardinal, 1915–1926
Albin Dunajewski, Bishop of Kraków, Cardinal, 1879–1894
Stanisław Dziwisz, Archbishop of Kraków, since 2005, Cardinal
St. Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary, Archbishop of Warsaw (1862), exiled and Titular Archbishop of Tarsus (1882)
Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Archbishop of Warsaw, 1856–1861
Jacob Frank, Jewish messianic leader who combined Judaism and Christianity
Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, vicar, humanist, and theologian
Piotr Gamrat, Primate of Poland, 1541–1545
Józef Gawlina, military bishop, Divisional general, theologian, archbishop
Józef Glemp, Primate of Poland, 1981–2006
Adam Stanisław Grabowski, Prince-Bishop of Warmia
Michał Heller, physicist and philosopher, Templeton Prize laureate
August Hlond, Primate of Poland, 1926–1948, Cardinal
Stanislaus Hosius, legate to Poland, Cardinal and Prince-Bishop of Warmia
St. Hyacinth, Dominican
St. Jadwiga, Queen of Poland, 1384–1399
Henryk Jankowski, Prelate, Chaplain of "Solidarność"
Marian Jaworski, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lviv, 1991–2008, Cardinal
Aleksander Kakowski, Archbishop of Warsaw, Cardinal
St. Raphael Kalinowski, Carmelite
St. Jan Kanty, professor at Kraków University
Stanisław Karnkowski, Primate of Poland, 1581–1603; Interrex, 1586–1587
St. Stanisław Kazimierczyk, priest and preacher
Chaim Kreiswirth, Chief Rabbi of Congregation Machzikei Hadass Antwerp, founder and rosh yeshiva of the Mercaz HaTorah yeshiva in Jerusalem
St. Maksymilian Maria Kolbe, Franciscan martyr, Auschwitz 1941
Hugo Kołłątaj, priest, statesman
Bolesław Kominek, Archbishop of Wrocław, 1972–1974, Cardinal
St. Stanisław Kostka, Jesuit
St. Faustina Kowalska, Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy
Maria Michał Kowalski, Archbishop of the Catholic Church of the Mariavites, introduced women clergy in 1929
Adam Kozłowiecki, Jesuit, Archbishop of Lusaka, Cardinal
Feliksa Kozłowska, inspiration of the Mariavite Church
Ignacy Krasicki, Primate of Poland
Adam Stanisław Krasiński, Bishop of Kamieniec Podolski, 1757–1798
John Krol, Archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal, 1961–1988
Mieczysław Halka Ledóchowski, Primate of Poland, 1866–1886, Cardinal
Mary Theresa Ledóchowska, missionary, founder of the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver
Saint Ursula Ledóchowska, religious, founder of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus
Włodzimierz Halka Ledóchowski, Superior General of the Society of Jesus (1915–1942)
Jan Łaski (1456–1531), Primate of Poland, 1510–1531
Jan Łaski (1499–1560), Protestant reformer; nephew of the Primate
Władysław Aleksander Łubieński, Archbishop of Lwów, Primate of Poland, 1759–1767; Interrex, 1763–1764
Franciszek Macharski, Archbishop of Kraków, 1978–2005, Cardinal
Ryszard Markwart, catholic priest and national activist
Tomasz Miśkiewicz, mufti of Polish Muslims pl:Muzułmański Związek Religijny and Imam of Białystok
Mieczysław Mokrzycki, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lviv, since 2008
Mikołaj Stanisław Oborski (1576–1646), Jesuit
Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Bishop of Kraków, 1423–1455; first Cardinal of Polish origin, from 1449; statesman
Zbigniew Oleśnicki, nephew of Zbigniew Oleśnicki; Cardinal Primate of Poland, 1481–1493
Edward O'Rourke, bishop of Gdańsk
Piotr of Goniądz, spiritual leader of the Polish Brethren
Jerzy Popiełuszko, Catholic priest and dissident assassinated by the Polish security service in 1984, martyr of the Church
Walenty Potocki (died 1749), Count; converted to Judaism as Avrohom ben Avrohom, the Ger Tzedek of Vilna
Tadeusz Puder (1908–1945), Polish Roman Catholic priest of Jewish origin
Jan Puzyna, Bishop of Kraków, 1895–1911, Cardinal
Jerzy Radziwiłł, Bishop of Kraków, Cardinal, 1591–1600
Sholom Rokeach, the first Belzer Rebbe, 1817–1855
Tadeusz Rydzyk, Redemptorist, broadcast radio controller
Czeslaw Sokolowski, Roman Catholic priest, theologian, university rector
St. Stanisław of Szczepanów, Bishop of Kraków, martyr 1079
Adam Stefan Sapieha, Bishop/Archbishop of Kraków, Cardinal, 1911–1951
Franciszka Siedliska, religious, founder of Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth
Piotr Skarga, Jesuit preacher
Kajetan Sołtyk, Bishop of Kyiv, 1756–59; Bishop of Kraków, 1759–1788
Boruch Steinberg, the first Rabbi and an officer of the Polish Army before and during World War II
Kazimierz Świątek, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev; Apostolic Administrator of Pinsk, Cardinal
Edmund Szoka, Catholic Archbishop of Detroit, Cardinal 1981–1990
Jakub Szynkiewicz (1884–1966), Imam of Poland, translated portions of Qur'an into Polish
Jozef Teodorowicz, last Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Lwow (1864–1938)
Hipolit Terlecki, theologian
Józef Tischner, priest, philosopher and first chaplain of the trade union, Solidarity
Andrzej Towiański, philosopher and 19th century messianist
Mikołaj Trąba, Archbishop of Gniezno, first Primate of Poland, 1418–1422
Jakub Uchański, Primate of Poland, 1562–1581; Interrex, 1572–73 and 1574–1575
Vilna Gaon (1720–1797), non-Hassidic Jewish leader, the "saintly genius from Vilnius"
Piotr Wawrzyniak, priest, economist and activist (1849–1910)
Chaim Elozor Wax (1822–1887), rabbi
Karol Józef Wojtyła, Auxiliary Bishop of Kraków 1958–1963, Archbishop of Kraków 1963–1978, Pope John Paul II 1978–2005
Stefan Wyszyński, Primate of Poland, Cardinal, 1948–1981
Lawrence Wnuk, Protonotary apostolic, decorated Polish Canadian, (1908–2006)
Schneur Zalman, first Hasidic Rebbe of Chabad (1745–1810)

Nobility

Royalty

Mieszko I, first Duke of Poland
Doubravka of Bohemia, first Duchess of Poland
Świętosława (Gunhild), daughter of Mieszko I of Poland, mother of Canute the Great, King of England, Denmark and Norway
Bolesław I the Brave, first King of Poland
Mieszko II Lambert, second King of Poland
Richeza of Lotharingia, queen of Poland
Casimir I the Restorer, duke of Poland
Bolesław II the Bold, third King of Poland
Władysław I Herman, duke of Poland
Bolesław III Wrymouth, duke of Poland
Mieszko III the Old, duke of Greater Poland, Senior Duke of Poland
Casimir II the Just, duke of Cracow, Senior Duke of Poland
Leszek I the White, duke of Cracow, Senior Duke of Poland
Henry I the Bearded, duke of Silesia, Senior Duke of Poland
Konrad I of Masovia, duke of Mazovia and Kuyavia
Henry II the Pious, senior duke of Poland, commander of Polish forces in the Battle of Legnica (1241)
Przemysł II, King of Poland
Władysław I the Elbow-high, king of Poland
Louis I of Hungary, king of Poland
Elizabeth of Poland, Queen of Hungary, Regent in Poland
Casimir III the Great, Piast Dynasty last King of Poland
Jadwiga of Poland, first female monarch of Poland
Władysław II Jagiełło, Lithuanian, king of Poland, victor at the Battle of Grunwald (1410)
Władysław III of Varna (Ulászló I), king of Poland and Hungary, killed at the Battle of Varna (1444)
Casimir IV Jagiellon, king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, victor in the Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)
John I Albert, king of Poland
Alexander Jagiellon, grand duke of Lithuania and king of Poland
Sigismund I the Old, king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
Roxelana (Khourrem, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent)
Barbara Radziwiłłówna, consort of Sigismund II August
Bona Sforza, Queen consort of Poland
Sigismund II Augustus, last Jagiellon king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Anna Jagiellon, reigned together with her husband Stephen Báthory
Henry III of France, king of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Stephen Báthory, Hungarian-born king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Sigismund III Vasa, king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and king of Sweden
Władysław IV Vasa, elected Tsar of Russia, king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Marie Louise Gonzaga, Queen of Poland, Grand Duchess of Lithuania
John II Casimir Vasa, king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, victor at the Battle of Beresteczko (1651)
John III Sobieski, king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, victor at the Battle of Vienna (1683)
Maria Clementina Sobieska, queen of France, England, Scotland and Ireland
Michael I, king of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Stanisław Leszczyński, king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Duke of Lorraine
Marie Leszczyńska, Queen consort of France
Catherine Opalińska, queen of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Duchess of Lorraine
Augustus II the Strong, king of Poland, Elector of Saxony
Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland, Elector of Saxony
Maria Amalia of Saxony, consort of Carlos III, king of Spain
Stanisław August Poniatowski, last king of the Poland, co-author of the Constitution of 3 May 1791
Princess Maria Christina of Saxony (1770–1851), Princess Carignano House of Savoy

Assassins

Leon Czolgosz, American assassin of American President William McKinley
Ignacy Hryniewiecki, assassin of Tsar Alexander II of Russia
Eligiusz Niewiadomski, modernist painter, art critic, assassin of Polish President Gabriel Narutowicz
Janusz Waluś, assassin of Chris Hani

Miscellany

George Adamski, controversial ufologist
Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz, sailor
Franciszek Czapek, watchmaker
Aleksander Doba, explorer who holds the record for the longest open-water kayak voyage ever made
Michał Drzymała, resistance hero
Piotr Gawryś, contract bridge champion
Wincenty Gostkowski, watchmaker
Halina Grabowski, war hero
Barbara Hulanicki, fashion designer, founder of Biba
Piotr Iwanicki, wheelchair dancing world champion
Alicja Iwańska, resistance movement and anti-communist activist
Marek Kamiński, adventure traveler
Rutka Laskier, diarist, killed during the World War II Holocaust
Piotr Naszarkowski, engraver
Stefan Ossowiecki, psychic
Stanisław Pietkiewicz, cartographer and geographer
Feliks Rajmund Podkóliński, physician, soldier
Ludwik Rajchman, bacteriologist, founder of UNICEF
Czesław Słania, postage stamp and banknote engraver
Renia Spiegel, diarist, killed during the World War II Holocaust, known as "the Polish Anne Frank"
Stanisława Tomczyk, spiritualist medium, early 20th century
Wilfrid Michael Voynich (Michał Habdank-Wojnicz, 1865–1930), Polish revolutionary and bibliophile remembered as the eponym of the mysterious Voynich manuscript
Warren Winiarski, California winemaker
Kuba Wojewódzki, journalist, television personality, drummer, comedian, and columnist
Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska, physician, pioneering female doctor in the United States
Maciej Zien, fashion designer

Legendary persons

Krakus, legendary prince and founder of Kraków
Lech, legendary founder of the Polish nation
Piast the Wheelwright (Piast Kołodziej), semi-legendary figure in prehistoric Poland (9th century); founder of the Piast dynasty
Popiel, semi-legendary 9th-century ruler of the western Polans; last of the Popielids
Lajkonik, a Kraków half-man-half-horse figure representing a Mongol invader, with his own festival after the feast of Corpus Christi
Our Lady of Częstochowa (known also as "the Black Madonna"), foremost of Polish religious icons
Abraham Prochownik, legendary Jewish figure, said to have been named prince of the western Polans after the death of Popiel in 842
Sarmatians, ancient proto-Persian tribe that fed the idea of Sarmatism during the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
John Scolvus, semi-legendary sailor of the late 15th century
Syrenka warszawska, legendary fresh-water mermaid said to have been rescued by Vistula fishermen. Iconic symbol of Warsaw
Pan Twardowski, semi-legendary Faust-like sorcerer; in Polish legend, the first man on the Moon (in the 16th century)
Janek Wiśniewski, freedom fighter; hero of 1970 Gdynia riots

Fictional characters

Matteusz Andrzejewski, played by Jordan Renzo, a character in Class, a British science fiction drama programme, and a spin-off of the long-running programme Doctor Who
Captain William Joseph B.J. Blazkowicz in Wolfenstein 3D
Ernst Stavro Blofeld, a villain from the James Bond series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming
Bolek i Lolek, cartoon characters from a Polish children's TV animated comedy series
Baba Jaga, Polish version of the forest-dwelling sorceress
Balinski Wiktor, famous from the Polish legend "Chłopiec z dziwnym mózgiem"
Waldemar Daninsky, wolfman in La Marca del Hombre Lobo
Nicodemus Dyzma, in Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz's novel The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma
Jacob Jankowski, a character played by Robert Pattinson in a 2011 American romantic drama film Water for Elephants
Marcin Jerek, Polish-born British professor and former CIA interrogator, in the TV series NCIS, played by W. Morgan Sheppard
Dr. Judym, in Stefan Żeromski's novel Homeless People
Kajko i Kokosz
Florentyna Kane in The Prodigal Daughter and Shall We Tell the President?
Commander Keen, grandson of B.J. Blazkowicz
Hans Kloss (Captain Kloss), World War II secret agent in the Polish TV serial Stake larger than life
Kordian
Funky Koval, space detective
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk, a singer of Polish descent played by Marilyn Monroe in Billy Wilder's 1959 romantic comedy film Some Like It Hot
Kowalski, a penguin in the children's film Madagascar
Stanley Kowalski, in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire
Detective Stanley Kowalski, Polish-American Chicago policeman in the 1990s Canadian television series Due South
Walt Kowalski, Polish-American Korean War veteran and retired Ford worker, in Clint Eastwood's 2008 film Gran Torino
Lucyna "Lucy" Kushinada, a netrunner of mixed Polish and Japanese descent in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Ligia, heroine of Sienkiewicz's novel, Quo Vadis?
Man of Iron, symbol of Solidarity and title of Wajda's film
Koziołek Matołek, like the bear and the horse, the goat is part of Polish folklore, here in Kornel Makuszyński's rendition
Mike Nomad (with Steve Roper), an American adventure comic strip (1936–2004)
Count Olenski, estranged husband of Ellen Olenska in Edith Wharton's novel The Age of Innocence (1920)
Pan Tadeusz, poetic distillation of Polish patriotism and nostalgia
Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski, in HBO's The Wire, went from police officer to school teacher
Officer Eddie Pulaski in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Stefan "Steve" Radecki, a character played by Anton Walbrook in 1941 British war film Dangerous Moonlight
Abel Rosnovski in Kane and Abel
Pan Samochodzik, adventurer created by Zbigniew Nienacki
Paweł i Gaweł, humorous morality tale about neighbour relations, a favourite children's poem
Sasquatch (Dr. Walter Langkowski), Marvel superhero
Sierotka Marysia, archetypal abandoned girl, "Little orphan Mary", living with dwarves
Walter Sobchak, the "Polish Catholic" in the film The Big Lebowski
Silk Spectre I & II, superheroines in Watchmen
Stanislau, ace pilot in Blackhawk
Stanisław Tarkowski (Staś), protagonist of young-adult novel In Desert and Wilderness by Nobel laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz
Mieczysław Stilinski, also known as Stiles Stilinski, one of the main characters in American television series Teen Wolf broadcast on MTV and played by Dylan O'Brien
Michael Stivic, in All in the Family
Tadzio, a Polish boy (inspired by Władysław Moes) in Thomas Mann's novel Death in Venice as well as 1971 film adaptation of the same name by Luchino Visconti played by Björn Andrésen
Ijon Tichy, main protagonist in several works of Stanisław Lem such as The Star Diaries, The Futurological Congress, Peace on Earth and Observation on the Spot
Kasia Tomaszewski, played by Zofia Wichłacz, a character in World on Fire, a 2019 war drama miniseries broadcast on BBC One
Maciej Tomczyk ala Lech Wałęsa, in the 1981 film Man of Iron, directed by Andrzej Wajda
Pan Twardowski, a Faust-like figure of Polish legend, literature and film.
Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek, Polish comic book heroes

Wrocław's dwarfs

Miś Uszatek, cartoon character
Walter Koskiusko Waldowski, the "Painless Pole" in the film MASH
Konrad Wallenrod, in the narrative poem by Adam Mickiewicz
John Paul Wiggin (Jan Paweł Wieczorek) in the Ender's Game series
Stanisław Wokulski, protagonist of Bolesław Prus' novel The Doll
Stanley Thaddeus "Wojo" Wojciehowicz, played by Max Gail, in the American television sitcom Barney Miller
Wrocław's dwarfs, brass manikins that first appeared on the city's pavements in 2005
Piotr Zak, composer in a spoof BBC documentary
Sophie Zawistowski, played by Meryl Streep, in Sophie's Choice based on a novel by William Styron

Models

Anna Anka (Anna Åberg, Anna Yeager), Swedish-American, born in Poland
Małgosia Bela, born in Kraków
Magdalena Frąckowiak, born in Gdańsk
Gila Golan, born in Kraków
Monika Jagaciak, born in Poznań
Anna Jagodzińska, born in Sierpc
Joanna Krupa, born in Warsaw
Anja Rubik, born in Rzeszów
Izabella Scorupco, born in Białystok
Ewa Sonnet, born in Rybnik, glamour model
Sasha Strunin, born in Saint Petersburg
Kasia Struss, born in Ciechanów
Francys Sudnicka, Polish-Venezuelan, born in Valencia, Venezuela
Karolina Wydra, Polish-American, born in Opole
Iga Wyrwał, born in Kalisz

Athletics

Andrzej Badeński (1943–2008), Olympic sprinter
Iga Baumgart-Witan (born 1989), Olympic sprinter
Konrad Bukowiecki (born 1997), Olympic shot putter
Lidia Chojecka (born 1977), Olympic middle- and long-distance runner
Jerzy Chromik (1931–1987), Olympic long-distance runner
Teresa Ciepły (1937–2006), Olympic sprinter and hurdler
Sofia Ennaoui (born 1995), Olympic middle-distance runner
Paweł Fajdek (born 1989), Olympic hammer thrower
Marian Foik (1933–2005), Olympic sprinter
Wioletta Frankiewicz (born 1977), steeplechaser
Halina Górecka (born 1938), Polish and German Olympic sprinter
Piotr Haczek (born 1977), Olympic sprinter
Michał Haratyk (born 1992), Olympic shot putter
Zdzisław Hoffmann (born 1959), Olympic triple jumper
Barbara Janiszewska (1936–2000), Olympic sprinter
Michel Jazy (1936–2024), French Olympic middle- and long-distance runner
Ilana Karaszyk (born 1938), Israeli Olympic sprinter and long jumper
Ewa Kłobukowska (born 1946), Olympic sprinter
Władysław Komar (1940–1998), Olympic champion shot putter
Halina Konopacka (1900–1989), Polish-American Olympic champion discus thrower
Robert Korzeniowski (born 1968), Olympic champion racewalker
Władysław Kozakiewicz (born 1953), Lithuanian-born Polish Olympic champion pole vaulter
Łukasz Krawczuk (born 1989), Olympic sprinter
Elżbieta Krzesińska (1934–2015), Olympic champion long jumper
Jakub Krzewina (born 1989), Olympic sprinter
Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak (1929–2003), Olympic champion steeplechaser
Adam Kszczot (born 1989), Olympic middle-distance runner
Wacław Kuchar (1897–1981), athlete
Janusz Kusociński (1907–1940), Olympic champion long-distance runner; murdered by the Nazis
Maria Kwaśniewska (1913–2007), Olympic javelin thrower
Marcin Lewandowski (born 1987), Olympic middle-distance runner
Tomasz Majewski (born 1981), Olympic champion shot putter
Piotr Małachowski (born 1983), Olympic discus thrower
Wiesław Maniak (1938–1982), Olympic sprinter
Bronisław Malinowski (1951–1981), Olympic champion steeplechaser
Robert Maćkowiak (born 1970), Olympic sprinter
Tamara Metal (1933–2022), Israeli Olympic high jumper and long jumper, and captain of the Israel women's national basketball team
Józef Noji (1909–1943), Olympic long-distance runner, murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp
Rafał Omelko (born 1989), Olympic sprinter
Wanda Panfil (born 1959), Olympic long-distance runner
Artur Partyka (born 1969), Olympic high jumper
Edmund Piątkowski (1936–2016), Olympic discus thrower
Marek Plawgo (born 1981), Olympic hurdler and sprinter
Myer Prinstein (1878–1925), Polish-American Olympic champion long-jumper and triple-jumper
Monika Pyrek (born 1980), Olympic pole vaulter
Anna Rogowska (born 1981), Olympic pole vaulter
Tadeusz Rut (1931–2002), Olympic hammer thrower
Piotr Rysiukiewicz (born 1974), Olympic sprinter
Edward Sarul (born 1958), shot putter
Janusz Sidło (1933–1993), Olympic javelin thrower
Kamila Skolimowska (1982–2009), Olympic champion hammer thrower
Irena Szewińska (1946–2018), Olympic champion sprinter
Józef Szmidt (1935–2024), Olympic champion triple jumper
Ewa Swoboda (born 1997), Olympic sprinter
Tadeusz Ślusarski (1950–1998), Olympic champion pole vaulter
Justyna Święty-Ersetic (born 1992), Olympic champion sprinter
Marcin Urbaś (born 1976), Olympic sprinter
Jadwiga Wajs (1912–1990), Olympic discus thrower
Stanisława Walasiewicz (1911–1980), Polish-American Olympic champion sprinter
Jan Werner (1946–2014), Olympic sprinter
Anita Włodarczyk (born 1985), Olympic champion hammer thrower
Paweł Wojciechowski (born 1989), Olympic pole vaulter
Marian Woronin (born 1956), Olympic sprinter
Jacek Wszoła (born 1956), Olympic champion high jumper
Karol Zalewski (born 1993), Olympic champion sprinter
Kazimierz Zimny (1935–2022), Olympic long-distance runner
Szymon Ziółkowski (born 1976), Olympic champion hammer thrower

Baseball

Moe Drabowsky (1935–2006), Polish-born American baseball player
Bill Mazeroski (born 1936), American baseball player, Hall of Fame
Stan Musial (1920-2013), American baseball player, Hall of Fame
Tom Paciorek (born 1946), American baseball player

Basketball

Aleksander Balcerowski (born 2000), basketball player
Dardan Berisha (born 1988), Kosovan-Polish basketball player
Oded Brandwein (born 1988), Israeli-Polish basketball player
Aaron Cel (born 1987), French-Polish basketball player
Olek Czyż (born 1990), basketball player
Margo Dydek (1974-2011), basketball player, FIBA Hall of Fame
Filip Dylewicz (born 1980), basketball player
Tomasz Gielo (born 1993), basketball player
Marcin Gortat (born 1984), Polish-American National Basketball Association (NBA), Los Angeles Clippers player
Karol Gruszecki (born 1989), basketball player
Adam Hrycaniuk (born 1984), basketball player
Steve Javie (born 1955), American NBA referee
Przemek Karnowski (born 1993), basketball player
Thomas Kelati (born 1982), American-Polish basketball player
Mateusz Kostrzewski (born 1989), basketball player
Łukasz Koszarek (born 1984), basketball player
Damian Kulig (born 1987), basketball player
Maciej Lampe (born 1985), Polish-Swedish NBA basketball player
David Logan (born 1982), American-born Polish basketball player
Dominik Olejniczak (born 1996), basketball player
Mateusz Ponitka (born 1993), basketball player
A.J. Slaughter (born 1987), Polish-American basketball player
Jeremy Sochan (born 2003), Polish-American NBA player, San Antonio Spurs
Michał Sokołowski (born 1992), basketball player
Krzysztof Szubarga (born 1984), basketball player
Adam Waczyński (born 1989), basketball player
Adam Wójcik (1970-2017), basketball player

Boxing

Checkers

Natalia Sadowska (born 1991)

Chess

Izak Aloni (1905–1985), Polish-Israeli chess master
Izaak Appel (1905–missing), chess master
Arnold Aurbach (1888–1952), Polish-French chess master
Zdzisław Belsitzmann (1890–1920), chess master
Abram Blass (1895–1971), Polish-Israeli chess master
Agnieszka Brustman (b. 1962), woman chess grandmaster
Oscar Chajes (1873–1928)
Joseph Cukierman (1900–1941), Polish-born French grandmaster
Hieronim Czarnowski (1834–1902), Polish-French chess master
Moshe Czerniak (1910–1984), Polish-Israeli International Master
Arthur Dake (1910–2000), American born to Polish parents, grandmaster
Dawid Daniuszewski (1885–1944), chess master
Józef Dominik (1894–1920), chess master
Jan-Krzysztof Duda (b. 1998), grandmaster
Arthur Dunkelblum (1906–1979), Polish-Belgian International Master
Boruch Israel Dyner (1903–1979), Polish-Belgian-Israeli chess master
Hanna Ereńska (b. 1946), woman grandmaster
Samuel Factor (1883–1949), Polish-American chess master
Alexander Flamberg (1880–1926), chess master
Henryk Friedman (1903–1942), chess master
Achilles Frydman (1905–1940), chess player, died in a Nazi concentration camp
Paulino Frydman (1905–1982), Polish-Argentinean chess master
Regina Gerlecka (1913–1983), chess player
Edward Gerstenfeld (1915–1943), chess master, killed in the Holocaust
Yehuda Gruenfeld (born 1956), grandmaster
Izaak Grynfeld (1912-?), later known as Ignacy Branicki, Polish-born Israeli chess master
Róża Herman (1902–1995), Woman International Master
Krystyna Hołuj-Radzikowska, Woman International Master
Chaim Janowski (1868–1935), chess master
Dawid Janowski (1868–1927), chess player
Max Judd (1851–1906), American chess player
Bernhard Kagan (1866–1932), German chess player
Stanisław Kohn (1895–1940), chess master
George Koltanowski (1903–2000), American International Master born in Belgium to a Polish-Jewish family, set the world's blindfold record by playing 34 chess games simultaneously while blindfolded, and set a record for playing 56 consecutive blindfold games at ten seconds per move (winning 50, drawing 6).
Henrijeta Konarkowska-Sokolov (b. 1938), Polish-Serbian chess master
Michał Krasenkow (b. 1963), Russian-born grandmaster, moved to Poland in 1992
Leon Kremer (1901–1941), chess master
Adam Kuligowski (b. 1955), grandmaster
Abraham Kupchik (1892–1970), American chess master
Salo Landau (1903–1943), Dutch chess player, died in a Nazi concentration camp
Edward Lasker (1885–1981), German-American chess International Master
Paul Saladin Leonhardt (1877–1934), German chess master
Grigory Levenfish (1889–1961), Soviet grandmaster
Moishe Lowtzky (1881–1940), Ukrainian–Polish chess master, died in a Nazi concentration camp
Bartłomiej Macieja (b. 1977), grandmaster
Kazimierz Makarczyk (1901–1972), chess master
Kalikst Morawski (1859–1939), chess master
Stasch Mlotkowski (1881–1943), American chess master, born in the US to Polish parents
Piotr Murdzia (b. 1975), chess International Master
Miguel Najdorf (1910–1997), Polish-Argentine grandmaster
Menachem Oren (1903–1962), Polish-born Israeli chess player
Julius Perlis (1880–1913), Austrian chess player
Karol Piltz (1903–1939), chess master
Oskar Piotrowski, chess master
Kazimierz Plater (1915–2004), International Master
Henryk Pogorieły (1908–1943), chess master, murdered in the Holocaust
Ignatz von Popiel (1863–1941), Polish-Ukrainian chess player
Artur Popławski (1860–1918), chess master
Dawid Przepiórka (1880–1940), won the first Polish championship, murdered in the Holocaust
Iweta Rajlich (b. 1981), International Master and Woman Grandmaster
Teodor Regedziński (1894–1954), chess master
Samuel Reshevsky (1911–1992), Polish-American grandmaster
Samuel Rosenthal (1837–1902), Polish-born French chess player
Gersz Rotlewi (1889–1920), chess master
Akiba Rubinstein (1880–1961), Polish-Belgian International Grandmaster
Gersz Salwe (1862–1920), chess master
Włodzimierz Schmidt (b. 1943), grandmaster
Leon Schwartzmann (1887–1942), Polish–French chess master, murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp
Stanislaus Sittenfeld (1865–1902), Polish–French chess master
Monika Soćko (b. 1978), grandmaster and Woman Grandmaster
Franciszek Sulik (1908–1997), Polish-Australian chess master
Bogdan Śliwa (1922–2003), International Master
Dariusz Świercz (b. 1994), Polish-American grandmaster
Gedali Szapiro (Grzegorz Szapiro; 1929–1972), chess master
Savielly Tartakower (1887–1956), Polish-French International Grandmaster
Jean Taubenhaus (1850–1919), Polish–born French chess master
Oscar Tenner (1880–1948), Poland-born German–American chess master
Vitaly Tseshkovsky (1944–2011), Russian grandmaster
Alexander Wagner (1868–1942)
Szymon Winawer (1838–1919), chess player
Radosław Wojtaszek (b. 1987), grandmaster
Aleksander Wojtkiewicz (1963–2006), Polish-American grandmaster
Daniel Yanofsky (1925–2000), Canadian grandmaster
Józef Żabiński (1860–1928), chess master
Johannes Zukertort (1842–1888), Polish-born British-German chess master
Adolf Zytogorski (c. 1811/1812–1882), Polish-British chess master

Climbing

Klemens Bachleda, Tatra guide and mountain rescuer
Kinga Baranowska, mountaineer
Andrzej Bargiel, ski mountaineer and climber
Leszek Cichy, high-altitude climber
Jerzy Kukuczka, high-altitude climber
Wojciech Kurtyka, high-altitude climber and rock climber
Aleksandra Mirosław (born 1994), Olympic champion speed climber
Aleksander Ostrowski, high-altitude climber and extreme skier
Piotr Pustelnik, high-altitude climber
Wanda Rutkiewicz, high-altitude climber
Krzysztof Wielicki, high-altitude climber
Andrzej Zawada, high-altitude climber

Cycling

Fencing

Robert Andrzejuk (born 1975), Olympic épée fencer
Kazimierz Barburski (1942–2016), Olympic épée fencer
Michał Butkiewicz (born 1942), Olympic épée fencer
Zbigniew Czajkowski (1921–2019), foil and sabre fencer, and coach
Egon Franke (1935–2022), Olympic champion foil fencer
Arkadiusz Godel (born 1952), Olympic champion foil fencer
Sylwia Gruchała (born 1981), Olympic foil fencer
Roman Kantor (1912–1943), Olympic épée fencer, murdered in the Majdanek concentration camp
Renata Knapik-Miazga (born 1988), Olympic épée fencer
Marcin Koniusz (born 1983), Olympic sabre fencer
Edward Korfanty (born 1952), Polish-born American fencing master
Adam Krzesiński (born 1965), Olympic foil fencer
Ryszard Parulski (1938–2017), Olympic foil fencer
Jerzy Pawłowski (1932–2005), Olympic champion sabre fencer
Anna Rybicka (born 1977), Olympic foil fencer
Ryszard Sobczak (born 1967), Olympic foil fencer
Aleksandra Socha (born 1982), Olympic sabre fencer
Rafał Sznajder (1972–2014), Olympic sabre fencer
Ewa Trzebińska (born 1989), Olympic épée fencer
Witold Woyda (1939–2008), Olympic champion foil fencer
Barbara Wysoczańska (born 1949), Olympic foil fencer
Wojciech Zabłocki (1930–2020), Olympic sabre fencer

Football

Zygmunt Anczok, defender
Henryk Apostel, coach
Jan Banaś, attacker
Jan Bednarek, defender
Jakub Błaszczykowski, midfielder
Zbigniew Boniek, midfielder, head of the Polish Football Association (PZPN)
Artur Boruc, goalkeeper
Lucjan Brychczy, midfielder
Andrzej Buncol, midfielder
Matty Cash, defender
Ewald Cebula, defender
Gerard Cieślik, midfielder
Lesław Ćmikiewicz, midfielder
Kazimierz Deyna, midfielder
Bartłomiej Drągowski, goalkeeper
Jerzy Dudek, goalkeeper
Ewald Dytko, midfielder
Łukasz Fabiański, goalkeeper
Robert Gadocha, attacker
Ludwik Gintel, defender/forward
Jacek Gmoch, coach
Jerzy Gorgoń, defender
Kazimierz Górski, coach
Kamil Grabara, goalkeeper
Ya'akov Grundman (Jakub Grundman' 1939-2004), midfielder and manager
Paweł Janas, defender, coach
Ireneusz Jeleń, attacker
Erich Juskowiak, defender
Józef Kałuża, attacker, coach
Henryk Kasperczak, midfielder, coach
Jakub Kiwior, defender
Miroslav Klose, attacker
Józef Klotz, defender; murdered by the Nazis^[15]
Raymond Kopa, attacker
Hubert Kostka, goalkeeper
Tadeusz Kuchar, midfielder, coach
Tomasz Kuszczak, goalkeeper
Grzegorz Lato, attacker
Robert Lewandowski, attacker
Jan Liberda, attacker
Włodzimierz Lubański, attacker
Józef Lustgarten, midfielder, manager
Stefan Majewski, defender, coach
Szymon Marciniak, football referee
Ladislao Mazurkiewicz, goalkeeper
Arkadiusz Milik, attacker
Józef Młynarczyk, goalkeeper
Piotr Nowak, midfielder
Erwin Nyc, midfielder
Teodor Peterek, attacker
Krzysztof Piątek, attacker
Ryszard Piec, midfielder
Wilhelm Piec, midfielder
Antoni Piechniczek, defender, coach
Leonard Piontek, midfielder
Lukas Podolski, attacker
Łukasz Piszczek, defender
Ernest Pohl, attacker
Fryderyk Scherfke, midfielder
Itzhak Schneor, defender
Yisha'ayahu Schwager (Jeszaja Szwagier), Olympic defender
Ebi Smolarek, attacker
Włodzimierz Smolarek, midfielder
Leon Sperling, forward (left wing)
Zygmunt Steuermann, forward
Karol Swiderski, forward
Piotr Świerczewski, midfielder
Grzegorz Szamotulski, goalkeeper
Andrzej Szarmach, attacker
Władysław Szczepaniak, defender
Wojciech Szczęsny, goalkeeper
Edward Szymkowiak, goalkeeper
Andrzej Szczypkowski (born 1971), midfielder
Łukasz Teodorczyk, attacker
Jan Tomaszewski, goalkeeper
Piotr Trochowski, midfielder
Krzysztof Warzycha, attacker
Ernest Wilimowski, attacker
Walter Winkler, defender
Maryan Wisnieski, attacker
Gerard Wodarz, attacker
Łukasz Załuska, goalkeeper
Piotr Zieliński, midfielder
Władysław Żmuda, defender

Ice hockey

Judo

Rafał Kubacki (born 1967), Olympic judoka
Waldemar Legień (born 1963), Olympic champion judoka
Paweł Nastula (born 1970), Olympic champion judoka

Skating

Karolina Bosiek, speed skater
Zbigniew Bródka, speed skater
Patrycja Maliszewska, short track speed skater
Elwira Seroczyńska, speed skater
Jan Szymański, speed skater

Skiing

Konrad Bartelski, Alpine ski racer
Bronisław Czech, Alpine ski racer
Piotr Fijas, ski jumper
Wojciech Fortuna, ski jumper
Krystyna Guzik, biathlete
Monika Hojnisz, biathlete
Stefan Hula, Sr., Nordic combined skier
Stefan Hula, Jr., ski jumper
Justyna Kowalczyk, cross-country skier
Maciej Kot, ski jumper
Dawid Kubacki, ski jumper
Józef Łuszczek, cross-country skier
Adam Małysz, ski jumper
Jan Marusarz, World War II Carpathian Mountains escort of intelligence agent Krystyna Skarbek
Stanisław Marusarz, ski jumper
Weronika Nowakowska, biathlete
Tomasz Sikora, biathlete
Monika Skinder, cross-country skiing
Kamil Stoch, ski jumper
Jan Ziobro, ski jumper
Piotr Żyła, ski jumper

Swimming

Katarzyna Baranowska
Konrad Czerniak
Agnieszka Czopek
Otylia Jędrzejczak
Radosław Kawęcki
Bartosz Kizierowski
Michael Klim, Australian
Agata Korc
Paweł Korzeniowski
Daniel Kowalski, Australian
Sławomir Kuczko
Ksawery Masiuk
Mariusz Podkościelny
Mateusz Sawrymowicz
Lejzor Ilja Szrajbman; murdered by the Nazis in Majdanek concentration camp^[16]
Rafał Szukała
Katarzyna Wasick
Wojciech Wojdak
Artur Wojdat

Tennis

Wojciech Fibak
Magdalena Fręch
Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Hubert Hurkacz
Jerzy Janowicz
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik
Jadwiga Jędrzejowska
Angelique Kerber, German
Łukasz Kubot
Magda Linette
Sabine Lisicki, German
Kamil Majchrzak
Marcin Matkowski
Daniel Prenn (1904–1991), Russian-born German, Polish, and British world-top-ten tennis player
Michał Przysiężny
Agnieszka Radwańska
Urszula Radwańska
Władysław Skonecki
Iga Świątek
Caroline Wozniacki, Danish

Volleyball

Weightlifting

Waldemar Baszanowski (1935–2011)
Marcin Dołęga (born 1982)
Ze'ev Friedman (1944–1972), flyweight weightlifter killed in the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre
Ben Helfgott (1929–2023), Polish-born British
Zbigniew Kaczmarek ( 1946–2023)
Aleksandra Klejnowska (born 1982)
Szymon Kołecki (born 1981)
Andrzej Maszewski
Mieczysław Nowak
Norbert Ozimek
Ireneusz Paliński
Norbert Schemansky (1924–2016), American
Zygmunt Smalcerz
Marek Seweryn
Stanley Stanczyk (1925–1997), American
Agata Wróbel
Adrian Zieliński
Marian Zieliński (1929–2005)

Others sports

Iwo Baraniewski, mixed martial arts
Józef Bednarski, wrestling WWF
Karol Bielecki, handball
Leszek Blanik, gymnastics
Jan Błachowicz, mixed martial arts
Maciej Chorążyk, soccer official and sports journalist
Janusz Centka, gliding
Jarek Dymek, strongman
Mateusz Gamrot, mixed martial arts
Tomasz Gollob, Motorcycle speedway World Champion
Andrzej Grubba, table tennis
Sebastian Janikowski, American football
Stan Javie, American football official
Joanna Jędrzejczyk, mixed martial arts
Stefan Kapłaniak, canoeing
Sebastian Kawa, gliding
Justin Koschitzke, former professional Australian rules footballer for St Kilda
Karolina Kowalkiewicz, mixed martial arts
Robert Kubica, Formula One and auto racing driver
Tomasz Kucharski, rowing
Mateusz Kusznierewicz, sailing
Jerzy Makula, glider aerobatics
Wiktor Malinowski, professional poker player
Piotr Markiewicz, canoeing
Renata Mauer, shooting
Przemyslaw Mazur, auto racing
Gene Mruczkowski, American football
Scott Mruczkowski, American football
Zofia Noceti-Klepacka, windsurfing
Aneta Pastuszka, canoeing
James Podsiadly, former professional Australian rules footballer for Adelaide and Geelong
Mariusz Pudzianowski, strongman
Ivan Putski, professional wrestler
Helena Rakoczy, gymnastics
Teresa Remiszewska (1928–2002), ocean sailor
Arkadiusz Skrzypaszek, modern pentathlete
Paul Slowinski, Muay Thai
Adam Smelczyński, shooting
Rafał Sonik, quad rally driver
Robert Sycz, rowing
Jerzy Szczakiel, Motorcycle speedway World Champion
Sławomir Szmal, handball
Marek Twardowski, canoeing
Roger Verey, rowing
Bogdan Wenta, handball
Sebastian Wenta, strongman, highland games
David Wojcinski, former professional Australian rules footballer for Geelong
Jerzy Wojnar, luge
Andrzej Wroński, wrestling
Józef Zapędzki, shooting
Sobiesław Zasada, auto racing

See also

References

External links

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