Józef Kowalski (2 February 1900? – 7 December 2013) was a Polish
supercentenarian
A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian) is a person who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of major age-related diseases u ...
claimant, who was the last surviving military veteran of the
Polish-Soviet War.
Biography
Kowalski was born in Wicyń, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now
Ukraine) and was a military veteran who served in the
Polish Army in the 22nd
Uhlan Regiment.
He served in several important battles of the war, including the
Battle of Warsaw and
Battle of Komarów
The Battle of Komarów, or the Zamość Ring, was one of the most important battles of the Polish-Soviet War. It took place between 30 August and 2 September 1920, near the village of Komarowo (now Komarów) near Zamość. It was the last larg ...
. In
World War II, he took part in the
September Campaign. After being captured he was held in a
concentration camp.
On 2 February 2010, his claimed 110th birthday, he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the
Order of Polonia Restituta for his war service by
Polish President
The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Polan ...
Lech Kaczyński He lived in
Tursk, near
Sulęcin
Sulęcin (; german: Zielenzig) is a town in western Poland with 10,117 inhabitants (2019), the capital of Sulecin County, since 1999 in Lubusz Voivodeship.
Geography
Sulęcin is located in the center of Lubusz Voivodeship (Lubuskie province), b ...
, in western Poland a care home.
On 23 February 2012 Kowalski was promoted to the rank of
''kapitan'', and on 16 August 2012 he was nominated to become an honorary citizen of the city of
Wołomin
Wołomin is the main town of Wołomin County situated in the Masovian Voivodship. Wołomin is situated approximately east of Warsaw, the capital of Poland, near the railway to Białystok. It has approximately 36,000 inhabitants and covers an ar ...
, having already become an honorary citizen of both
Warsaw and
Radzymin.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kowalski, Jozef
Polish supercentenarians
Polish soldiers
Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta
Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War
Polish military personnel of World War II
2013 deaths
Longevity claims