Krzysztof Jan Skubiszewski (8 October 1926 – 8 February 2010) was a Polish politician, a former

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

(1989–1993) and an established scholar in the field of

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

Early life and education

Skubiszewski was born in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

on 8 October 1926. He attended high school in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. He held a law degree, which he received from Poznan University. He also attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and Nancy University in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for postgraduate studies. He graduated from Harvard University in 1958.

Career

Skubiszewski taught international law at this alma mater, Poznan University. He was an expert on Polish-German relations. He was a member of the Curatorium of

The Hague Academy of International Law The Hague Academy of International Law (french: Académie de droit international de La Haye) is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taugh ...

. He was a pioneer in scholarship on the law-making authority of international organizations. During the communist regime in the country he was an active member of the Solidarity movement. After the fall of communism, he served in the successive cabinets of

Tadeusz Mazowiecki Tadeusz Mazowiecki (; 18 April 1927 – 28 October 2013) was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime min ...

Jan Krzysztof Bielecki Jan Krzysztof Bielecki (born 3 May 1951) is a Polish Liberalism, liberal politician and economist. A leading figure of the Gdańsk-based Liberal Democratic Congress in the early 1990s, Bielecki served as Prime Minister of Poland for most of 1991 ...

Jan Olszewski Jan Ferdynand Olszewski (; 20 August 1930 – 7 February 2019) was a Polish conservative lawyer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Poland for five months between December 1991 and early June 1992 and later became a leading figure ...

and

Hanna Suchocka Hanna Stanisława Suchocka (; born 3 April 1946) is a Polish political figure, lawyer, professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and Chair of the Constitutional Law Department, former First Vice-President and Honorary President of the ...

and was the first

minister of foreign affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

of the Third Republic of Poland. He was in office from 12 September 1989 to 26 October 1993. In 1992, Skubiszewski, together with 9 other ministers of foreign affairs from the Baltic Sea area, and an EU commissioner, founded the

Council of the Baltic Sea States The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation working on three priority areas: Regional Identity, Safe & Secure Region and Sustainable & Prosperous Region. These three priority areas aim to address ...

(CBSS) and the

EuroFaculty EuroFaculty was an educational institution in the Baltic states in reforming higher education in Economics, Law, Public Administration and Business Administration. History At the founding meeting of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) in ...

.Kristensen, Gustav N. 2010. Born into a Dream. EuroFaculty and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. Berliner Wissentshafts-Verlag. . He was awarded with the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state decoration. In 1993, he was appointed an ad hoc judge in the International Court of Justice in

the Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. An acclaimed international lawyer, he served as the president of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal there from 16 February 1994 until his death. In 2006 he was awarded by the French-German-Polish for French-German-Polish Committee together with the other two Co-Founders of the

Weimar Triangle The "Weimar Triangle" is, loosely, a grouping of France, Germany, and Poland. The group is intended to promote co-operation between the three countries in crisis zones. It exists mostly in the form of summit meetings between the leaders of these ...

, the former Foreign Ministers

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

and

Roland Dumas Roland Dumas (; born 23 August 1922) is a French lawyer and Socialist politician who served as Foreign Minister under President François Mitterrand from 1984 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1993. He was also President of the Constitutional Council f ...

, the Adam-Mickiewicz Prize. together

Death and legacy

Skubiszewski died on 8 February 2010 at the age of 83. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland initiated a scholarship and a research grant for the candidates from

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

the Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

the Baltic States The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and

the Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

for his memory in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skubiszewski, Krzysztof 1926 births 2010 deaths Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań alumni Harvard University alumni Politicians from Poznań Polish academics Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland Members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Nancy-Université alumni International Court of Justice judges Polish judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)