Michał Grażyński (12 May 1890 in

Gdów Gdów is a village in Wieliczka County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Gdów. It lies approximately south-east of Wieliczka and south-east of the regiona ...

as Michał Tadeusz Kurzydło – 10 December 1965 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

) was a Polish military leader, social and political activist, doctor of philosophy and law,

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

of the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian ...

, Scouting activist and president of

Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego , type = organization , headquarters = ZHP Headquarters Warsaw , location = Warszawa, Konopnickiej 6 , country = Poland , f-date = 1 November 1918 , founder = Andrzej Małkowski, Olga Małkowska , members = 138,112 , chiefscouttitle = N ...

. Born to a teacher's family in Gdów, in Austrian-ruled Polish Galicia, he attended Gimnazjum Św. Anny (St.Anna-Gymnasium) in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

, where he graduated in 1913, receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy for a dissertation about the history of the Polish monetary system. In 1914 he started work as teacher in Stanisławów (now Ivano-Frankivs'k, Ukraine), but after the 1st World War broke out he was mobilized into the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

in the rank of

Sub-Lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

, served on the Eastern Front and was wounded. In 1918 he joined the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

and served in the intelligence and propaganda branch with the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. In 1919 during the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Czechoslovakian , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

border dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources su ...

he was involved in preparations for a

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

in Spisz (

Spiš Spiš (Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

) and Orawa ( Orava). In 1920 Grażyński was engaged in preparations for a

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...

and the

Silesian Uprising The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

. He served under the ''nom de guerre'' "Borelowski" in the underground staff of Dowództwo Ochrony Plebiscytu (Plebiscite Protection Command), moving quickly to the staff of the

Polish Military Organisation The Polish Military Organisation, PMO ( pl, Polska Organizacja Wojskowa, POW) was a secret military organization which formed during World War I (1914-1918). Józef Piłsudski founded the group in August 1914; it adopted the name ''POW'' in Novem ...

of Upper Silesia (Polska Organizacja Wojskowa, POW). He took part in the

Third Silesian Uprising The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

as Chief of Staff of Grupa "Wschód" (Combat Group "East"). After the uprising he retired from military service with the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Between 1921 and 1926 Grażyński worked in state administration, studied law at the Jagiellonian University and graduated with the degree of Doctor of Law. During this time he also joined the "Zet" association, an elite political society with historical roots in the National League (

Narodowa Demokracja National Democracy ( pl, Narodowa Demokracja, also known from its abbreviation ND as ''Endecja''; ) was a Polish political movement active from the second half of the 19th century under the foreign partitions of the country until the end of ...

), but after 1914 linked rather with

Józef Piłsudski ), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) , death_date = , death_place = Warsaw, Poland , constituency = , party = None (formerly PPS) , spouse = , children = Wan ...

and future

Sanacja Sanation ( pl, Sanacja, ) was a Polish political movement that was created in the interwar period, prior to Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 ''Coup d'État'', and came to power in the wake of that coup. In 1928 its political activists would go on ...

. In 1926, when Piłsudski came to power (by a coup d'état of a part of the Polish army), Grażyński was appointed voivode of the

. He served in this post till 1939. Grażyński was one of the prominent leaders of the Związek Naprawy Rzeczypospolitej (Union for Improvement of the Republic), which was the left wing of Sanacja. From 1930 to 1939 Grażyński was also President of

. He was awarded an honorary highest scout rank Honorowy Harcerz Rzeczypospolitej (Honorary Scout of the Republic), but never had been a

Scoutmaster A Scout leader or Scouter generally refers to the trained adult leader of a Scout unit. The terms used vary from country to country, over time, and with the type of unit. Roles There are many different roles a leader can fulfill depending on t ...

. In 1939 Grażyński fled to exile. Between 1943 and 1946 he served in the Polish Army and was promoted to the ranks of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

. From 1946 until 1960 he was President of Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego poza granicami Kraju (Polish Scouting Association in Exile). He died in London in 1965 of a traffic accident.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grazynski, Michal 1890 births 1965 deaths People from Wieliczka County Sanacja politicians Association of the Polish Youth "Zet" members Politicians of the Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939) Polish people of World War I Polish Scouts and Guides 20th-century Polish lawyers Jagiellonian University alumni