Michel Lewandowski (born Mieczyslaus Lewandowski; 28 May 1914 – 7 September 1990) was a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He played his entire career in France and was a French military international.

Playing career

Mieczyslaus Lewandowski was born in

Waltrop Waltrop is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the Datteln-Hamm Canal, approximately 15 km east of Recklinghausen and 15 km north-west of Dortmund. Division of the town The tow ...

in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

, German Empire. He was of Polish descent. Having first played for Pogon-Marles and , Lewandowski was discovered by

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

in 1938, where he became professional. He played eleven matches for Lens in the 1938–39 Division 1. In 1945, he signed for Roubaix-Tourcoing. He won the 1946–47 Division 1 with the club before leaving in 1950, signing for JA Armentières that year.

Naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

in February 1939, Lewandowski was selected for the France military national team.

Managerial career

After his retiring from football, Lewandowski went on to coach US Billy-Berclau and AS Lens.

Honours

Roubaix-Tourcoing * Division 1: 1946–47

References

1914 births 1990 deaths People from Recklinghausen (district) Sportspeople from Münster (region) German footballers German emigrants to France French footballers French people of Polish descent German people of Polish descent {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewandowski, Michel Association football midfielders RC Lens players CO Roubaix-Tourcoing players Ligue 1 players French football managers German football managers Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia