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A sołtys () is a head of a
A sołtys () is a head of a sołectwo
A sołectwo (Polish plural: ''sołectwa'') is an administrative unit in Poland, an optional subdivision of a gmina. The actions and organs of the sołectwo are decided by the gmina council. On 31 December 2018 Poland had 40 740 sołectwa.
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elected by its permanent citizens in a village meeting (''zebranie wiejskie''). According to data from 2010, Poland had 40 thousand sołtys, 30.7% of which were women.
Role and powers
Since 1990, a sołtys is anexecutive
Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to:
Role or title
* Executive, a senior management role in an organization
** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators
** Executive dire ...
of a sołectwo that is supported by a sołectwo council. The detailed powers, duties and responsibilities of the sołtys are decided in the statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
made by the gmina council. The sołtys can use the legal protection of a civil servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
in his favour.
Duties
A sołtys has the duty to: *Represent the sołectwo *Organise village meetings *Introduce laws made by the gmina to the sołectwo *Collect taxes *Participate in gmina council meetingsHistory
The office of the sołtys was introduced during thePartitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
. It varied among countries. In Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
, a sołtys was an executive branch of a gromada
Gromada is a Polish word meaning "gathering", "group", or "assembly". In the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the term referred to a village organization which embraced all the inhabitants of a village and acted as a local authority, as well a ...
. He was supposed to guard order in the city. In Congress Poland, a gmina was made up of a few gromadas. In the Grand Duchy of Posen
The Grand Duchy of Posen (german: Großherzogtum Posen; pl, Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie) was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following the ...
a sołtys usually served the role of a village owner.{{cite web , url=https://www.senat.gov.pl/gfx/senat/userfiles/_public/k9/agenda/seminaria/2017/170131_soltysi/solectwo_studium.pdf , title=Sołectwo - Studium Prawnoustrojowe , last= , first= , date= , website= , publisher= , access-date=30 July 2021 , quote=
In 1934, sołectwa were introduced once again to Poland, which mainly held control over business relating to the people.
In the Polish People's Republic
The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...
, the role of a sołtys was replaced from 1954 to 1958 with a different position, though it was quickly changed to sołtys.''Ustawa z dnia 25 stycznia 1958 r. o radach narodowych'' A sołtys was the executive of a village government which, until 1973, ruled a gromada. From 1973 a sołtys governed a sołectwo.
See also
*Schultheiß
In medieval Germany, the ''Schultheiß'' () was the head of a municipality (akin to today's office of mayor), a ''Vogt'' or an executive official of the ruler. As official (''villicus'') it was his duty to order his assigned village or county (' ...
*Wójt
Wójt is a Polish senior civil administrative officer and the highest representative of the government of a ''rural gmina'', i.e., of a commune (''gmina'') comprising only villages. (Heads of towns and cities are called "burgomaster" (Polish: ''bur ...
* Wąchock jokes
References