Count Stanisław Maria Jan Teofil Szeptycki (3 November 1867 – 9 October 1950) was a

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 ...

count,

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

and military commander.

Biography

Born in 1867 in Galicia,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

to the aristocratic

Szeptycki family Szeptycki (in Polish spelling; or (Sheptytsky) in Ukrainian spelling) was a major noble family in Ruthenia (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, later Austria-Hungary, Poland and Ukraine). They used the Szeptycki coat of arms. The family was relate ...

, he was the grandson of Polish playwright

Aleksander Fredro Aleksander Fredro (20 June 1793 – 15 July 1876) was a Polish poet, playwright and author active during Polish Romanticism in the period of partitions by neighboring empires. His works including plays written in the octosyllabic verse ('' Zemst ...

, son of the count Jan Kanty Szeptycki and brother of

Andrey Sheptytsky Andrey Sheptytsky, OSBM (; uk, Митрополит Андрей Шептицький; 29 July 1865 – 1 November 1944) was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from 1901 until his death in 1944. His tenure spann ...

Metropolitan Archbishop Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

of the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church (sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's C ...

. Szeptycki joined 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 ...

, where he attained the rank of colonel. In 1914 he joined the Polish Legions, where he became commander of the Third Brigade, and from November 1916 to April 1917 commander of the entire Polish Legions formation. Following the

Oath Crisis The Oath crisis ( pl, Kryzys przysięgowy) was a World War I political conflict between the Imperial German Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions. Initially supporting the Central Powers against Imperial Russia, Piłsudski ...

he commanded the German-aligned '' Polnische Wehrmacht''. Until February 1918 he was Austro-Hungarian governor general of Lublin, but resigned in protest when Germany turned

Chełm Chełm (; uk, Холм, Kholm; german: Cholm; yi, כעלם, Khelm) is a city in southeastern Poland with 60,231 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some ...

and the surrounding area over to the

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

. He joined the newly recreated

Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, abbreviated ''SZ RP''; popularly called ''Wojsko Polskie'' in Poland, abbreviated ''WP''—roughly, the "Polish Military") are the national armed forces of ...

in November 1918 following the country's independence and replaced General

Tadeusz Rozwadowski Count Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski (19 May 1866 – 18 October 1928) was a Polish military commander, diplomat, and politician, a general of the Austro-Hungarian Army and then the Polish Army. Biography Youth Jordan-Rozwadowski was born in ...

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afg ...

, a post that he held until March 1919. During the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–1921, Szeptycki commanded the Polish Northeast Front and the 4th Army. In 1919 he commanded

Operation Minsk Operation Mińsk was a military offensive of the Polish Army during the Polish–Soviet War. It resulted in the capture of Minsk from the Red Army around 8 August 1919. The victory allowed the Polish troops to advance further into Russian-contro ...

. He disagreed with the Polish Commander-in-Chief,

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

, which cost him his post, and joined the

National Democratic This article presents the historical development and role of political parties in Ukrainian politics, and outlines more extensively the significant modern political parties since Ukraine gained independence in 1991. Overview Ukraine has a mult ...

opposition to Piłsudski. From June to December 1923 he was Minister of Military Affairs; during that time he challenged Piłsudski to a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

for a perceived slight (Piłsudski refused the challenge). After Piłsudski's May 1926 ''Coup d'État'', Szeptycki was dismissed from active service. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, from 1945 to 1950, he headed the

Polish Red Cross Polish Red Cross ( pl, Polski Czerwony Krzyż, abbr. PCK) is the Polish member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Its 19th-century roots may be found in the Russian and Austrian Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwea ...

(''Polski Czerwony Krzyż''). He died in Korczyna in 1950.

Honours and awards

* Commander's Cross of the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stan ...

, also awarded the Silver Cross * Commander's Cross with Star of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

* Cross of Valour - four times * Cross of Liberty, class II (Estonia) *

Order of Lāčplēsis The Order of Lāčplēsis (also Lāčplēsis Military Order, lv, Lāčplēša Kara ordenis), the first and the highest Latvian military award, was established in 1919 on the initiative of Jānis Balodis, the Commander of the Latvian Army during t ...

, 2nd class (Latvia)

References

1867 births 1950 deaths People from Lviv Oblast People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Stanisław Polish Austro-Hungarians Counts of Poland Austro-Hungarian generals Polish generals in other armies Polish People's Army generals Polish legionnaires (World War I) Polnische Wehrmacht personnel Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War People of the Polish May Coup (pro-government side) Commanders of the Virtuti Militari Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 2nd class {{Poland-mil-bio-stub

Biography

Honours and awards

Further reading

References