Generał broni Generał broni (literally ''General of arms'', ''general of the branch'', abbreviated gen. broni) is the second highest Generals grade in the Polish Army, second only to the recently introduced rank of Generał (both in Land Forces and in the Poli ...

Edward Pietrzyk (3 November 19495 May 2021) was a Polish military officer, diplomat and general in 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 stre ...

. He was commander-in-chief of the Polish Land Forces.

Early life and career

Pietrzyk was born in

Rawa Mazowiecka Rawa Mazowiecka is a town in central Poland, with 17,193 inhabitants (2020). It lies in the Łódź Voivodeship and is the capital of the Rawa County. From 1562 the city hosted the ''Rawa Treasury'' for the Polish army. During an excavation in 1 ...

in 1949. In 1971 he graduated from the Military University of Technology (WAT) of

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 ...

, after which he served for six years in the 2nd Artillery Brigade. In 1978 he moved to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, where he graduated from the local Military Academy of Artillery. In 1988 he became the deputy commander of Polish artillery and rocket forces of the Warsaw Military Area. In 1990, Pietrzyk graduated from the General Staff Academy of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and after two years of service as the deputy chief of operations of the General Staff, he became the chief of the Operational Command of the Polish General Staff. Between 1998 and 2000 he was the deputy commander of the Multinational Corps North East composed of forces of Poland,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Latvia, Lithuania and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. Between 2000 and September 2006 he was commander of the

Land Forces of Poland 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 ...

. In 2000 he graduated from the National War College, Washington D.C. Between April 2007 and January 2010, Pietrzyk served as Polish ambassador to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

(followed by Stanisław Smoleń). From January 2010 till 2014, Pietrzyk served as Poland's ambassador to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

, followed by Krzysztof Ciebień.

2007 Baghdad incident

On 3 October 2007, Pietrzyk was wounded by a

roadside bomb An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

in a probable assassination attempt in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

. He was flown to a military hospital by a

Blackwater Security Blackwater was an American private military company founded on December 26, 1996 by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009 and known as Academi since 2011 after it was acquired by a group of private investors. ...

helicopter. Pietrzyk received burns to about 20 percent of his body, including his air passageways, and was held in an artificial coma to reduce the pain. The

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

convened a meeting to condemn this attack.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pietrzyk, Edward 1949 births 2021 deaths People from Rawa Mazowiecka Polish generals Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit Ambassadors of Poland to Iraq Ambassadors of Poland to North Korea