Ludwik Maria Łubieński, comte de Pomian (6 May 1912,

Kazimierza Wielka Kazimierza Wielka () is a town in southern Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, about northeast of Kraków. It is the administrative seat of Kazimierza County. With a population of 5,848 (2005), it is the smallest county seat in Poland. Kazimi ...

- 22 January 1996,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) was a Polish lawyer, diplomat and military officer. He was Head of the Polish Maritime Mission in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and an eyewitness of the air disaster whose victim was the Polish wartime Premier and military leader,

Władysław Sikorski Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Before World War I, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of Polish independenc ...

. After the war, he became an expatriate official in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Background

From an old Polish noble and accomplished family, Łubieński's parents were , landowner and diplomat member of the Polish delegation to the

Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) The Paris Peace Conference was a set of formal and informal diplomatic meetings in 1919 and 1920 after the end of World War I, in which the victorious Allies set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers. Dominated by the leaders of Br ...

, and his second wife, Leopoldyna Hutten-Czapska, sister of the military officer and artist, Józef Czapski. He was the youngest son of four children born on the family estate in Kazimierza Wielka. He married Elżbieta Tyszkiewicz, with whom he had three children after the war in England. They were: Róża, whose stage name is

Rula Lenska Rula Lenska (born Roza Maria Leopoldyna Lubienski 30 September 1947) is an English actress. She mainly appears in British stage and television productions and is known in the United States for a series of television advertisements in the 1970s ...

, Gabriela and Anna. The family settled in London. Pomian Paprocki 1584

Career

In 1934 he graduated in law from the University of Jan Kazimierz. In August 1937 he was posted as a consular official of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. On 3 July 1939, he was named secretary to the minister of Foreign Affairs,

Józef Beck Józef Beck (; 4 October 1894 – 5 June 1944) was a Polish statesman who served the Second Republic of Poland as a diplomat and military officer. A close associate of Józef Piłsudski, Beck is most famous for being Polish foreign minister in ...

. With the clouds of war gathering, on 25 August 1939, he was nominated as liaison officer between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the

Chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of Polish Forces. On 18 September 1939, he accompanied Beck, over the "Green Border", into

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. From there, as the Polish Government of Poland sought sanctuary in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he was deputed to the Polish holding camp in Cerizay,

. From March 1940 he was in the United Kingdom, initially attached to gen. Bronisław Regulski, in charge of the Polish Panzer Division in France. Between 1941 and 1943 he was a special officer in the office of the Supreme Chief. In March 1943 he was posted to Gibraltar as Head of the Polish Maritime Mission. On 4 July 1943, he personally witnessed the air disaster in which 11 passengers and five crew died, most notably Poland's then leader, gen. Władysław Sikorski. Based on Łubieński's eye-witness report, James Robert Norton-Amora, a British government official in Gibraltar, issued the General's death certificate. An enduring controversy arose about the tragic event over the sea and the veracity of Łubieński's testimony has been called into question by a number of historians. Łubieński was the first person to alert the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...

in London about the death of gen. Sikorski in the air disaster. From September 1943 he was liaison officer of the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allies of World War II, Allied forces in northwest Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. US General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the ...

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

and

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. From June 1944 to September 1949 he served as Aide-de-camp to gen.

Władysław Anders Władysław Albert Anders (11 August 1892 – 12 May 1970) was a Polish military officer and politician, and prominent member of the Polish government-in-exile in London. Born in Krośniewice-Błonie, then part of the Russian Empire, he serv ...

Expatriate administrator

After the war, between 1949 and 1958 he was employed in the office of gen. Anders. From 1958 to 1968 he was European director of the American Polonia, based in

. Between 1968 and 1979 he was manager of the production office of Free Europe Polish Section, from where he retired. Back in London from 1982 to 1991 he served as a member of the Rada Narodowa Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (National Council of Poland) of the

. Also between 1981 and 1990 he headed the commission for winding up of the Treasury (Skarb Narodowy (1949–1991)). In 1988 he was deputy head of the Aid for Refugees commission. He died in London in January 1996. He was buried in Kazimierza Wielka.

Honours and decorations

Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, ...

(1989) *

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) 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 alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

, Commander's Cross, (3 May 1984)

Bibliography

* ''Słownik Biograficzny Polskiej Służby Zagranicznej 1918-1945. Vol. IV'', publisher, Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych. Warsaw 2007 (in Polish) * Kisielewski,„Tadeusz. ''Zamach. Tropem zabójców generała Sikorskiego'', REBIS: 2007, . * * Przybyszewski Stanisław M., ''Ludwik Łubieński, żołnierz, dyplomata, emigrant rodem z Kazimierzy Wielkiej'', publisher, Nowa Nidzica: 2014 (in Polish) *

References

External links

Marek Jerzy Minakowski – ''Genealogia Potomków Sejmu Wielkiego'' – Polish genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Łubieński, Ludwik 1912 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Polish diplomats 20th-century Polish lawyers University of Lviv alumni Polish nobility Counts of Poland Diplomats of the Second Polish Republic Lawyers from Lviv Lawyers from Warsaw People from Kazimierza County Diplomats from Lviv Military personnel from Warsaw Diplomats from Warsaw Polish democracy activists Polish military personnel of World War II Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Polish expatriates in the United Kingdom Polish anti-communists Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta