Wiesław Domaniewski (2 January 1896 – 29 October 1992) was a Polish businessman,

financial adviser A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

and economist, as well as one of the founders of the association '' Polish Veterans of World War II''. He served as president of the

Józef Piłsudski Institute of America The Józef Piłsudski Institute of America (full name: Józef Piłsudski Institute of America for Research in the Modern History of Poland) is a museum and research center devoted to the study of modern Polish history and named after the Polish in ...

in the years 1969–1972.

Life

He was born on 2 January 1896 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, then

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of 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 was established w ...

. Between 1918 and 1920, he served in the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

, participating in the clashes in

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

, among others. In 1921, he graduated from the Department of Law and Political Science of the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. In the years 1921–1922, he worked in the Warsaw office of the Industrialists' Association of

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; ; , ; ) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 166,765 as of December 2022, making it the List of cities and towns in Poland#Largest cities and towns by population, 22nd largest city in Poland, and an a ...

. He studied in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and Paris. After his return to Poland in 1927, he became an investigator at the Surveying Commission for Research of Production and Trading Conditions at the prime minister's cabinet, only to soon advance to become the head of the Economical Bureau. In the period 1932–1933, he was a financial adviser to the Polish Embassy in Paris and subsequently the director of the Department of Transactions at the Ministry of Treasury. In July 1939, he was named vice-president of the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. Following the outbreak of

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 ...

in September 1939, he participated in the operation of saving the assets of the Polish Bank (Bank Polski Spółka Akcyjna) alongside General

Roman Górecki Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. In February 1943, he became the main economic adviser of 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 ...

at its

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

embassy. After the war, he settled in New York City and worked for the firm Roehr Products Co. with headquarters in

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He was one of the founders of the association '' Polish Veterans of World War II''. A member of the

starting in 1948, he served as its treasurer starting in 1955, with short breaks. During the period 28 March 1969 – 17 March 1972 he was president of the Institute. Domaniewski died on 29 October 1992, aged 96. He is buried in the cemetery in

Montmorency, Val-d'Oise Montmorency () is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-d'Oise department, in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Montmorency was the fief of the Montmorency family, one of the oldest ...

, near Paris.

Bibliography

*
Biogram Wiesława Domaniewskiego na stronie Instytutu Józefa Piłsudskiego w Ameryce
{{DEFAULTSORT:Domaniewski, Wieslaw 1896 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Polish businesspeople Polish emigrants to the United States University of Warsaw alumni Polish economists Individuals associated with the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America