Janusz Radziwiłł (1880–1967) Explained

Janusz Radziwiłł
Birth Name:Janusz Franciszek Radziwiłł
Birth Date:3 September 1880
Birth Place:Berlin, German Empire
Death Place:Warsaw, Poland
Style:His Serene Highness, Prince Radziwiłł, Ordinat of Ołyka [1]
Children:Edmund Ferdynand Radziwiłł
Krystyna Maria Radziwiłł
Ludwik Ferdynand Radziwiłł
Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł
Parents:Ferdynand Radziwiłł
Pelagia Sapieha
Relations:Michał Radziwiłł Rudy (brother)
Ferdynand Radziwiłł (grandfather)

Prince Janusz Franciszek Radziwiłł (3 September 1880 – 4 October 1967) was a Polish nobleman and politician.[2] [3]

Early life

Prince Radziwiłł was born on 3 September 1880 in Berlin in the then German Empire. He was the son of Prince Ferdynand Radziwiłł (1834–1926) and Princess Pelagia Sapieha-Kodenska. His siblings were Michał Radziwiłł Rudy, Karol Ferdynand Radziwiłł, Małgorzata.[4]

His paternal grandparents were Prince Ferdynand Radziwiłł and Countess Leontyna von Clary und Aldringen. His maternal grandparents were Prince Léon Sapieha-Kodenski and Countess Johanna Tyszkiewicz. His great-grandfather was Prince Anton Radziwill and his great-grandmother was Princess Louise of Prussia (1770–1836).[4] [5]

Career

He was a member of the government of the Kingdom of Poland and a conservative politician in the Second Polish Republic. From 1919 to 1920, he was the Polish envoy to London and served as the Polish Foreign Minister from 1920 to 1921.[2] [6] [7]

He was a supporter of Józef Piłsudski, member of his BBWR coalition, Sejm deputy from 1928 to 1935 and a member of the Polish Senate from 1935 to 1939.[7] Despite being a supporter of the government, he was critical of sanacja's excesses (persecution of political opponents, censorship). In 1937 he joined the Camp of National Unity (OZON).[8] [9] [10]

After the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, he was arrested by NKVD. Imprisoned in the infamous Lubyanka prison, he was personally interrogated by Lavrentiy Beria.[11] He was released after a few months after international pressure from, among others, the Italian royal family (due to the prestige of the Radziwiłł family). He returned to Nazi occupied Poland, where he tried to use his prestige to improve Nazi treatment of the Poles; he met with Hermann Göring (whom he knew from before the war)[12] but his efforts were futile.[8] He was briefly imprisoned by the Germans during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.[13]

After the war in 1945 he was again arrested by NKVD; his wife would die in a communist prison in 1947.[14] He was eventually released, with most of his possessions confiscated and nationalized by the communist government.[15] In 1959, the Polish government gave the 79 year old a passport to visit his son and daughter in England and Spain.[16]

Personal life

On 9 December 1905, Radziwiłł was married to Princess Anna Jadwiga Maria Lubomirska (1882–1947) in Rowno, Poland. She was the daughter of Prince Stanislaw Lubomirski and Princess Wanda Lubomirska.[17] Together, they were the parents of:[14]

Radziwiłł died in his two-room apartment in Warsaw, Poland on 4 October 1967,[20] Before the War, he owned two palaces in Warsaw. He was buried in Poland.[21]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: RADZIWILL Genealogy 2006.
  2. Book: Babel. Isaak. The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel. 2002. W. W. Norton & Company. 9780393324020. 206. 13 October 2017. en.
  3. Book: The Polish Review. 2000. Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America.. 353. 9781930205000. 13 October 2017. en.
  4. Book: Radziwill. Prince Michael. One of the Radziwills. 1971. J. Murray. 220. 9780719521928. 13 October 2017. en.
  5. Book: McNaughton. Arnold. The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy. 1973. Garnstone Press. 9780900391194. 405. 13 October 2017. en.
  6. Book: Orr. Peter David. Peace at Daggers Drawn. 2005. Beachfront Press. 9781413748291. 50. 13 October 2017. en.
  7. News: NEW POLISH PARTY HAS RICH BACKERS; Prince Radziwill Returns to Warsaw With Pledges From Magnates of Lodz. WANT PILSUDSKI AS KING Monarchists Get Support From Powerful Landowners In Other Parts of Country.. 13 October 2017. The New York Times. 19 November 1926.
  8. Book: Zimmerman. Joshua D.. The Polish Underground and the Jews, 1939–1945. 2015. Cambridge University Press. 9781107014268. 81. 13 October 2017. en.
  9. Book: Lee. Loyd E.. World War II: Crucible of the Contemporary World : Commentary and Readings. 1991. M.E. Sharpe. 9780873327329. 77. 13 October 2017. en.
  10. Book: Cooper. L.. In the Shadow of the Polish Eagle: The Poles, the Holocaust and Beyond. 2000. Springer. 9780333992623. 138. 13 October 2017. en.
  11. Book: The Ukrainian Quarterly. 1992. Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. 212. 13 October 2017. en.
  12. Book: Williamson. David G.. The Polish Underground 1939-1947. 2012. Pen and Sword. 9781848842816. 44. 13 October 2017. en.
  13. Book: Davies. Norman. No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939-1945. 2008. Penguin. 9781440651120. 356. 13 October 2017. en.
  14. Book: Proctor. Robert. Building the Modern Church: Roman Catholic Church Architecture in Britain, 1955 to 1975. 2016. Routledge. 9781317170853. 21. 13 October 2017. en.
  15. Book: Hayes. Peter. Why?: Explaining the Holocaust. 2017. W. W. Norton & Company. 9780393254372. 13 October 2017. en.
  16. News: Poland Gives Prince Passport. 13 October 2017. The New York Times. January 17, 1959.
  17. Book: McNaughton. Arnold. The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy. 1973. Garnstone Press. 9780900391194. 13 October 2017. en.
  18. News: The Real Lee Radziwill. Haslam. Nicky. 7 February 2013. The New York Times T magazine. 30 July 2017.
  19. Book: Radziwill. Carole. What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love. 2007. Simon and Schuster. 9780743277181. 13 October 2017. en.
  20. News: Prince Janusz Radziwill Dies; Leader in Polish Aristocracy. 13 October 2017. The New York Times. 7 October 1967.
  21. News: PRINCE RADZIWILL BURIED IN POLAND. 13 October 2017. The New York Times. 8 October 1967.