List of Polish people explained
This is a partial list of notable Polish or Polish-speaking or -writing people. People of partial Polish heritage have their respective ancestries credited.
Physics
- Czesław Białobrzeski
- Andrzej Buras
- Georges Charpak, 1995 Nobel Prize
- Jan Kazimierz Danysz
- Marian Danysz
- Tomasz Dietl
- Maria Dworzecka
- Artur Ekert, one of the independent inventors (in 1991) of quantum cryptography
- Krzysztof Gawedzki
- Marek Gazdzicki
- Ryszard Horodecki
- Leopold Infeld
- Aleksander Jabłoński
- Jerzy Stanisław Janicki
- Sylwester Kaliski
- Elżbieta Kossecka
- Jan Eugeniusz Krysiński
- Stanislas Leibler
- Maciej Lewenstein
- Olga Malinkiewicz
- Albert A. Michelson, 1907 Nobel Prize
- Lidia Morawska
- Stanisław Mrozowski
- Władysław Natanson
- Witold Nazarewicz
- Henryk Niewodniczański
- Georges Nomarski
- Karol Olszewski
- Jerzy Plebański
- Jerzy Pniewski
- Nikodem Popławski
- Sylwester Porowski, blue laser
- Józef Rotblat, 1995 Nobel Peace Prize
- Stefan Rozental
- Wojciech Rubinowicz
- Maria Skłodowska Curie (Marie Curie), two Nobel Prizes
- Jan Sładkowski
- Marian Smoluchowski, kinetic theory, Einstein–Smoluchowski relation
- Andrzej Sobolewski
- Haroun Tazieff, geologist, volcanologist, cinematographer, writer and French Cabinet minister
- Andrzej Trautman
- Witelo, philosopher, medieval optics
- August Witkowski
- Stanley Wojcicki
- Mieczysław Wolfke
- Stanisław Lech Woronowicz
- Zygmunt Wróblewski
- Marek Żukowski
- Wojciech H. Zurek
Chemistry
- Osman Achmatowicz
- Józef Boguski
- Kazimierz Boratyński
- Jan Czochralski, modern semiconductors
- Emil Czyrniański
- Tadeusz Estreicher, cryogenics pioneer
- Kazimierz Fajans
- Kazimierz Funk, biochemist, the concept of vitamins
- Andrzej Górak
- Antoni Grabowski
- Konstanty Hrynakowski
- Andrzej Jajszczyk
- Alina Kabata-Pendias
- Aharon Katzir, electrochemistry of biopolymers
- Wiktor Kemula
- Włodzimierz Kołos
- Stanisław Kostanecki
- Marek Gatty-Kostyal
- Józef R. Lewandowski
- Ignacy Łukasiewicz, inventor of kerosene lamp
- Mieczysław Mąkosza
- Leon Marchlewski
- Bolesław Masłowski
- Krzysztof Matyjaszewski
- Mark Miodownik, materials scientist and engineer
- Ignacy Mościcki
- Marceli Nencki
- Karol Olszewski
- Krzysztof Palczewski
- Janusz Pawliszyn
- Sylwester Porowski
- Tadeusz Reichstein, Nobel Prize winner
- Michał Sędziwój, Latinized as Sendivogius: alchemist, physician, discoverer of oxygen
- Zuzanna S. Siwy
- Maria Skłodowska Curie (Marie Curie), two-time Nobel Prize winner
- Edward Sucharda
- Jędrzej Śniadecki
- Wojciech Świętosławski, "father of thermochemistry"
- Bohdan Szyszkowski
- Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski
- Filip Neriusz Walter, pioneer of organic chemistry
- Zygmunt Wróblewski
- Józef Zawadzki
Biology, medicine
- Joseph Babinski, neurologist, discoverer of the Babinski reflex
- Gabriela Balicka-Iwanowska, botanist
- Edmund Biernacki, physician, discoverer of erythrocyte sedimentation rate
- Czesław Bieżanko, entomologist
- Jan Biziel, physician, social activist
- Tytus Chałubiński, physician
- Napoleon Cybulski, neurophysiologist, discoverer of adrenaline
- Maria Antonina Czaplicka, anthropologist
- Jan Czekanowski, anthropologist
- Kazimierz Dąbrowski, psychiatrist, creator of the theory of positive disintegration
- Wiktor Dega, surgeon
- August Dehnel, biologist
- Jozef Dietl, physician
- Hermann Dietz, physician, senator of the Republic of Poland, social activist
- Jan Dzierżon, zoologist, apiarist
- Stefan Falimierz, physician, herbalist
- Sidney Farber, pathologist and cancer biologist, founder of the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute
- Edward Flatau, neurologist
- Ludwik Fleck, microbiologist, philosopher of science
- Eva Frommer, child psychiatrist and anthroposophist
- Kazimierz Funk, coined the term vitamin
- Marian Gieszczykiewicz, physician
- Emil Godlewski, embryologist
- Samuel Goldflam, neurologist
- Adam Gruca, surgeon
- Ryszard Gryglewski, pharmacologist, physician
- Tomasz Guzik, physician
- Ludwik Hirszfeld, microbiologist
- Janina Hurynowicz, neurophysiologist
- Feliks Paweł Jarocki, zoologist
- Stefania Jabłońska, dermatologist
- Walery Jaworski, physician
- Konstanty Jelski, ornithologist
- Zbigniew Kabata, biologist
- Hazem M. Kalaji, physiologist
- Ewa Kamler, biologist
- Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, paleobiologist
- Aleksander Koj, physician, scientist
- Ryszard Kole, pharmacologist
- Jerzy Konorski, neurophysiologist
- Stefan Kopec, biologist
- Hilary Koprowski, polio vaccine
- Tadeusz Krwawicz, medical pioneer
- Elwira Lisowska, biochemist
- Abraham Low, neuropsychiatrist
- Margaret Lowenfeld, paediatrician and pioneer of Sandplay Therapy
- Liliana Lubińska, neuroscientist
- Zofia Majewska, neurologist and professor
- Karol Marcinkowski, physician
- Eugène Minkowski, psychiatrist influenced by Bergson and phenomenology
- Ludwik Mlokosiewicz, botanist
- Maksymilian Nowicki, biologist
- Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, biologist
- Marek Pienkowski, immunologist
- Piotr Ponikowski, cardiologist
- Moshe Prywes (1914–1998), Israeli physician and educator; first President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
- Tadeusz Reichstein, Polish-Swiss physiologist; 1950 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
- Zbigniew Religa, cardiologist
- Józef Rostafiński, biologist
- Hanna Segal, leading Kleinian psychoanalyst
- Michael Sela (1924–2022), Israeli immunologist; President of the Weizmann Institute of Science
- Henryk Skarżyński, otolaryngologist, audiologist, phoniatrist
- Michalina Stefanowska, neurophysiologist
- Eduard Adolf Strasburger (born in Poland, of German descent), botanist
- Andrzej Szczeklik, immunologist
- Jan Sztolcman, ornithologist
- Wacław Szybalski, physician
- Władysław Taczanowski, zoologist
- Andrzej K. Tarkowski, embryologist
- Zbylut Twardowski, physician
- Jerzy Vetulani, neuroscientist, pharmacologist and biochemist
- Emil Warmiński, physician, social and national activist
- Józef Warszewicz, botanist
- Rudolf Weigl, typhus vaccine
- Wanda Wesołowska, zoologist
- Helena Rosa Wright, physician influential in family planning
- Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska, physician
- Jozef J. Zwislocki, neuroscientist
Astronomy
Mathematics
Computer science
Linguistics
- Jolanta Antas
- Jerzy Bartmiński
- Jan Niecisław Baudouin de Courtenay (1845–1929), developed the theory of the phoneme and phonetic alternations.
- Andrzej Bogusławski, Russian-Polish-Russian lexicographer, philosopher of language, semioticist
- Aleksander Brückner (1856–1939), Slavicist and Polish-language lexicographer
- Kazimierz Bulas (1903–1970), Polish–English lexicographer (Kościuszko Foundation Dictionary)
- Jan Bystroń
- Jan Czekanowski
- Andrzej Gawroński
- Grzegorz Knapski
- Władysław Kopaliński
- Onufry Kopczyński, creator of Polish-grammar terminology
- Alfred Korzybski, originator of general semantics
- Mikołaj Kruszewski
- Jerzy Kuryłowicz
- Samuel Bogumił Linde, Polish language lexicographer
- Jan Mączyński
- Halina Mierzejewska
- Jan Miodek
- Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski (1921–2016), Polish–English lexicographer
- Anna Siewierska
- Jan Stanisławski, Polish–English lexicographer
- Antoni Józef Śmieszek
- Michel Thomas
- Zdzisław Wąsik
- Anna Wierzbicka
- L. L. Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto
Invention
- Bruno Abakanowicz, mathematician, engineer, inventor of the integraph
- Stefan Bryła, first welded road bridge
- Mieczysław G. Bekker, Lunar Roving Vehicle
- Jan Czochralski, Czochralski process
- Juliusz Bogdan Deczkowski, medical equipment
- Stefan Drzewiecki, first submarine
- Jan Dzierżoń, first successful movable-frame beehive
- Leo Gerstenzang, Q-Tips
- Rudolf Gundlach, Gundlach Rotary Periscope
- Józef Hofmann, pneumatic shock absorbers
- Stefan Kudelski, Nagra audio recorders
- Stephanie Kwolek, inventor of Kevlar
- Kazimierz Leski, ballast tank funnels
- Janusz Liberkowski, Anecia Safety Capsule
- Ignacy Łukasiewicz, kerosene lamp, oil refinery
- Henryk Magnuski, walkie-talkie
- Julian Ochorowicz, precursor of radio and television; philosopher, psychologist
- Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski, petroleum-drilling platform inventor
- Kazimierz Proszyński, cinematic camera
- Marian Rejewski, broke German Enigma-machine ciphers, invented the cryptologic bomb
- Jerzy Różycki, invented "clock" method used in breaking German Enigma-machine ciphers
- Tadeusz Sendzimir, processing steel
- Władysław Starewicz, first puppet-animated film
- Abraham Stern, first computing-machine and device for calculating the square roots of numbers
- Wacław Struszyński, seaborne direction finding antenna, which made a vital contribution to the defeat of U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic
- Jan Szczepanik, television patents
- Władysław Tryliński,[1] trylinka
- Józef Tykociński, sound film
- Stefan Tyszkiewicz, automotive and audio improvements
- Mieczysław Wolfke, precursor of holography
- Casimir Zeglen, bullet-proof vest
- Henryk Zygalski, Zygalski sheets
Engineering
- Karol Adamiecki
- Krzysztof Arciszewski
- Mieczysław G. Bekker, first moon rover
- Włodzimierz Błasiak
- Stefan Bryła, first welded road bridge
- Romuald Cebertowicz, soil solidification
- Zdzisław Celiński
- Georges Charpak, particle detector
- Jerzy Dąbrowski, designer of PZL.37 Łoś bomber
- Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, Polish-Russian engineer, electrician, and inventor
- Adam Freytag
- Rudolf Gundlach, tank designer
- Kazimierz Gzowski
- Edward Jan Habich
- Tytus Maksymilian Huber
- Jacek Jędruch
- Stanisław Kierbedź
- Stefan Kudelski, electronics engineer, inventor of the Nagra tape recorder
- Józef Kosacki, Polish mine detector
- Janusz Liberkowski, inventor
- Henryk Magnuski, walkie-talkie
- Ernest Malinowski, 19th-century constructor of Peru's Ferrovias Central, the world's highest railway at the time
- Henry Millicer, aviation
- Ralph Modjeski, bridge designer
- Zenon Mróz, materials science engineer
- Jan Nagórski, first man to fly over the North Pole
- Antoni Patek, pioneer in watchmaking and a creator of Patek Philippe & Co.
- Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski
- Zygmunt Puławski, designer of PZL P.11 fighter
- Bogdan Raczkowski, engineer and urbanist in Bydgoszcz
- Ludwik Regamey, engineer and social activist
- Wojciech Rostafiński, NASA
- Kazimierz Siemienowicz,[2] pioneer of rocket
- Stefan Tyszkiewicz, automotive engineer, inventor of the airport luggage trolley
- Stanisław Wigura, aviation
- Piotr Wilniewczyc, weaponry
- Franciszek Żwirko, aviation
Social sciences
- Tadeusz Andrzejewski, archeologist, Egyptologist
- Zygmunt Bauman, sociologist, philosopher
- Stefan Błachowski, psychologist
- Maria Czaplicka, anthropologist
- Jan Władysław Dawid, psychologist
- Tomasz Drezner, Renaissance jurist
- Agnieszka Dudzińska, sociologist
- Barbara Engelking, sociologist
- Zygmunt Gloger, ethnographer, archaeologist, historian
- Ludwig Gumplowicz, a founder of sociology
- Norbert Guterman
- Alicja Iwańska, sociologist
- Franciszek Kasparek, jurist, professor of international law, rector of Kraków University
- Oskar Kolberg, ethnographer
- Marek Kotański, psychologist
- Leon Kozłowski (1892–1944), archeologist; Prime Minister of Poland, 1934–35.
- Ludwik Krzywicki, anthropologist, economist, sociologist
- Jan Kubary, naturalist, ethnographer
- Hersch Lauterpacht, creator of the legal concept of crimes against humanity
- Raphael Lemkin, creator of the legal concept of genocide
- Wiesław Łukaszewski, psychologist
- Bronisław Malinowski, anthropologist
- Władysław Markiewicz, sociologist
- Kazimierz Michałowski, archeologist, Egyptologist
- Karol Myśliwiec, archeologist, Egyptologist
- Julian Ochorowicz, psychologist, philosopher, inventor
- Maria Ossowska, sociologist
- Stanisław Ossowski, sociologist
- Bronisław Piłsudski, cultural anthropologist
- Jadwiga Staniszkis, sociologist
- Paweł Śpiewak, sociologist
- Henryk Stroband, jurist and mayor of Toruń
- Jerzy Szacki, historian of ideas
- Zbigniew Szafrański, Egyptologist, archeologist
- Jacek Szmatka, sociologist
- Piotr Sztompka, sociologist
- Edmund Wnuk-Lipiński, sociologist, founder of PAN's Institute of Political Studies
- Florian Znaniecki, sociologist
- Ewa K. Strzelecka, political scientist and social anthropologist.
Economics
Other sciences
- Henryk Arctowski, explorer of the Antarctic
- Leon Barszczewski, explorer
- Piotr Ignacy Bieńkowski, scholar, archaeologist, professor
- Karol Bohdanowicz, geologist
- Gerard Ciołek, architect and historian of gardens
- Aleksander Czekanowski,[3] explorer of Siberia
- Jan Czerski, paleontologist, explorer of Siberia
- Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska, socialist politician, suffragist
- Kazimierz Dąbrowski, psychologist
- Helene Deutsch, psychoanalyst
- Antoni Bolesław Dobrowolski, geophysicist, meteorologist, polar explorer
- Ignacy Domeyko, geologist[4] [5]
- Benedykt Dybowski, naturalist, explorer of Siberia
- Gaspar da Gama, traveller, interpreter, explorer
- Bronisław Grąbczewski, explorer[3]
- Mirosław Hermaszewski, the first Polish cosmonaut
- Anton Hoffmann, 19th century architect in Bydgoszcz
- Leonard Jaczewski, engineer, explorer of Asian Russia[3] [6]
- Maria Janion, critic and theoretician of literature, feminist
- Henryk Jordan, founding father of physical education
- Józefa Joteyko, physiologist, psychologist and pedagogue
- Rudolf Kern, Art Nouveau architect in Bydgoszcz
- Antoni Kępiński, psychiatrist
- Stefan Klajbor, architect
- Janusz Korczak, pedagogue, writer
- Jan Kossowski, modernist architect
- Józef Kostrzewski, archeologist, museologist
- Irena Krzywicka, feminist, writer, translator
- Zofia Licharewa, geologist, museum founder
- Henryk Lipszyc, specialist in Japanese culture, translator, ambassador of Poland in Tokyo
- Rosa Luxemburg, Marxist political theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary
- Józef Morozewicz, mineralogist, petrographer[3]
- Halszka Osmólska, paleontologist
- Jacek Pałkiewicz, journalist and explorer, best known for discovering the sources of the Amazon River
- Michael Alfred Peszke, psychiatrist
- Benedykt Polak (Benedict the Pole, Benedictus Polonus), explorer
- Jan Potocki, linguist, Egyptologist, sociologist, author of The Saragossa Manuscript
- Eugeniusz Romer, cartographer
- Antoni Józef Śmieszek, Egyptologist
- Józef Święcicki, 19th century architect
- Stanisław of Skarbimierz, political scientist
- Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, geologist, explorer of Australia
- Tadeusz Sulimirski, archeologist
- Józef Trzemeski, polar explorer[3]
- Bernard Wapowski, "father of Polish cartography"
- Andrzej Wawrzyniak, diplomat, founder of the Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw
- Fritz Weidner, designer and architect in Bydgoszcz
- Paweł Włodkowic, jurist
- Robert Zajonc, psychologist
- Czesław Zakaszewski, hydrologist
- Kazimierz Żurowski, archaeologist
History
- Roman Aftanazy, historian of former Eastern Borderlands and librarian
- Szymon Askenazy, historian and diplomat
- Marcin Bielski, chronicler
- Michał Bobrzyński, historian and politician
- Józef Borzyszkowski, Kashubian historian
- Filip Callimachus
- Alina Cała
- Marek Jan Chodakiewicz
- Piotr Cywiński
- Tadeusz Czacki
- Norman Davies, British-Polish historian
- Małgorzata Dąbrowska, historian, Byzantist
- Jan Długosz, 15th-century chronicler of Poland
- Maria Dzielska
- Marian Kamil Dziewanowski, Poland, Russia, modern Europe
- Karol Estreicher (senior), father of Polish Bibliography
- Stanisław Estreicher
- Tadeusz Estreicher
- Józef Feldman
- Mieczysław Gębarowicz, art historian, museum director, custodian of Ossolineum
- Aleksander Gieysztor
- Kazimierz Godłowski, historian and archeologist
- Władysław Grabski
- Roman Grodecki
- Oskar Halecki, historian of Poland
- Marceli Handelsman, historian of Poland
- Paweł Jasienica, historian of Poland
- Jacek Jędruch
- Wincenty Kadłubek, 13th-century historian of Poland
- Józef Kasparek, constitutions; World War II era
- Stefan Kieniewicz, 19th-century Polish history
- Jerzy Kirchmayer, 1944 Warsaw Uprising
- Jerzy Kolendo, archaeologist, epigraphist and historian of the Mediterranean Basin in antiquity[7]
- Hugo Kołłątaj, 18th–19th-century historian, philosopher and politician
- Feliks Koneczny, Polish history, social philosophy
- Władysław Konopczyński, Polish and world history
- Iwona Korga, historian, president of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America
- Stanisław Kot, historian, politician, diplomat
- Władysław Kozaczuk, military history, military intelligence, World War II
- Manfred Kridl, history of Polish culture and literature
- Marcin Kromer, 16th-century Bishop of Warmia, secretary to two Polish kings, and historian of Poland
- Jan Kucharzewski, historian and politician
- Marian Kukiel, military historian and politician
- Lucyna Kulińska
- Ewa Kurek
- Stanisław Kutrzeba, Poland, Polish law, Kraków
- Gerard Labuda
- Joachim Lelewel, historian of Poland
- Jerzy Jan Lerski
- Dariusz Libionka
- Wacław Lipiński
- Stanisław Lorentz, art historian
- Czesław Madajczyk, World War II
- Janusz Magnuski, World War II Polish and Soviet armor
- Tadeusz Manteuffel, medievalist
- Maciej Masłowski, art historian
- Benjamin Mazar (1906–1995), Israeli historian and archeologist; President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Maciej Miechowita
- Lidia Milka-Wieczorkiewicz
- Karol Modzelewski
- Stephen Mizwa
- Teodor Narbutt,[8] Polish historian of Lithuania
- Adam Naruszewicz,[9] 18th-century historian, participant in the Great Sejm
- Kasper Niesiecki, Jesuit lexicographer and heraldic scholar
- Szymon Okolski, 17th-century historian
- Bartosz Paprocki, Polish and Czech heraldic scholar
- Michael Alfred Peszke, Polish Armed Forces, World War II
- Tadeusz Piotrowski, historian of Poland during World War II
- Richard Pipes, Polish-American historian of Russia and the Soviet Union
- Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski, World War II, Polish-Jewish relations; engineer
- Teresa Prekerowa
- Stanisław Salmonowicz, historian of law
- Henryk Samsonowicz, historian specializing in medieval Poland
- Konstancja Skirmuntt
- Julian Stachiewicz, military historian
- Szymon Starowolski
- Aneta Stawiszyńska
- Dariusz Stola
- Maciej Stryjkowski, historian, writer, poet
- Irena Strzelecka
- Tomasz Strzembosz, Polish World War II history
- Tadeusz Sulimirski, historian and archeologist
- Karol Szajnocha, historian and novelist
- Józef Szujski
- Zygmunt Szweykowski, Polish literature
- Władysław Tatarkiewicz, philosophy and aesthetics
- Rafał Taubenschlag, history of law
- Janusz Tazbir, historian, specializing in the culture and religion of Poland in the 16th and 17th centuries
- Józef Turowski, World War II OUN massacres of Poles
- Adam Ulam, Polish-American historian of Russia and the Soviet Union
- Adam Vetulani, history of law
- Piotr S. Wandycz, Polish-American historian of Central and Eastern Europe
- Leon Wasilewski
- Ewa Wipszycka, historian and papyrologist
- Richard Woytak, World War II era
- Julia Zabłocka (1931–1993), historian, classical scholar, archaeologist
- Wincenty Zakrzewski, 16th-century Poland
- Adam Zamoyski
- Janusz K. Zawodny, World War II
- Marek Żukow-Karczewski, historian and journalist
Philosophy
See also: History of philosophy in Poland.
Prose literature
See also: List of Polish writers and List of Polish novelists.
- Franciszka Arnsztajnowa, playwright
- S. Ansky, Bielorussian, Polish-Jewish author of The Dybbuk
- Joanna Bator, novelist, feminist
- Witold Bełza, librarian, writer, publicist on Bydgoszcz
- Halina Birenbaum, Polish Israeli writer, translator, chronicler of the martyrdom of Polish Jewry
- Karol Olgierd Borchardt, maritime author
- Tadeusz Borowski, writer and journalist
- Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, writer; translator of over 100 French literary classics
- Edmund Chojecki, journalist based in France
- Joanna Chmielewska, crime writer
- Sylwia Chutnik, novelist, feminist, social activist
- Joseph Conrad (Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski), English-language novelist
- Stanisław Czerniecki, landowner and chef, author of the first Cookery book in Polish 1682
- Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa, cookbook author
- Maria Dąbrowska, novelist and translator of the Diary of Samuel Pepys into Polish
- Johannes Dantiscus (Jan Dantyszek), Latin poet and Prince-Bishop of Warmia
- Jacek Dehnel, writer, poet, translator, painter
- Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz, author of the novel, The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma
- Jacek Dukaj, science-fiction writer
- Adolf Dygasiński, novelist
- Leszek Engelking, short story writer
- Felicjan Medard Faleński, poet, novelist
- Aleksander Fredro, poet, comedy writer
- Jerzy Giedroyć, legendary émigré editor (Kultura)
- Janusz Głowacki, playwright, nonfiction author
- Ferdynand Goetel, novelist, playwright, essayist
- Witold Gombrowicz, novelist, playwright
- Stefan Grabiński, horror writer
- Mieczysław Grydzewski, legendary editor (Skamander, Wiadomości Literackie)
- Henryk Grynberg, writer
- Adam Grzymała-Siedlecki, literary and theater critic
- Józef Hen, novelist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and reporter
- Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, writer, journalist, essayist, World War II underground fighter
- Marek Hłasko, novelist, short story writer
- Klementyna Hoffmanowa, writer of memoir and children's literature
- Paweł Huelle, essayist
- Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski
- Wincenty Kadłubek, political scientist, writer, chronicler
- Ryszard Kapuściński, writer and journalist
- Wojciech Karpiński, writer and essayist
- Maria Konopnicka, writer, novelist
- Tadeusz Konwicki, writer
- Janusz Korczak, writer, pedagogist
- Jerzy Kosiński, writer
- Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, novelist and World War II resistance fighter
- Stefania Kossowska, journalist, writer, editor and broadcaster in emigré London
- Marek Krajewski, crime writer, known for his series of novels set in pre-war Wrocław with Eberhard Mock as the protagonist
- Hanna Krall, writer
- Ignacy Krasicki, author of the first Polish novel, The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom, and of Fables and Parables
- Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, Poland's most prolific writer (and one of the world's most prolific), noted especially for his historical novels
- Wojciech Kuczok, novelist, screenwriter, film critic
- Antoni Lange, writer, poet, philosopher
- Stanisław Lem, science-fiction writer, essayist, philosopher
- Stanisław Lubieniecki, writer, astronomer* Waldemar Łysiak, writer
- Józef Mackiewicz, writer, journalist
- Kornel Makuszyński, children's writer
- Dorota Masłowska, writer and playwright
- Juliusz Mieroszewski, publicist, translator of Orwell's 1984 into Polish
- Kazimierz Moczarski, writer and journalist
- Sławomir Mrożek, dramatist and writer
- Wiesław Myśliwski, novelist
- Anna Nakwaska, children's author and educationist
- Joanna Olczak-Ronikier, novelist
- Eliza Orzeszkowa, Positivist writer
- Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, writer
- Teodor Parnicki, historical novelist
- Jan Chryzostom Pasek, memoirist
- Sergiusz Piasecki, writer
- Krzysztof Piesiewicz, screenwriter and politician
- Jerzy Pilch, writer, columnist, journalist
- Elena Poniatowska, columnist and novelist
- Jan Potocki, The Saragossa Manuscript
- Bolesław Prus, The Doll and Pharaoh
- Ksawery Pruszyński, writer and journalist
- Stanisława Przybyszewska
- Stanisław Przybyszewski, novelist, dramatist, and poet who wrote in both German and Polish
- Mikołaj Rej, a founder of Polish literary language and literature
- Małgorzata Rejmer, writer
- Sydor Rey, writer, poet, novelist
- Władysław Reymont, 1924 Nobel laureate
- Zyta Rudzka, novelist
- Henryk Rzewuski, novelist
- Pinchas Sadeh, Israeli novelist and poet
- Barbara Sanguszko, enlightenment writer and salon hostess
- Andrzej Sapkowski, fantasy writer
- Sat-Okh, Polish-Shawnee writer
- Bruno Schulz, novelist and painter
- Henryk Sienkiewicz, 1905 Nobel laureate
- Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1978 Nobel laureate
- Piotr Skarga, poet, writer, humanist
- Andrzej Stasiuk, writer, journalist, literary critic
- Jędrzej Śniadecki, terminologist, writer
- Stefan Themerson, children's writer, film maker, inventor of "semantic poetry", philosopher
- Olga Tokarczuk, writer, psychologist, 2019 Nobel laureate
- Magdalena Tulli, novelist, translator
- Marian Turwid, writer and painter from Bydgoszcz
- Leopold Tyrmand, writer
- Meyer Wolf Weisgal, American journalist, publisher, and playwright; President of the Weizmann Institute of Science
- Józef Weyssenhoff, novelist, poet, literary critic
- Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy)
- Stanisław Wyspiański, painter and writer
- Franciszek Zabłocki, comic dramatist and satirist
- Janusz A. Zajdel, science-fiction writer
- Gabriela Zapolska, novelist
- Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz, political fiction and science-fiction writer
- Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm, writer
- Antonina Żabińska, writer
- Stefan Żeromski, novelist
- Jerzy Żuławski, novelist
Poetry
See also: List of Polish poets.
- Guillaume Apollinaire, (Wilhelm Apolinary Kostrowicki)
- Franciszka Arnsztajnowa
- Adam Asnyk
- Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński
- Edward Balcerzan
- Stanisław Barańczak
- Miron Białoszewski
- Zbigniew Bieńkowski
- Biernat of Lublin
- Tadeusz Borowski
- Władysław Broniewski
- Jan Brzechwa
- Stanisław Korab-Brzozowski
- Teodor Bujnicki
- Andrzej Bursa
- Tytus Czyżewski
- Jacek Dehnel
- Elżbieta Drużbacka
- Leszek Engelking
- Jerzy Ficowski
- Aleksander Fredro
- Tadeusz Gajcy
- Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński
- Zuzanna Ginczanka
- Stanisław Grochowiak
- Julia Hartwig
- Marian Hemar
- Zbigniew Herbert
- Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna
- Wacław Iwaniuk
- Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz
- Klemens Janicki
- Bruno Jasieński
- Anna Kamieńska
- Franciszek Karpiński
- Jan Kasprowicz
- Jan Kochanowski
- Feliks Konarski
- Maria Konopnicka
- Julian Kornhauser
- Urszula Kozioł
- Ignacy Krasicki
- Zygmunt Krasiński
- Andrzej Krzycki
- Paweł Kubisz
- Jalu Kurek
- Stanisław Jerzy Lec
- Jan Lechoń
- Bolesław Leśmian
- Ewa Lipska
- Henryka Łazowertówna
- Tadeusz Miciński
- Adam Mickiewicz
- Grazyna Miller, translation
- Czesław Miłosz, 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, humanism
- Jan Andrzej Morsztyn
- Zbigniew Morsztyn
- Daniel Naborowski
- Adam Naruszewicz, translation, history
- Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz
- Cyprian Kamil Norwid
- Franciszek Nowicki
- Beata Obertyńska
- Antoni Edward Odyniec
- Artur Oppman
- Władysław Orkan
- Agnieszka Osiecka
- Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska
- Jacek Podsiadło
- Wincenty Pol
- Wacław Potocki
- Halina Poświatowska
- Zenon Przesmycki
- Jeremi Przybora, songs
- Julian Przyboś
- Mikołaj Rej
- Sydor Rey
- Tadeusz Różewicz
- Zygmunt Rumel
- Lucjan Rydel
- Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz
- Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski
- Antoni Słonimski
- Juliusz Słowacki
- Edward Stachura
- Anna Stanisławska
- Anatol Stern
- Leopold Staff
- Xawery Stańczyk, poet, sociologist
- Władysław Szlengel, Jewish-Polish poet and lyricist killed in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
- Włodzimierz Szymanowicz
- Wisława Szymborska, 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Szymon Szymonowic
- Marcin Świetlicki
- Bolesław Taborski, translator of Pope John Paul II into English, BBC editor
- Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer
- Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki
- Julian Tuwim
- Jan Twardowski
- Kornel Ujejski
- Bronisława Wajs, aka "Papusza", Polska Roma poet and singer
- Aleksander Wat
- Kazimierz Wierzyński
- Stefan Witwicki
- Rafał Wojaczek
- Stanisław Wyspiański
- Tymon Zaborowski
- Adam Zagajewski
- Józef Bohdan Zaleski
- Kazimiera Zawistowska
- Piotr Zbylitowski
- Emil Zegadłowicz
- Juliusz Żuławski
Music
- Chava Alberstein, Israeli singer-songwriter
- Piotr Anderszewski, pianist
- Stefan Askenase, pianist
- Emanuel Ax, pianist
- Grażyna Bacewicz, composer
- Stanisław Barcewicz, conductor, violinist
- Edyta Bartosiewicz, singer
- Kamil Bednarek, reggae and dancehall vocalist, songwriter, composer and musician
- Michał Bergson, pianist composer, promoter of Chopin and father of Henri Bergson
- Marek Biliński, electronic music composer
- Rafał Blechacz, pianist
- Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz, composer ("the Chopin of guitar")
- Stan Borys, singer-songwriter
- Monika Brodka, singer
- Dariusz Brzozowski, drummer
- Jan Borysewicz, composer, singer, guitarist
- Grzegorz Ciechowski, composer, singer
- Fryderyk Chopin, composer and pianist
- Agnieszka Chylińska, singer-songwriter, author and television personality
- Cleo, singer
- Krzysztof Czerwiński, conductor and organist
- Adam Darski, singer-songwriter, guitarist
- Ania Dąbrowska, singer-songwriter, composer
- Ewa Demarczyk, singer
- Krzesimir Dębski, composer
- Wojciech Długoraj, lutenist, composer
- Andrzej Dobrowolski, composer
- Doda, singer
- Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński, composer
- Jan Drozdowski, pianist and music teacher
- Urszula Dudziak, singer
- Walek Dzedzej, punk performer
- Józef Elsner, composer, Chopin's piano teacher
- Ewa Farna, singer
- Mieczysław Fogg, singer
- Robert 'Litza' Friedrich, rock singer
- Anna German, singer
- Mikołaj Gomółka, composer
- Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki, composer
- Kasia Glowicka, composer
- Konstanty Gorski, composer and violinist
- Henryk Górecki, composer
- Edyta Górniak, singer
- Marek Grechuta, singer-songwriter, composer, and lyricist
- Taco Hemingway, rapper
- Jan Hoffman, pianist and pedagogue
- Józef Hofmann, pianist
- Mieczysław Horszowski, pianist
- Bronisław Huberman, violinist
- Grzegorz Hyży, singer-songwriter
- Zdzisław Jachimecki, musicologist, composer
- Alicja Janosz, singer
- Anna Jantar, singer
- Adam Jarzębski, composer
- Anna Maria Jopek, singer, musician
- Jula, singer-songwriter
- Reni Jusis, singer
- Jan A. P. Kaczmarek, Oscar-winning film composer
- Jacek Kaczmarski, singer-songwriter
- Maria Kalergis, pianist
- Bronisław Kaper, film composer
- Mieczysław Karłowicz, composer
- Jerzy Katlewicz, conductor
- Kayah, singer
- Wacław Kiełtyka, guitarist
- Stefan Kisielewski, composer, writer
- Wojciech Kilar, composer
- Krzysztof Komeda, jazz composer
- Zygmunt Konieczny, composer
- Abel Korzeniowski, film score composer
- Roman Kostrzewski, controversial singer-songwriter
- Kasia Kowalska, singer
- Seweryn Krajewski, singer-songwriter
- Dawid Kwiatkowski, singer-songwriter
- Rafał Kuczynski ('Human Error')
- Hanna Kulenty, composer
- Karol Kurpiński, composer
- Lucjan Kydryński, music critic, writer
- Wanda Landowska, harpsichordist
- Teodor Leszetycki, pianist, pedagogue
- Monika Lewczuk, singer-songwriter, model
- Franciszek Lilius, composer
- Lydia Kindermann, opera singer
- Karol Lipiński, composer, virtuoso violinist (about equal to Niccolò Paganini)
- Jan Lisiecki, pianist
- Ewelina Lisowska, singer-songwriter
- Michał Lorenc, film score composer
- Jan z Lublina, composer
- Witold Lutosławski, composer
- Jerzy Maksymiuk, conductor
- Ray Manzarek, musician, singer, keyboardist of The Doors
- Margaret, singer-songwriter
- Patrycja Markowska, pop rock singer
- Mata, rapper
- Paweł Mąciwoda, bassist, member of the German rock band Scorpions
- Megitza, singer, double bass player, and composer
- Krzysztof Meyer, composer
- Aleksander Michałowski, pianist and pedagogue
- Carl Mikuli, composer
- Maciek Miernik, producer
- Marcin Mielczewski, composer
- Emil Młynarski, conductor and composer
- Stanisław Moniuszko, composer
- Moritz Moszkowski, composer
- Czesław Mozil, singer and musician
- Leszek Możdżer, pianist and composer
- Tadeusz Nalepa, composer, guitar player, vocalist, and lyricist
- Czesław Niemen, singer-songwriter
- Katarzyna Nosowska, singer-songwriter
- Marcin Nowak, guitarist and singer
- Feliks Nowowiejski, composer
- Zygmunt Noskowski, composer
- Natalia Nykiel, singer-songwriter
- Wiesław Ochman, opera singer
- Michał Kazimierz Ogiński, composer
- Michał Kleofas Ogiński,[11] composer
- Hanka Ordonówna, singer, actress, dancer
- O.S.T.R., rapper, musician
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski, pianist, composer
- Andrzej Panufnik, composer
- Włodek Pawlik, jazz musician, composer
- Krzysztof Penderecki, composer
- Maria Peszek, singer-songwriter
- Jerzy Petersburski, pianist, composer
- Egon Petri, pianist born Dutch who never lived in Holland, a resident of Zakopane, Poland, 1927–39, a Polish-speaker
- Pezet, rapper
- Bartłomiej Pękiel, composer
- Andrzej Piaseczny, singer-songwriter, actor, and television personality
- Svika Pick, Israeli pop singer, composer
- Dawid Podsiadło, singer
- Jerzy Połomski, singer
- Piotr Półtorak, guitarist
- Zbigniew Preisner, composer
- Zbigniew Robert Promiński, drummer
- Natalia Przybysz, rhythm and blues singer
- Pawel Przytocki, conductor
- Tomasz "Titus" Pukacki, singer
- Krzysztof Raczkowski, drummer
- Mikołaj z Radomia, Middle Ages composer
- Édouard de Reszke, bass
- Jan and Emilja Reszke, violinist and mezzo-soprano, parents of opera stars
- Jean de Reszke, tenor
- Josephine de Reszke, soprano
- Ryszard Riedel, singer
- Maryla Rodowicz, singer
- Artur Rodziński, conductor
- Eddie Rosner, jazz, "Polish (or: The White) Louis Armstrong"
- Piotr Rubik, composer
- Arthur Rubinstein, pianist
- Sanah, singer-songwriter
- Ada Sari, opera singer
- Jadwiga Sarnecka, composer and pianist
- Sarsa, singer-songwriter
- Bogusław Schaeffer, composer
- Xaver Scharwenka, composer
- Marcella Sembrich (1858–1935), coloratura soprano
- Kazimierz Serocki, composer
- Witold Silewicz, composer, bassist
- Józef Skrzek, composer and leader of SBB band
- Cezary Skubiszewski, Polish-Australian composer
- Tomasz Stańko, jazz trumpeter
- Kazik Staszewski, singer-songwriter
- Muniek Staszczyk, singer
- Justyna Steczkowska, singer
- Zygmunt Stojowski, composer
- Jadwiga Szamotulska, pianist
- Wacław of Szamotuły
- Aleksander Szeligowski, composer, pedagog
- Tadeusz Szeligowski, composer, conductor
- Henryk Szeryng, violinist
- Władysław Szpilman, pianist
- Patryk Dominik Sztyber, guitarist, singer
- Maria Agata Szymanowska, composer, concert pianist
- Karol Szymanowski, composer, pianist
- Paweł Szymański, composer
- Andrzej Szwalbe, first director of the Pomeranian Philharmonic
- André Tchaikowsky, pianist, composer
- Barbara Trzetrzelewska, singer popularly known as "Basia"
- Grzegorz Turnau, singer
- Ifi Ude, singer
- Michał Urbaniak, jazz musician
- Moshe Vilenski, Israeli composer, lyricist, and pianist
- Violetta Villas, singer-songwriter
- Andrzej Wasowski, pianist
- Henryk Wieniawski, composer
- Wanda Wiłkomirska, violinist
- Antoni Wit, conductor
- Piotr Wiwczarek, guitarist, singer
- Zbigniew Wodecki, singer, musician, composer, actor and TV presenter
- Tomasz Wróblewski, guitarist, singer
- Aga Zaryan, jazz singer
- Mikołaj Zieleński, composer
- Krystian Zimerman, pianist
- Władysław Żeleński, composer
- Wojciech Żywny, composer, Chopin's first professional piano teacher
Visual arts
See also: List of Polish architects, List of Polish artists and List of Polish painters.
- Magdalena Abakanowicz, sculptor
- Tadeusz Ajdukiewicz, painter
- Zygmunt Ajdukiewicz, painter
- Sylwester Ambroziak, sculptor
- Chrystian Piotr Aigner, architect
- Paweł Althamer, contemporary artist
- Michał Elwiro Andriolli (1836–93), illustrator, painter, architect
- Teodor Axentowicz, painter and rector of Krakow Academy of Fine Arts
- Marcello Bacciarelli, Italian-Polish portrait painter
- Tomasz Bagiński, computer graphics
- Balthus (Balthasar Kłossowski de Rola), Polish-French painter
- Mirosław Bałka, contemporary painter and sculptor
- Krzysztof Bednarski, sculptor
- Zdzisław Beksiński, painter
- Bernardo Bellotto, Italian-Polish landscape and court painter
- Władysław T. Benda, painter, illustrator, designer
- Henryka Beyer (1782–1855), painter
- Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz, painter
- Walerian Borowczyk, painter, lithographer and film director
- Olga Boznańska, painter
- Józef Brandt, battle-scene painter
- Maximilian Cercha, painter and drawer
- Jan Chełmiński (1851–1925), painter of historical and military subjects
- Józef Marian Chełmoński, painter
- Józef Czapski, painter
- Tytus Czyżewski, painter, poet, art critic
- Jacenty Dędek, photographer
- Zbigniew Dłubak, painter
- Andrzej Dłużniewski, contemporary sculptor
- Karl Duldig (1902–1986)
- Xawery Dunikowski, sculptor
- Maksymilian Fajans, Jewish–Polish artist, lithographer, photographer
- Julian Fałat, painter
- Wojciech Fangor, painter
- Jakub Fontana, baroque and neoclassical architect
- Teodor and Franciszek Gajewski, sculptors and painters
- Wojciech Gerson, painter
- Stefan Gierowski, painter
- Aleksander Gierymski, painter, brother of Maksymilian Gierymski
- Maksymilian Gierymski, painter
- Cyprian Godebski, sculptor
- Chaim Goldberg, Painter, Sculptor and Engraver
- Zygmunt Gorgolewski, architect
- Józef Gosławski, sculptor and medallist
- Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak, architect
- Artur Grottger, painter, illustrator
- Aleksander Gryglewski, interior portraits
- Władysław Hasior, sculptor, painter, stage designer
- Józef Hecht, engraver, printmaker
- Józef Holewiński, graphic artist and painter
- Stanisław Horno-Popławski, painter, sculptor, pedagogue
- Władysław Horodecki, architect
- Ryszard Horowitz, photographer
- Maria Jarema, painter, sculptor
- Ewa Juszkiewicz, painter
- Anna Kamieńska-Łapińska, sculptor, animated-film scenarist
- Johann Christian Kammsetzer, architect
- Tadeusz Kantor (1915–1990), painter, theater director
- Marta Klonowska, glass maker and sculptor
- Katarzyna Kobro, sculptor
- Roman Kochanowski, landscape painter
- Robert Konieczny, architect
- Gloria Kossak, painter, poet
- Jerzy Kossak, painter
- Juliusz Kossak, painter, illustrator
- Wojciech Kossak, painter
- Katarzyna Kozyra, video artist
- Lucjan Kraszewski, painter, photographer, illustrator; brother of Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
- Nikifor Krynicki, painter
- Alexander Kucharsky, painter
- Zofia Kulik, performer
- Teofil Kwiatkowski, painter
- Tamara de Lempicka, painter
- Zbigniew Lengren, cartoonist and illustrator
- Jan Lenica, graphic designer and cartoonist
- Stanisław Lentz, painter
- Aleksander Lesser, painter
- Daniel Libeskind, architect
- Bronisław Linke, graphic artist, painter of the horror of war
- Mieczysław Lubelski, sculptor, ceramicist and creator of the Polish War Memorial
- Władysław Łuszczkiewicz, painter
- Tadeusz Makowski, painter member of Paris School
- Jacek Malczewski, painter
- Rafał Malczewski, painter, writer, climber
- Kazimierz Malewicz, painter, founder of Suprematism
- Stanisław Masłowski, painter
- Jan Matejko, painter
- Agata Materowicz, painter, photographer, graphic designer, FIMO figurines designer and hand-maker
- Józef Mehoffer, painter
- Piotr Michałowski, painter
- Jacek Mierzejewski, painter
- Jerzy Mierzejewski, painter and pedagogue
- Ambroży Mieroszewski, Chopin's first portraitist
- Igor Mitoraj, sculptor
- Dorota Nieznalska, sculptor
- Nikifor, naive artist of Lemko origin
- Jan Piotr Norblin, painting, drawing, caricature
- Jerzy Nowosielski, painter
- Seweryn Obst, painter, illustrator, ethnographer
- Rafał Olbiński, illustrator, painter
- Roman Opałka, painter
- Aleksander Orłowski, painter
- Stanisław Julian Ostroróg, early portrait photographer, known as "Walery"
- Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg, celebrated photographer son of the other Ostroróg
- Józef Pankiewicz, painter, graphic artist
- Aniela Pawlikowska, portrait painter
- Maximilian Piotrowski, painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Königsberg
- Władysław Podkowiński, painter and illustrator
- Józef Pokutyński, architect
- Peter Potworowski, painter
- Stanislaw Przespolewski, painter, sculptor
- Anna Rajecka, 18th-century portrait painter
- Joanna Rajkowska, contemporary artist; designer of Warsaw's artificial palm tree
- Zofia Romer, painter
- Ferdynand Ruszczyc, painter, graphic artist, cartoonist, stage designer
- Henryk Rodakowski, painter
- Wilhelm Sasnal, painter
- Jan Sawka, painter, print-maker, architect, graphic designer, multi-media artist
- Johann Christian Schuch, garden designer, architect
- Kazimierz Sichulski, painter[12]
- Władysław Sławny, photographer
- Jan Stanisławski, painter
- Henryk Stażewski, painter
- Zofia Stryjeńska, illustrator, painter[12]
- Władysław Strzemiński, painter
- January Suchodolski, painter
- Józef Szajna, sculptor, stage designer, theatre director
- Stanisław Szukalski, sculptor, painter
- Arthur Szyk, illuminator, war cartoonist, book illustrator
- Wacław Szymanowski, sculptor, designer of Chopin monument in Warsaw
- Włodzimierz Tetmajer, painter[12]
- Franciszka Themerson, painter, illustrator, stage designer
- Stanisław Tondos, painter
- Feliks Topolski, expressionist painter and draughtsman
- Roland Topor, illustrator, painter, writer and filmmaker
- Piotr Triebler, sculptor
- Zygmunt Vogel, watercolor and drawing
- Marian Walentynowicz, illustrator and comic strip pioneer
- Walenty Wańkowicz, painter
- Max Weber, painter
- Michał Weinzieher, art critic
- Wojciech Weiss, painter and draughtsman
- Jan de Weryha-Wysoczański, sculptor
- Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, painter
- Stanisław Witkiewicz, painter, architect
- Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy), painter, photographer, playwright, novelist, philosopher
- Kazimierz Wojniakowski, painter
- Leon Wyczółkowski, painter
- Stanisław Wyspiański, painter
- August Zamoyski, sculptor
- Jerzy Zaruba, graphic artist, caricaturist, stage designer
- Jan Sas Zubrzycki, architect
- Marek Zulawski, painter and art theorist
Entertainment
See also: List of Polish actors.
- Piotr Andrejew, film director
- Józef Arkusz, film director
- Tomasz Bagiński, creator of short animated films, BAFTA Award winner, Academy Award nominee
- Andrzej Bartkowiak, cinematographer, director, actor
- Eugeniusz Bodo, singer and actor
- Wojciech Bogusławski, actor, theater director, playwright; "father of the Polish Theater"
- Walerian Borowczyk, film director
- Ewa Braun, Academy Award-winning set decorator, costume designer, production designer
- Ewa Demarczyk, actress, poetry singer
- Doda (Dorota Rabczewska), actress, singer[13]
- Paweł Edelman, cinematographer, European Film Award winner
- Aleksander Ford, director
- Piotr Fronczewski, actor and singer
- Jerzy Grotowski, theatre reformer
- Loda Halama, dancer, actor
- Adam Hanuszkiewicz, actor, theater director
- Wojciech Has, film director
- Marian Hemar, songwriter, cabaret artist
- Jerzy Hoffman, film director
- Agnieszka Holland, film director, nominated for Academy Awards and BAFTA Award
- Miłosz Horodyski, film and television director
- Sławomir Idziak, cinematographer, nominated for Oscar
- Stanislas Idzikowski, ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher
- Stefan Jaracz, actor, theater producer
- Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, Academy Award-winning composer, nominated to BAFTA Award
- Jacek Kaczmarski, protest songwriter, poetry singer, guitarist
- Janusz Kamiński, two-time-Oscars- and BAFTA Award-winning cinematographer and film director
- Bronislau Kaper, Academy Award-winning composer
- Krzysztof Kieślowski, film director, nominated for Academy Awards
- Anna Kochanowska, radio journalist and politician
- Max Kolonko, TV personality, producer, writer
- Joanna Krupa, actress and supermodel
- Kazimierz Kutz, film director
- Irena Kwiatkowska (1912–2011), actress
- Pola Negri, film actress, singer
- Vaslav Nijinsky (Wacław Niżyński), ballet dancer considered the greatest male lead of the early 20th century
- Hanka Ordonówna (1902–50), singer, dancer, actress
- Jerzy Owsiak, broadcaster
- Krzysztof Pastor, dancer, choreographer and ballet director
- Paweł Pawlikowski, film director
- Marianna Franciszka Pierożyńska (1763–1816), actress, opera singer
- Jan Pietrzak (born 1937), satirist, cabaret performer
- Roman Polanski, award-winning film director raised and educated in Poland
- Beata Pozniak, actress, director, activist, writer, producer
- Jeremi Przybora, writer, actor and singer
- Krzysztof Ptak, cinematographer
- Marie Rambert, influential ballet pedagogue and director
- Zbigniew Rybczyński, Oscar- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker
- Lew Rywin, film producer
- Andrzej Saramonowicz, screenwriter, film director
- Leon Schiller, theatre director
- Izabella Scorupco, Polish-born Hollywood-actress and singer
- Jerzy Skolimowski, film director
- Przemysław Skwirczyński, cinematographer
- Piotr Sobocinski, cinematographer
- Allan Starski, Oscar-winning production designer, art director, set designer
- Yvonne Strahovski (Strzechowski), Polish-Australian television, film, and voice actress
- Jerzy Stuhr, actor, film director
- Franciszka Themerson, filmmaker and artist
- Henryk Tomaszewski, mime
- Basia Trzetrzelewska, singer
- Anna Tsuchiya, Japanese Singer, Actress, Model of Polish descent
- Andrzej Wajda, Academy Award, Golden Palm, BAFTA Award, Silver Berlin Bear, César Award and Golden Lion winning film director
- Harry Warner, Warner Bros. co-founder
- Albert Warner, Warner Bros. co-founder
- Samuel Warner, Warner Bros. co-founder
- Jerzy Wasowski, radio announcer, composer, pianist, actor and director
- Michał Waszyński, film director
- Leon Woizikovsky, dancer and ballet master
- Dariusz Wolski, cinematographer
- Krzysztof Zanussi, film director
- Zbigniew Zapasiewicz, actor, theater director
- Andrzej Żuławski, film director
- Alexis Saint-Pete, drag performer
Business
- Jan Gotlib Bloch, railway financier who in 1898 predicted the railroad-moblized industrial warfare of World War I
- Count Xavier Branicki, financier, philanthropist, co-founder of Credit Foncier de France
- Rafał Brzoska, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist, founder and CEO of InPost
- Hipolit Cegielski
- Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, Antiquarian, Gallery owner, collector and philanthropist
- André Citroën, automotive industrialist
- Jack Cohen, co-founder of the Tesco retail chain
- Franciszek Czapek, co-partner in Patek, Czapek & Co.
- Leszek Czarnecki, businessman
- Irena Eris, businesswoman
- Max Factor, Sr., cosmetics entrepreneur
- Françoise Frenkel, bookshop entrepreneur
- Henryk Grohman, textile manufacturer and patron of the arts
- Nathan Handwerker
- Anna Jabłonowska, early social and industrial entrepreneur, magnate
- Karol Jaroszyński, entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist
- Barbara Piasecka Johnson, humanitarian, philanthropist, widow of J. Seward Johnson, Sr.
- Leopold Stanisław Kronenberg, banker
- Stanisław Kronenberg, financier
- Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, merchant, spy, opened first Coffeehouse in Vienna (1683)
- Dominika Kulczyk, businesswoman
- Grażyna Kulczyk, businesswoman, philanthropist, art collector
- Jan Kulczyk, CEO of Kulczyk Investments, richest 21st-century Pole
- Sebastian Kulczyk, businessman
- Michał Łempicki, mining engineer, entrepreneur, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Empire
- Henry Lowenfeld, theatrical impresario and brewing entrepreneur
- Tomasz Lubienski, early industrialist co-founder, with his brothers, of Zyrardow textile industry
- Henryk Łubieński, banker, lawyer, industrial pioneer and Russian exile (1848)
- Zofia Lubomirska, textile entrepreneur in Przeworsk
- Michael Marks, co-founder of Marks and Spencer retail chain
- Dariusz Miłek, businessman and entrepreneur, founder of CCC SA.
- Henryk Orfinger, cosmetics entrepreneur
- Samuel Orgelbrand, editor
- Antoni Patek, co-founder of watchmakers Patek Philippe & Co.
- Antoni Protazy Potocki, banker and industrialist who developed Odesa into an international port (1780s)
- Izrael Poznański, textile magnate, philanthropist
- Helena Rubinstein, cosmetics entrepreneur, one of the richest women who ever lived
- Karol Scheibler, textile magnate
- Feliks Sobański, landowner and philanthropist
- Zygmunt Solorz-Żak, businessman and media tycoon, owner of Polsat and Plus
- Michał Sołowow, businessman and rally dirver
- Piotr Steinkeller, industrial pioneer, King of Zinc
- Henri Strzelecki, founder of Henri Lloyd, Ltd., sportswear manufacturer
- Piotr Szulczewski, businessman and computer scientist, co-founder of e-commerce platform Wish.com
- Stefan Tyszkiewicz, founder of Stetysz early Polish car manufacturer
- Hyppolite Wawelberg, Polish-Jewish banker and philanthropist
- Karol Wedel, Chocolatier, confectioner
- Antoni Weynerowski, founder in Bydgoszcz of the firm Leo, renamed Kobra
- Louis Wolowski, financier co-founder of Credit Foncier de France
- Andrzej Artur Zamoyski, initiated river transportation
Politics
See also: Lists of Polish politicians.
- Tomasz Arciszewski, first Prime Minister of Poland in exile (1944–1947)
- Kazimierz Feliks Badeni, count, Minister-President of Austria (1895–1897)
- Menachem Begin, (Mieczysław Biegun), militant Zionist, prime minister of Israel
- David Ben-Gurion, Zionist leader and first Prime Minister of Israel (1886–1973)
- Marek Belka, former director of economic policy in the interim coalition administration of Iraq, Prime Minister of Poland (2004–2005)
- Bolesław Bierut, leader of communist Poland (1948–1956)
- Michał Bobrzyński, Governor of Galicia (1908–1913)
- Anna Borucka-Cieślewicz (born 1941), elected to the Sejm in 2005
- Zbigniew Brzeziński (1928–2017), political scientist, advisor to US President Jimmy Carter
- Matheus Butrymowicz, liberal member of the Great Sejm assembled in Warsaw (1788–1792)
- Jerzy Buzek, Prime Minister of Poland (1997–2001), President of the European Parliament (2009–2012)
- Alexandre Colonna-Walewski (1810–68), Polish and French politician and diplomat; French Foreign Minister under Napoleon III.
- Józef Cyrankiewicz, Prime Minister of communistic Poland (1947–1952 and 1954–1970)
- Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, prince, statesman, Prime Minister (1830–1831)
- Ignacy Daszyński, prime minister of the Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland (1918)
- Jan Dekert, merchant, mayor of Warsaw (1789–1791)
- Isaac Deutscher (1907–1967), writer, journalist, political activist
- Heinrich Dietz, member of the Prussian parliament, philanthropist
- Roman Dmowski (1864–1939), nationalist politician, statesman
- Andrzej Duda, sixth President of the Third Polish Republic (since 2015)
- Feliks Dzierżyński, founder of Soviet State Security under the original name Cheka
- Edward Gierek, leader of communist Poland (1970–1980)
- Maciej Golubiewski (born 1976), Polish political scientist and diplomat
- Władysław Gomułka, leader of communist Poland (1956–1970)
- Ludwik Gorzkowski (1811–1857), politician and revolutionary activist
- Julian Gutowski, Mayor of Nowy Sącz (1867–1870)
- Piotr Jaroszewicz, Prime Minister of communistic Poland (1970–1980)
- Wojciech Jaruzelski, last leader of communist Poland (1981–1989), first President of the Third Polish Republic (1989–1990)
- Wojciech Jastrzębowski (1799–1882) was a polymath who in 1831, after fighting in Poland's November 1830 Uprising, drafted the first constitution for his proposed European union.
- Ryszard Kaczorowski, sixth and last President of Poland in exile (1989–1990)
- Jarosław Kaczyński, identical twin brother of Lech, leader of the Law and Justice party, Prime Minister of Poland (2006–2007)
- Lech Kaczyński, fourth President (2005–2010) of Third Polish Republic, died in Smolensk air crash
- Hugo Kołłątaj, co-author of Constitution of 3 May 1791
- Bronisław Komorowski, fifth President of the Third Polish Republic (2010–2015)
- Wojciech Korfanty, leader of Silesians during the Third Silesian uprising
- Janusz Korwin-Mikke, free-market activist
- Stanisław Kot, historian, politician, diplomat
- Leon Kozłowski (1892–1944), archeologist; Prime Minister of Poland, 1934–35.
- Jan Kucharzewski, first Prime Minister of Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)
- Jacek Kuroń, politician, social activist
- Anna Kurska, judge, lawyer, and member of the Polish Senate
- Aleksander Kwaśniewski, third President of the Third Polish Republic (1995–2005)
- Andrzej Lepper, leader of Samoobrona and former Vice-PM
- Herman Lieberman, lawyer and prominent Socialist politician
- Feliks Lubienski, Minister of Justice who introduced the Code Napoleon, state archives and public libraries
- Katarzyna Lubnauer, leader of Modern political party
- Rosa Luxemburg, leading Marxist theoretician
- Teofil Magdziński, political activist in Bydgoszcz, representative at the Reichstag
- Julian Marchlewski, Soviet politician
- Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Prime Minister of Poland (2005–2006)
- Tadeusz Mazowiecki, politician, first Prime Minister of the Third Polish Republic (Poland)
- Adam Michnik, influential journalist
- Ludwik Mierosławski, insurgent, general, Paris communard
- Stanisław Mieroszewski, member of the Imperial Council of Austria
- Stanisław Mikołajczyk, Prime Minister of Poland (1943–1944), Agrarian Party politician
- Karol Modzelewski, activist, politician and academic
- Jędrzej Moraczewski, first Prime Minister of II RP (1918–1919)
- Ignacy Mościcki, third President (1926–1939) of the Second Polish Republic
- Walery Mroczkowski, the only Polish anarchist, friend of Mikhail Bakunin
- Lewis Bernstein Namier, British politician and historian
- Gabriel Narutowicz, first President of the Second Polish Republic (1922)
- Józef Oleksy, Prime Minister of III RP (1995–1996), Speaker of the Sejm (1993–1995; 2004–2005)
- Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Solidarność spokesman, mathematician, alpinist, Minister of Defence
- Marian P. Opala, Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court
- Stanisław Osiecki, Minister of Agriculture 1923, Minister of Trade & Industry (1925-6)
- Jozef Maksymilian Ossolinski, Founder of Ossolineum, Poland's signal cultural patron
- Stanisław Ostrowski, third President of Poland in exile (1972–1979)
- Ignacy Paderewski, second Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic (1919)
- Longin Pastusiak, Marshal of the Senate (2001–2005)
- Waldemar Pawlak, Prime Minister of Poland (1992 and 1993–1995)
- Karolina Pawliczak (born 1976), lawyer and politician
- Shimon Peres, President of Israel 2007–2014, Prime Minister of Israel (1984–1986; 1995–1996)
- Teodoro Picado Michalski, Costa Rican president, Polish mother
- Józef Piłsudski, statesman, politician and Marshal of Poland
- Emilia Plater, revolutionary, independence leader
- Władysław Broel-Plater, independence activist, founder of Polish Museum, Rapperswil
- Alfred Józef Potocki, count, Minister-President of Austria (1870–1871)
- Ignacy Potocki, co-author of Constitution of 3 May 1791
- Adam Pragier, leading socialist deputy, exiled minister and writer
- Władysław Raczkiewicz, first President of Poland in exile (1939–1947)
- Edward Raczyński, fourth President of Poland in exile (1979–1986)
- Antoni Radziwiłł, prince, the Duke-Governor of Grand Duchy of Posen (Poznań) (1815–1831)
- Jozef Retinger, writer, adviser, grey eminence, founder of the Bilderberg conferences
- Adam Ronikier, count, president of the Central Welfare Council (1916–1918; 1940–1943)
- Kazimierz Sabbat, fifth President of Poland in exile (1986–1989)
- Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, vice-president of European Parliament (2004–2007)
- Władysław Sikorski, general, Prime Minister of Poland (1939–1943)
- Radosław Sikorski, politician and former foreign minister (2007–2014)
- Stefan Starzyński, President of Warsaw (1934–1939)
- Władysław Studnicki, politician and publicist
- Beata Szydło, Prime Minister of Poland, 2015–2017
- Theodore de Korwin Szymanowski, conceptualised an economic union for Europe in 1885
- Róża Thun, anticommunist activist, activist for European Union
- Donald Tusk, chairman of Civic Platform; President of the European Council (2014–2019) and Prime Minister of Poland (2007–2014; 2023–)
- Kazimierz Tyszka, Minister of Railways, 1923–25, in Władysław Grabski's government
- Lech Wałęsa, trade unionist who started dismantling of the Soviet bloc, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, second President of the Third Polish Republic (1990–1995)
- Ludwik Waryński, socialist activist in the 19th century
- Wanda Wasilewska, communist activist during World War II
- Edward Werner, born in Poland to parents of German origin; vice-Minister of Finance, and Polish diplomat during World War II
- Alexander Wielopolski, count, Marquis of Gonzaga, statesman
- Wincenty Witos, politician of the agrarian party
- Stanisław Wojciechowski, second President of the Second Polish Republic (1922–1926)
- Walery Antoni Wróblewski, politician, insurgency commander (1836–1908)
- August Zaleski, second President of Poland in exile (1947–1972)
- Jan Zamoyski, chancellor and grand hetman of the crown (1542–1605)
Law
See main article: List of Polish lawyers.
Diplomacy
- Władysław Bartoszewski, foreign affairs minister of III RP (1995; 2000–2001)
- Józef Beck, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1932–1939)
- Alois Friedrich von Brühl, Polish-Saxon diplomat, starost of Warsaw
- Matthew Bryza, American diplomat
- Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, foreign affairs minister of III RP (2001–2005)
- Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, Polish diplomat; Russian Imperial foreign minister (1804–1806)
- Władysław Czartoryski, prince, the main diplomatic agent of the National Government (1863–1864)
- Roman Dmowski, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1923)
- Bronisław Geremek, foreign affairs minister of III RP (1997–2000)
- Agenor Maria Gołuchowski, count, foreign affairs minister of Austria-Hungary (1895–1906)
- Krzysztof Grzymułtowski, diplomat and voivod of Poznań, author of the Eternal Peace Treaty with Russia (1686)
- Stanisław Janikowski, diplomat in Rome, to Holy See (1927–1954)
- Wacław Jędrzejewicz
- Julian Klaczko, Polish diplomat
- Stanisław Kot, historian, politician, diplomat. Polish ambassador to the Soviet Union (1941–1942), Italy (1945–1947).
- Józef Lipski, Polish ambassador to Germany (1933–1939)
- Juliusz Łukasiewicz, Polish ambassador to the Soviet Union (1934–1936) and France (1936–1939)
- Ivan Maysky, diplomat
- Stefan Meller, foreign affairs minister of III RP (2005–2006)
- Lewis Bernstein Namier, British diplomat and historian
- Andrzej Olechowski, foreign affairs minister of III RP (1993–1995)
- Ignacy Paderewski, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1919) and third prime minister of Poland
- Stanisław Patek, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1919–1920)
- Edward Bernard Raczyński, count, Polish ambassador to the United Kingdom (1934–1945) and foreign affairs minister (1941–1943)
- Adam Rapacki, foreign affairs minister of communist Poland (1956–1968)
- Józef Retinger, advocate for a European Union
- Tadeusz Romer, foreign affairs minister of the Polish Government in Exile (1943–1944)
- Dariusz Rosati, foreign affairs minister of III RP (1995–1997)
- Adam Daniel Rotfeld, foreign affairs minister of III RP (2005)
- Radosław Sikorski, foreign affairs minister of III RP (2007–2014)
- Konstanty Skirmunt, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1921–1922)
- Aleksander Skrzyński, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1922–1923; 1924–1926)
- Krzysztof Skubiszewski, first foreign affairs minister of III RP (1989–1993)
- Romuald Spasowski, Polish ambassador to the United States (1955–1961; 1978–1981)
- Jan Szembek, count, foreign affairs deputy secretary (1932–1939)
- Alexandre Joseph Count Colonna-Walewski, French foreign affairs minister
- Leon Wasilewski, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1918–1919)
- Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski, general, Polish ambassador to Italy (1938–1940)
- Sergey Yastrzhembsky, diplomat
- August Zaleski, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1926–1932)
- Maurycy Klemens Zamoyski, foreign affairs minister of II RP (1924)
- Josef Zieleniec, Czech foreign affairs minister
Military
See main article: List of Polish admirals.
- Władysław Anders, general, military commander during the Battle of Monte Cassino (1944)
- Krzysztof Arciszewski, general of artillery of Holland (1639), and Poland (1646)
- Józef Bem, military commander, commander-in-chief of Hungarian army (1849)
- Janusz Bokszczanin, colonel, last chief of staff of the Home Army (1944–1945)
- Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, military commander, victor of Kircholm (1605)
- Józef Chyliński, resistance fighter
- Michał Czajkowski (Sadok Pasha) (1804–1886), Polish commander-in-chief of an Ottoman Cossack brigade during the Crimean War (1853–1856)
- Stefan Czarniecki, Field Crown Hetman of Poland (1665)
- Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, general, military commander during the Napoleonic Wars
- Jarosław Dąbrowski, military commander during the January 1863 Uprising and the Paris Commune (1871)
- Henryk Dembiński, military commander in the November uprising and the Hungarian uprising of 1849
- Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski, general, ambassador, nominated President of Poland (1939)
- Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki, general, military commander in the Greater Poland Uprising (1919)
- Bolesław Bronisław Duch, World War II general
- Jerzy Pajaczkowski-Dydynski (1894–2005), soldier in World War I and in the 1920–21 Polish-Soviet War; at his death, he was the oldest man in the United Kingdom (111 years old)[14]
- Emil August Fieldorf, general, last deputy commander-in-chief of the Home Army (1944–1945)
- Wanda Gertz, major, soldier during World War I, Home Army commandant in World War II and in German POW camps
- Józef Haller, politician, commander of the Polish Army in France during World War I
- Stanisław Haller, general, murdered by the NKVD in the 1940 Katyn massacres
- Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski, Grand Crown Hetman (1682/3–1702)
- Jan Nowak-Jezioranski (1913–2005), journalist and World War II hero
- Berek Joselewicz, Polish-Jewish colonel in the Kościuszko Uprising and in Napoleon's Polish Legions; commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history
- Mikołaj Kamieniecki, first Grand Crown Hetman of Poland (1503–1515)
- Werner Kampe, SS Hauptsturmführer war criminal, Kreisleiter of the NSDAP, Mayor of Bydgoszcz
- Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski, general, founder of the resistance movement "Polish Victory Service" (27 September 1939)
- Kazimierz J. Kasperek, most decorated Polish Navy officer of World War II
- Wanda Józefa Maria Kirchmayer, second lieutenant of the Polish Secret Military Organization (1940–1944)
- Tadeusz Klimecki, general, the Chief of the General staff of the Polish Army (1941–1943)
- Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, general, commander-in-chief of the Home Army (1943–1944), during Warsaw Uprising (1944)
- Stanisław Koniecpolski, Grand Crown Hetman (1632–1646)
- Stanisław Kopański, general, the Chief of the General staff of the Polish Army (1943–1946)
- Tadeusz Kościuszko, Polish and American commander, general and revolutionist
- Jan Kozietulski, colonel, commander during the Napoleonic Wars
- Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski, Polish Union general in the American Civil War; Chopin's first cousin
- Marian Kukiel, World War II general, historian
- Franciszek Latinik, general, military governor of Warsaw during the 1920 Battle of Warsaw
- Aleksander Lisowski, commander of 17th-century Lisowczycy
- Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski, Prince, Field Crown Hetman (1657–1664), victor at the Battle of Chudniv (Cudnów) (1660)
- Walenty Łukawski, captain in the Bar Confederation, abductor of King Stanisław August Poniatowski
- Stanisław Maczek (1892–1994), commander of the Polish Armored Division; after World War II, commander-in-chief of Polish forces in exile
- Bernard Mond, Polish–Jewish general
- Mieczysław Norwid-Neugebauer, general and minister of Polish–Jewish family
- Leopold Okulicki, general, last commander-in-chief of the Home Army (1944–1945)
- Juliusz Konstanty Ordon, officer in the November uprising (1830–1831)
- Tadeusz Pełczyński, chief of staff of the Home Army (ZWZ / AK) (1941–1944)
- Józef Piłsudski, statesman, interwar Marshal of Poland
- Emilia Plater, countess, heroine of the November 1830 Uprising
- Józef Poniatowski, prince, Polish general and marshal of France
- Kazimierz Pułaski (Casimir Pulaski), Polish and American military commander
- Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union during WWII
- Stefan Rowecki, general, military commander, commander-in-chief of the Armed Resistance (ZWZ) (1940–1942) and Home Army (1942–1943)
- Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski, general, Chief of Staff during the Battle of Warsaw
- Edward Rydz-Śmigły, marshal, military commander, successful in the Polish-Soviet War, C-in-C of the Polish Army in the September 1939 Campaign
- Yitzhak Sadeh (born Isaac Landsberg; 1890–1952), a founder of the Israel Defense Forces
- Danuta Siedzikówna (1928–1946), medical orderly in Polish Army
- Władysław Sikorski, general, commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces and Prime Minister of Poland (1939–1943)
- Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski (1885–1962), general, physician and 28th Prime Minister of Poland (1936–1939)
- Piotr Skuratowicz, general of the Polish Army, was murdered by the NKVD in the Katyn massacre
- Stanisław Sosabowski, commander of the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, which saw action at the Battle of Arnhem during Operation Market Garden (1944)
- Kazimierz Sosnkowski, general, Commander-in-Chief of Polish Armed Forces (1943–1944)
- Adam Sowa, former deputy chief executive of the European Defence Agency
- Józef Sowiński, general, hero of the November uprising (1830–1831)
- Zygmunt Szendzielarz ("Łupaszko")
- Ignacy Szymanski, veteran of November 1830 Uprising and American Civil War (on the Confederate side)
- Jerzy Świrski (1882–1959), vice admiral in the Polish navy under British command during World War II
- Jan Tarnowski, Grand Crown Hetman (1527–1561), victor of Obertyn (1531)
- Jozef Unrug (1884–1973), German-born vice-admiral in Polish navy, imprisoned in Colditz Castle during WWII
- Maria Wittek (1899–1997), brigadier general, head of Women's Auxiliary Military Service (1928–1949)
- Wojtek Perski (1942–1963), a Persian bear, World War II Polish II Corps enlisted soldier
- Stefania Wojtulanis-Karpińska (1912–2005), Captain in the Polish Air Force, pilot in Air Transport Auxiliary during Second World War, where known as Barbara Wojtulanis
- Piotr Wysocki, led the November Uprising (1830)
- Aleksandra Zagórska, lieutenant colonel, independence activist and organiser of women's military squads (1917–1921)
- Kordian Józef Zamorski, general; chief of the Polish state police (1935–1939)
- Jan Zamoyski, Great Chancellor of Poland (1578–1605) and Grand Crown Hetman (1581–1605)
- Władysław Stanisław Zamoyski, general in the Crimean War, diplomat (1803–1868)
- Elżbieta Zawacka, general; the only woman among the Silent Unseen
- Stanisław Żółkiewski, chancellor of Poland, military commander, conqueror of Moscow (1610), Grand Crown Hetman (1613–1620)
- Janusz Żurakowski, World War II fighter pilot and Avro Arrow test pilot
Intelligence
- Feliks Ankerstein, interwar covert-operations officer and deputy to Edmund Charaszkiewicz in Office 2 of the General Staff's Section II (Intelligence)
- Edmund Charaszkiewicz, interwar covert-operations officer and coordinator of Józef Piłsudski's Promethean project to dismember the Soviet Union
- Maksymilian Ciężki, chief of the Polish Cipher Bureau's German section (BS–4), which from 1932 decrypted German Enigma ciphers, paving the way for Britain's World War II Ultra secret
- Roman Czerniawski, Polish Air Force captain and British Double Cross System agent
- Marian Drobik, Home Army (AK) colonel, chief of the General Staff's Section II (intelligence) (1942–1943)
- Wiktor Tomir Drymmer, close collaborator of Foreign Minister Józef Beck, and chief of the secret prewar K-7 organization that supervised certain Polish covert operations
- Józef Englicht, prewar deputy chief of the Polish General Staff's Section II
- Michael Goleniewski, Cold War Polish, Soviet, and American-CIA agent
- Jan Karski, emissary who confirmed the reality of the Holocaust to Western Allies
- Bolesław Kontrym, Polish agent, Red Army combrig, Polish Army major
- Jan Kowalewski, engineer, intelligence officer and cryptologist, one of many who broke Soviet ciphers during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–1921
- Andrzej Kowerski, Polish Army officer and World War II British SOE agent; colleague of Krystyna Skarbek
- Ryszard Kukliński, Polish Army colonel, Cold War CIA master spy
- Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, Polish spy at the Battle of Vienna (1683); founder of Vienna's first coffee house, which offered coffee produced from coffee beans captured from the Turks
- Gwido Langer, head of Poland's Cipher Bureau, which from 1932 broke Germany's military Enigma ciphers
- Kazimierz Leski, engineer, fighter pilot, World War II "Musketeers" and Home Army intelligence officer
- Stefan Mayer, prewar Section II intelligence officer who supervised the General Staff's Cipher Bureau
- Jerzy Pawłowski, Olympic gold-medalist fencer and Cold-War double agent
- Tadeusz Pełczyński, general, chief of the General Staff's Section II (1929–1932; 1935–January 1938)
- Sergiusz Piasecki, Polish agent, covering the area of Soviet Belarus (1922–1926)
- Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish consul-general and intelligence agent in London (1948–1949); the most influential contemporary critic of German literature
- Tadeusz Schaetzel, intelligence officer, chief of the General Staff's Section II (1926–1929)
- Krystyna Skarbek, aka Christine Granville, World War II British SOE agent
- Mieczysław Zygfryd Słowikowski (Rygor-Słowikowski), Polish Army intelligence officer whose work in North Africa facilitated Allied preparations for the 1942 Operation Torch landings
- Jerzy Sosnowski, major, Polish spy in Germany (1926–1934) as Georg von Sosnowski, Ritter von Nalecz
- Antoni Szymański, Polish military attaché in Berlin (1932–1939)
- Halina Szymańska, World War II British intelligence agent; wife of Antoni Szymański
- Jan Włodarkiewicz, lieutenant colonel, the first commander of Wachlarz
- Marian Zacharski, Cold-War Polish intelligence agent convicted of espionage against the United States
Holocaust resistance
- Irena Adamowicz
- Mordechaj Anielewicz, Warsaw Ghetto uprising
- Dawid Apfelbaum, Warsaw Ghetto uprising
- Władysław Bartoszewski
- Adolf Berman
- Anna Borkowska (Sister Bertranda)
- Icchak Cukierman
- Gusta Dawidson Draenger
- Marek Edelman
- Leon Feldhendler (1910–1945)
- Izrael Kanal
- Yitzhak Gitterman
- Bernard Goldstein
- Haika Grossman
- Irena Gut
- Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki, Polish Army officer, Home Army officer, historian of aid given to Jews in World War II by the Polish Underground State and by ordinary Polish civilians
- Henryk Iwański
- Jan Karski
- Juliusz Kühl
- Michał Klepfisz
- Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, co-founder of Żegota
- Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz, co-founder of Żegota
- Countess Karolina Lanckorońska
- Zivia Lubetkin
- Aleksander Ładoś, Polish de facto Ambassador to Switzerland
- Edward Mosberg (1926–2022), Polish-American Holocaust survivor, educator, and philanthropist
- Maurycy Orzech
- Witold Pilecki
- Konstanty Rokicki, Polish consul in Bern who forged Paraguayan passports to rescue Jews
- Tadeusz Romer, Polish ambassador to Japan and in Shanghai Ghetto
- Stefan Ryniewicz, Polish diplomat
- Irena Sendler, saved nearly 2,500 Jewish children in World War II
- Henryk Sławik, "Polish Schindler", diplomat in Hungary
- Leopold Socha, another "Polish Schindler"
- Simon Wiesenthal, Nazi hunter
- Józef and Wiktoria Ulma
- Henryk Woliński
- Lidia Zamenhof
- Szmul Zygielbojm
- Jan and Antonina Żabiński
Religion
- Yitzchak Meir Alter, Rebbe founder of the Ger Hasidic dynasty
- Andrzej Alojzy Ankwicz, Roman Catholic archbishop of Lwów (1815–33) and archbishop of Prague (1833–1838)
- Baal Shem Tov (Yisroel ben Eliezer, 1698–1760), rabbi and founder of Hasidic Judaism
- Blessed Jan Beyzym (1850–1912), Jesuit missionary among lepers in Madagascar
- St. Józef Bilczewski, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lwów, 1900–1923
- St. Andrew Bobola, Jesuit
- St. Evan Yurewicz, Catholic, missionary
- Tadeusz Brzozowski, elected first Jesuit Superior General after the restoration of the Society of Jesus
- Szymon Budny, Polish-Belarusian humanist and Arian priest
- Juliusz Bursche, Polish Lutheran bishop killed by the Germans at Sachsenhausen concentration camp
- St. Casimir Jagiellon, grandson of King Władysław II Jagiełło
- St. Adam (Albert) Chmielowski (Albertine order)
- Bl. August Czartoryski, Prince
- Edmund Dalbor, Primate of Poland, Cardinal, 1915–1926
- Albin Dunajewski, Bishop of Kraków, Cardinal, 1879–1894
- Stanisław Dziwisz, Archbishop of Kraków, since 2005, Cardinal
- St. Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary, Archbishop of Warsaw (1862), exiled and Titular Archbishop of Tarsus (1882)
- Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Archbishop of Warsaw, 1856–1861
- Jacob Frank, Jewish messianic leader who combined Judaism and Christianity
- Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, vicar, humanist, and theologian
- Piotr Gamrat, Primate of Poland, 1541–1545
- Józef Gawlina, military bishop, Divisional general, theologian, archbishop
- Józef Glemp, Primate of Poland, 1981–2006
- Adam Stanisław Grabowski, Prince-Bishop of Warmia
- Michał Heller, physicist and philosopher, Templeton Prize laureate
- August Hlond, Primate of Poland, 1926–1948, Cardinal
- Stanislaus Hosius, legate to Poland, Cardinal and Prince-Bishop of Warmia
- St. Hyacinth, Dominican
- St. Jadwiga, Queen of Poland, 1384–1399
- Henryk Jankowski, Prelate, Chaplain of "Solidarność"
- Marian Jaworski, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lviv, 1991–2008, Cardinal
- Aleksander Kakowski, Archbishop of Warsaw, Cardinal
- St. Raphael Kalinowski, Carmelite
- St. Jan Kanty, professor at Kraków University
- Stanisław Karnkowski, Primate of Poland, 1581–1603; Interrex, 1586–1587
- St. Stanisław Kazimierczyk, priest and preacher
- Chaim Kreiswirth, Chief Rabbi of Congregation Machzikei Hadass Antwerp, founder and rosh yeshiva of the Mercaz HaTorah yeshiva in Jerusalem
- St. Maksymilian Maria Kolbe, Franciscan martyr, Auschwitz 1941
- Hugo Kołłątaj, priest, statesman
- Bolesław Kominek, Archbishop of Wrocław, 1972–1974, Cardinal
- St. Stanisław Kostka, Jesuit
- St. Faustina Kowalska, Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy
- Maria Michał Kowalski, Archbishop of the Catholic Church of the Mariavites, introduced women clergy in 1929
- Adam Kozłowiecki, Jesuit, Archbishop of Lusaka, Cardinal
- Feliksa Kozłowska, inspiration of the Mariavite Church
- Ignacy Krasicki, Primate of Poland
- Adam Stanisław Krasiński, Bishop of Kamieniec Podolski, 1757–1798
- John Krol, Archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal, 1961–1988
- Mieczysław Halka Ledóchowski, Primate of Poland, 1866–1886, Cardinal
- Mary Theresa Ledóchowska, missionary, founder of the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver
- Saint Ursula Ledóchowska, religious, founder of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus
- Włodzimierz Halka Ledóchowski, Superior General of the Society of Jesus (1915–1942)
- Jan Łaski (1456–1531), Primate of Poland, 1510–1531
- Jan Łaski (1499–1560), Protestant reformer; nephew of the Primate
- Władysław Aleksander Łubieński, Archbishop of Lwów, Primate of Poland, 1759–1767; Interrex, 1763–1764
- Franciszek Macharski, Archbishop of Kraków, 1978–2005, Cardinal
- Ryszard Markwart, catholic priest and national activist
- Tomasz Miśkiewicz, mufti of Polish Muslims and Imam of Białystok
- Mieczysław Mokrzycki, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lviv, since 2008
- Mikołaj Stanisław Oborski (1576–1646), Jesuit
- Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Bishop of Kraków, 1423–1455; first Cardinal of Polish origin, from 1449; statesman
- Zbigniew Oleśnicki, nephew of Zbigniew Oleśnicki; Cardinal Primate of Poland, 1481–1493
- Edward O'Rourke, bishop of Gdańsk
- Piotr of Goniądz, spiritual leader of the Polish Brethren
- Jerzy Popiełuszko, Catholic priest and dissident assassinated by the Polish security service in 1984, martyr of the Church
- Walenty Potocki (died 1749), Count; converted to Judaism as Avrohom ben Avrohom, the Ger Tzedek of Vilna
- Tadeusz Puder (1908–1945), Polish Roman Catholic priest of Jewish origin
- Jan Puzyna, Bishop of Kraków, 1895–1911, Cardinal
- Jerzy Radziwiłł, Bishop of Kraków, Cardinal, 1591–1600
- Sholom Rokeach, the first Belzer Rebbe, 1817–1855
- Tadeusz Rydzyk, Redemptorist, broadcast radio controller
- Czeslaw Sokolowski, Roman Catholic priest, theologian, university rector
- St. Stanisław of Szczepanów, Bishop of Kraków, martyr 1079
- Adam Stefan Sapieha, Bishop/Archbishop of Kraków, Cardinal, 1911–1951
- Franciszka Siedliska, religious, founder of Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth
- Piotr Skarga, Jesuit preacher
- Kajetan Sołtyk, Bishop of Kyiv, 1756–59; Bishop of Kraków, 1759–1788
- Boruch Steinberg, the first Rabbi and an officer of the Polish Army before and during World War II
- Kazimierz Świątek, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev; Apostolic Administrator of Pinsk, Cardinal
- Edmund Szoka, Catholic Archbishop of Detroit, Cardinal 1981–1990
- Jakub Szynkiewicz (1884–1966), Imam of Poland, translated portions of Qur'an into Polish
- Jozef Teodorowicz, last Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Lwow (1864–1938)
- Hipolit Terlecki, theologian
- Józef Tischner, priest, philosopher and first chaplain of the trade union, Solidarity
- Andrzej Towiański, philosopher and 19th century messianist
- Mikołaj Trąba, Archbishop of Gniezno, first Primate of Poland, 1418–1422
- Jakub Uchański, Primate of Poland, 1562–1581; Interrex, 1572–73 and 1574–1575
- Vilna Gaon (1720–1797), non-Hassidic Jewish leader, the "saintly genius from Vilnius"
- Piotr Wawrzyniak, priest, economist and activist (1849–1910)
- Chaim Elozor Wax (1822–1887), rabbi
- Karol Józef Wojtyła, Auxiliary Bishop of Kraków 1958–1963, Archbishop of Kraków 1963–1978, Pope John Paul II 1978–2005
- Stefan Wyszyński, Primate of Poland, Cardinal, 1948–1981
- Lawrence Wnuk, Protonotary apostolic, decorated Polish Canadian, (1908–2006)
- Schneur Zalman, first Hasidic Rebbe of Chabad (1745–1810)
Royalty
See also: List of Polish monarchs.
- Mieszko I, first Duke of Poland
- Doubravka of Bohemia, first Duchess of Poland
- Świętosława (Gunhild), daughter of Mieszko I of Poland, mother of Canute the Great, King of England, Denmark and Norway
- Bolesław I the Brave, first King of Poland
- Mieszko II Lambert, second King of Poland
- Richeza of Lotharingia, queen of Poland
- Casimir I the Restorer, duke of Poland
- Bolesław II the Bold, third King of Poland
- Władysław I Herman, duke of Poland
- Bolesław III Wrymouth, duke of Poland
- Mieszko III the Old, duke of Greater Poland, Senior Duke of Poland
- Casimir II the Just, duke of Cracow, Senior Duke of Poland
- Leszek I the White, duke of Cracow, Senior Duke of Poland
- Henry I the Bearded, duke of Silesia, Senior Duke of Poland
- Konrad I of Masovia, duke of Mazovia and Kuyavia
- Henry II the Pious, senior duke of Poland, commander of Polish forces in the Battle of Legnica (1241)
- Przemysł II, King of Poland
- Władysław I the Elbow-high, king of Poland
- Louis I of Hungary, king of Poland
- Elizabeth of Poland, Queen of Hungary, Regent in Poland
- Casimir III the Great, Piast Dynasty last King of Poland
- Jadwiga of Poland, first female monarch of Poland
- Władysław II Jagiełło, Lithuanian, king of Poland, victor at the Battle of Grunwald (1410)
- Władysław III of Varna (Ulászló I), king of Poland and Hungary, killed at the Battle of Varna (1444)
- Casimir IV Jagiellon, king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, victor in the Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)
- John I Albert, king of Poland
- Alexander Jagiellon, grand duke of Lithuania and king of Poland
- Sigismund I the Old, king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
- Roxelana (Khourrem, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent)
- Barbara Radziwiłłówna, consort of Sigismund II August
- Bona Sforza, Queen consort of Poland
- Sigismund II Augustus, last Jagiellon king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Anna Jagiellon, reigned together with her husband Stephen Báthory
- Henry III of France, king of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Stephen Báthory, Hungarian-born king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Sigismund III Vasa, king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and king of Sweden
- Władysław IV Vasa, elected Tsar of Russia, king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Marie Louise Gonzaga, Queen of Poland, Grand Duchess of Lithuania
- John II Casimir Vasa, king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, victor at the Battle of Beresteczko (1651)
- John III Sobieski, king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, victor at the Battle of Vienna (1683)
- Maria Clementina Sobieska, queen of France, England, Scotland and Ireland
- Michael I, king of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Stanisław Leszczyński, king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Duke of Lorraine
- Marie Leszczyńska, Queen consort of France
- Catherine Opalińska, queen of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Duchess of Lorraine
- Maria Leszczyńska, consort of Louis XV, king of France
- Augustus II the Strong, king of Poland, Elector of Saxony
- Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland, Elector of Saxony
- Maria Amalia of Saxony, consort of Charles III, king of Spain
- Stanisław August Poniatowski, last king of the Poland, co-author of the Constitution of 3 May 1791
Assassins
Miscellany
- George Adamski, controversial ufologist
- Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz, sailor
- Franciszek Czapek, watchmaker
- Aleksander Doba, explorer who holds the record for the longest open-water kayak voyage ever made
- Michał Drzymała, resistance hero
- Piotr Gawryś, contract bridge champion
- Wincenty Gostkowski, watchmaker
- Halina Grabowski, war hero
- Barbara Hulanicki, fashion designer, founder of Biba
- Piotr Iwanicki, wheelchair dancing world champion
- Alicja Iwańska, resistance movement and anti-communist activist
- Marek Kamiński, adventure traveler
- Rutka Laskier, diarist, killed during the World War II Holocaust
- Piotr Naszarkowski, engraver
- Stefan Ossowiecki, psychic
- Stanisław Pietkiewicz, cartographer and geographer
- Feliks Rajmund Podkóliński, physician, soldier
- Ludwik Rajchman, bacteriologist, founder of UNICEF
- Czesław Słania, postage stamp and banknote engraver
- Renia Spiegel, diarist, killed during the World War II Holocaust, known as "the Polish Anne Frank"
- Stanisława Tomczyk, spiritualist medium, early 20th century
- Wilfrid Michael Voynich, bibliophile, eponym of the mysterious Voynich Manuscript
- Warren Winiarski, California winemaker
- Kuba Wojewódzki, journalist, television personality, drummer, comedian, and columnist
- Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska, physician, pioneering female doctor in the United States
- Maciej Zien, fashion designer
Legendary persons
- Krakus, legendary prince and founder of Kraków
- Lech, legendary founder of the Polish nation
- Piast the Wheelwright (Piast Kołodziej), semi-legendary figure in prehistoric Poland (9th century); founder of the Piast dynasty
- Popiel, semi-legendary 9th-century ruler of the western Polans; last of the Popielids
- Lajkonik, a Kraków half-man-half-horse figure representing a Mongol invader, with his own festival after the feast of Corpus Christi
- Our Lady of Częstochowa (known also as "the Black Madonna"), foremost of Polish religious icons
- Abraham Prochownik, legendary Jewish figure, said to have been named prince of the western Polans after the death of Popiel in 842
- Sarmatians, ancient proto-Persian tribe that fed the idea of Sarmatism during the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
- John Scolvus, semi-legendary sailor of the late 15th century
- Syrenka warszawska, legendary fresh-water mermaid said to have been rescued by Vistula fishermen. Iconic symbol of Warsaw
- Pan Twardowski, semi-legendary Faust-like sorcerer; in Polish legend, the first man on the Moon (in the 16th century)
- Janek Wiśniewski, freedom fighter; hero of 1970 Gdynia riots
Fictional characters
- Matteusz Andrzejewski, played by Jordan Renzo, a character in Class, a British science fiction drama programme, and a spin-off of the long-running programme Doctor Who
- Captain William Joseph B.J. Blazkowicz in Wolfenstein 3D
- Ernst Stavro Blofeld, a villain from the James Bond series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming
- Bolek i Lolek, cartoon characters from a Polish children's TV animated comedy series
- Baba Jaga, Polish version of the forest-dwelling sorceress
- Waldemar Daninsky, wolfman in La Marca del Hombre Lobo
- Nicodemus Dyzma, in Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz's novel The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma
- Jacob Jankowski, a character played by Robert Pattinson in a 2011 American romantic drama film Water for Elephants
- Marcin Jerek, Polish-born British professor and former CIA interrogator, in the TV series NCIS, played by W. Morgan Sheppard
- Dr. Judym, in Stefan Żeromski's novel Homeless People
- Kajko i Kokosz
- Florentyna Kane in The Prodigal Daughter and Shall We Tell the President?
- Commander Keen, grandson of B.J. Blazkowicz
- Hans Kloss (Captain Kloss), World War II secret agent in the Polish TV serial Stake larger than life
- Kordian
- Funky Koval, space detective
- Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk, a singer of Polish descent played by Marilyn Monroe in Billy Wilder's 1959 romantic comedy film Some Like It Hot
- Kowalski, a penguin in the children's film Madagascar
- Stanley Kowalski, in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire
- Detective Stanley Kowalski, Polish-American Chicago policeman in the 1990s Canadian television series Due South
- Walt Kowalski, Polish-American Korean War veteran and retired Ford worker, in Clint Eastwood's 2008 film Gran Torino
- Lucyna "Lucy" Kushinada, a netrunner of mixed Polish and Japanese descent in
- Ligia, heroine of Sienkiewicz's novel, Quo Vadis?
- Man of Iron, symbol of Solidarity and title of Wajda's film
- Koziołek Matołek, like the bear and the horse, the goat is part of Polish folklore, here in Kornel Makuszyński's rendition
- Mike Nomad (with Steve Roper), an American adventure comic strip (1936–2004)
- Count Olenski, estranged husband of Ellen Olenska in Edith Wharton's novel The Age of Innocence (1920)
- Pan Tadeusz, poetic distillation of Polish patriotism and nostalgia
- Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski, in HBO's The Wire, went from police officer to school teacher
- Officer Eddie Pulaski in
- Stefan "Steve" Radecki, a character played by Anton Walbrook in 1941 British war film Dangerous Moonlight
- Abel Rosnovski in Kane and Abel
- Pan Samochodzik, adventurer created by Zbigniew Nienacki
- Paweł i Gaweł, humorous morality tale about neighbour relations, a favourite children's poem
- Sasquatch (Dr. Walter Langkowski), Marvel superhero
- Sierotka Marysia, archetypal abandoned girl, "Little orphan Mary", living with dwarves
- Walter Sobchak, the "Polish Catholic" in the film The Big Lebowski
- Silk Spectre I & II, superheroines in Watchmen
- Stanislau, ace pilot in Blackhawk
- Michael Stivic, in All in the Family
- Tadzio, a Polish boy (inspired by Władysław Moes) in Thomas Mann's novel Death in Venice as well as 1971 film adaptation of the same name by Luchino Visconti played by Björn Andrésen
- Ijon Tichy, main protagonist in several works of Stanisław Lem such as The Star Diaries, The Futurological Congress, Peace on Earth and Observation on the Spot
- Kasia Tomaszewski, played by Zofia Wichłacz, a character in World on Fire, a 2019 war drama miniseries broadcast on BBC One
- Maciej Tomczyk ala Lech Wałęsa, in the 1981 film Man of Iron, directed by Andrzej Wajda
- Pan Twardowski, a Faust-like figure of Polish legend, literature and film.
- Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek, Polish comic book heroes
Models
- Anna Anka (Anna Åberg, Anna Yeager), born in Poland
- Małgosia Bela, born in Kraków
- Magdalena Frąckowiak, born in Gdańsk
- Monika Jagaciak, born in Poznań
- Anna Jagodzińska, born in Sierpc
- Joanna Krupa, born in Warsaw
- Anja Rubik, born in Rzeszów
- Izabella Scorupco, born in Białystok
- Ewa Sonnet, born in Rybnik, glamour model
- Sasha Strunin, born in Saint Petersburg
- Kasia Struss, born in Ciechanów
- Francys Sudnicka, born in Valencia, Venezuela
- Karolina Wydra, born in Opole
- Iga Wyrwał, born in Kalisz
Athletics
- Andrzej Badeński, sprinter
- Iga Baumgart-Witan, sprinter
- Konrad Bukowiecki, shot putter
- Lidia Chojecka, athlete
- Jerzy Chromik, athlete
- Teresa Ciepły, sprinter
- Sofia Ennaoui, middle-distance runner
- Paweł Fajdek, hammer thrower
- Marian Foik, sprinter
- Wioletta Frankiewicz, steeplechaser
- Halina Górecka, sprinter
- Piotr Haczek, sprinter
- Michał Haratyk, shot putter
- Zdzisław Hoffmann, triple jumper
- Barbara Janiszewska, sprinter
- Michel Jazy, athlete
- Ilana Karaszyk, Israeli Olympic runner and long jumper
- Ewa Kłobukowska, sprinter
- Władysław Komar, shot putter
- Halina Konopacka, discus thrower
- Robert Korzeniowski, racewalker
- Władysław Kozakiewicz, pole vaulter
- Łukasz Krawczuk, athlete
- Elżbieta Krzesińska, long jumper
- Jakub Krzewina, sprinter
- Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak, athlete
- Wacław Kuchar, athlete
- Janusz Kusociński, athlete
- Maria Kwaśniewska, javelin thrower
- Adam Kszczot, athlete
- Marcin Lewandowski, athlete
- Tomasz Majewski, shot putter
- Piotr Małachowski, discus thrower
- Wiesław Maniak, sprinter
- Bronisław Malinowski, athlete
- Robert Maćkowiak, sprinter
- Tamara Metal, Israeli Olympic high jumper and long jumper, and captain of the Israel women's national basketball team
- Aleksandra Mirosław, speed climber
- Józef Noji, athlete
- Rafał Omelko, athlete
- Wanda Panfil, athlete
- Artur Partyka, high jumper
- Edmund Piątkowski, discus thrower
- Marek Plawgo, athlete
- Myer Prinstein, long-jumper
- Monika Pyrek, pole vaulter
- Teresa Remiszewska, ocean sailor
- Anna Rogowska, pole vaulter
- Tadeusz Rut, hammer thrower
- Piotr Rysiukiewicz, sprinter
- Edward Sarul, shot putter
- Janusz Sidło, javelin thrower
- Kamila Skolimowska, hammer thrower
- Irena Szewińska, sprinter
- Józef Szmidt, triple jumper
- Ewa Swoboda, sprinter
- Tadeusz Ślusarski, pole vaulter
- Justyna Święty-Ersetic, sprinter
- Marcin Urbaś, sprinter
- Jadwiga Wajs, discus thrower
- Stanisława Walasiewicz, sprinter
- Jan Werner, sprinter
- Anita Włodarczyk, hammer thrower
- Paweł Wojciechowski, pole vaulter
- Marian Woronin, sprinter
- Jacek Wszoła, high jumper
- Karol Zalewski, athlete
- Kazimierz Zimny, athlete
- Szymon Ziółkowski, hammer
- Józef Bednarski, wrestling WWF
thrower
Basketball
Boxing
Checkers
Chess
Climbing
- Klemens Bachleda, Tatra guide and mountain rescuer
- Kinga Baranowska, mountaineer
- Andrzej Bargiel, ski mountaineer and climber
- Leszek Cichy, high-altitude climber
- Jerzy Kukuczka, high-altitude climber
- Wojciech Kurtyka, high-altitude climber and rock climber
- Piotr Pustelnik, high-altitude climber
- Wanda Rutkiewicz, high-altitude climber
- Krzysztof Wielicki, high-altitude climber
- Andrzej Zawada, high-altitude climber
Cycling
Fencing
Football
- Zygmunt Anczok, defender
- Henryk Apostel, coach
- Jan Banaś, attacker
- Jan Bednarek, defender
- Jakub Błaszczykowski, midfielder
- Zbigniew Boniek, midfielder, head of the Polish Football Association (PZPN)
- Artur Boruc, goalkeeper
- Lucjan Brychczy, midfielder
- Andrzej Buncol, midfielder
- Matty Cash, defender
- Ewald Cebula, defender
- Gerard Cieślik, midfielder
- Lesław Ćmikiewicz, midfielder
- Kazimierz Deyna, midfielder
- Jerzy Dudek, goalkeeper
- Ewald Dytko, midfielder
- Łukasz Fabiański, goalkeeper
- Robert Gadocha, attacker
- Ludwik Gintel, defender/forward
- Jacek Gmoch, coach
- Jerzy Gorgoń, defender
- Kazimierz Górski, coach
- Paweł Janas, defender, coach
- Ireneusz Jeleń, attacker
- Erich Juskowiak, defender
- Józef Kałuża, attacker, coach
- Henryk Kasperczak, midfielder, coach
- Miroslav Klose, attacker
- Józef Klotz, defender; murdered by the Nazis[15]
- Raymond Kopa, attacker
- Hubert Kostka, goalkeeper
- Tadeusz Kuchar, midfielder, coach
- Tomasz Kuszczak, goalkeeper
- Grzegorz Lato, attacker
- Robert Lewandowski, attacker
- Jan Liberda, attacker
- Włodzimierz Lubański, attacker
- Józef Lustgarten, midfielder, manager
- Stefan Majewski, defender, coach
- Ladislao Mazurkiewicz, goalkeeper
- Arkadiusz Milik, attacker
- Józef Młynarczyk, goalkeeper
- Piotr Nowak, midfielder
- Erwin Nyc, midfielder
- Teodor Peterek, attacker
- Krzysztof Piątek, attacker
- Ryszard Piec, midfielder
- Wilhelm Piec, midfielder
- Antoni Piechniczek, defender, coach
- Leonard Piontek, midfielder
- Lukas Podolski, attacker
- Łukasz Piszczek, defender
- Ernest Pohl, attacker
- Fryderyk Scherfke midfielder
- Ebi Smolarek, attacker
- Włodzimierz Smolarek, midfielder
- Leon Sperling, forward (left wing)
- Zygmunt Steuermann, forward
- Piotr Świerczewski, midfielder
- Grzegorz Szamotulski, goalkeeper
- Andrzej Szarmach, attacker
- Władysław Szczepaniak, defender
- Wojciech Szczęsny, goalkeeper
- Edward Szymkowiak, goalkeeper
- Andrzej Szczypkowski (born 1971), midfielder
- Łukasz Teodorczyk, attacker
- Jan Tomaszewski, goalkeeper
- Piotr Trochowski, midfielder
- Krzysztof Warzycha, attacker
- Ernest Wilimowski, attacker
- Walter Winkler, defender
- Maryan Wisnieski, attacker
- Gerard Wodarz, attacker
- Łukasz Załuska, goalkeeper
- Piotr Zieliński, midfielder
- Władysław Żmuda, defender
Ice hockey
Skiing
- Konrad Bartelski, Alpine ski racer
- Bronisław Czech, Alpine ski racer
- Piotr Fijas, ski jumper
- Wojciech Fortuna, ski jumper
- Krystyna Guzik, biathlete
- Monika Hojnisz, biathlete
- Stefan Hula, Sr., Nordic combined skier
- Stefan Hula, Jr., ski jumper
- Justyna Kowalczyk, cross-country skier
- Maciej Kot, ski jumper
- Dawid Kubacki, ski jumper
- Józef Łuszczek, cross-country skier
- Adam Małysz, ski jumper
- Jan Marusarz, World War II Carpathian Mountains escort of intelligence agent Krystyna Skarbek
- Stanisław Marusarz, ski jumper
- Weronika Nowakowska, biathlete
- Tomasz Sikora, biathlete
- Monika Skinder, cross-country skiing
- Kamil Stoch, ski jumper
- Jan Ziobro, ski jumper
- Piotr Żyła, ski jumper
Swimming
Tennis
Volleyball
Weightlifting
Others sports
- Karol Bielecki, handball
- Leszek Blanik, gymnastics
- Jan Błachowicz, mixed martial artist
- Karolina Bosiek, speed skater
- Zbigniew Bródka, speed skater
- Maciej Chorążyk, soccer official and sports journalist
- Janusz Centka, soaring
- Moe Drabowsky, baseball
- Jarek Dymek, strongman
- Mateusz Gamrot, mixed martial arts
- Tomasz Gollob, Motorcycle speedway World Champion
- Andrzej Grubba, table tennis
- Sebastian Janikowski, American football
- Stan Javie, American football official
- Steve Javie, National Basketball Association
- Joanna Jędrzejczyk, mixed martial arts
- Stefan Kapłaniak, canoeing
- Sebastian Kawa, gliding
- Justin Koschitzke, former professional Australian rules footballer for St Kilda
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz, mixed martial arts
- Rafał Kubacki, judo
- Robert Kubica, Formula One and auto racing driver
- Tomasz Kucharski, rowing
- Mateusz Kusznierewicz, sailing
- Waldemar Legień, judo
- Jerzy Makula, glider aerobatics
- Wiktor Malinowski, professional poker player
- Patrycja Maliszewska, short track speed skater
- Szymon Marciniak, football referee
- Piotr Markiewicz, canoeing
- Renata Mauer, shooting
- Bill Mazeroski, baseball
- Przemyslaw Mazur, auto racing
- Aleksandra Mirosław, speed climbing
- Gene Mruczkowski, American football
- Scott Mruczkowski, American football
- Paweł Nastula, judo
- Zofia Noceti-Klepacka, windsurfing
- Tom Paciorek, baseball
- Aneta Pastuszka, canoeing
- James Podsiadly, former professional Australian rules footballer for Adelaide and Geelong
- Mariusz Pudzianowski, strongman
- Ivan Putski, professional wrestler
- Helena Rakoczy, gymnastics
- Elwira Seroczyńska, speed skater
- Arkadiusz Skrzypaszek, modern pentathlete
- Paul Slowinski, Muay Thai
- Adam Smelczyński, shooting
- Rafał Sonik, quad rally driver
- Robert Sycz, rowing
- Jerzy Szczakiel, Motorcycle speedway World Champion
- Sławomir Szmal, handball
- Ryszard Szurkowski, road bicycle racing
- Jan Szymański, speed skater
- Marek Twardowski, canoeing
- Roger Verey, rowing
- Piotr Wadecki, road bicycle racing
- Bogdan Wenta, handball
- Sebastian Wenta, strongman, highland games
- David Wojcinski, former professional Australian rules footballer for Geelong
- Jerzy Wojnar, luge
- Andrzej Wroński, wrestling
- Józef Zapędzki, shooting
- Sobiesław Zasada, auto racing
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Tryliński Władysław . 2023-05-21 . . Giganci Nauki . pl . Bolesław . Orłowski . 2022-11-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221129110343/https://gigancinauki.pl/gn/biogramy/83957,Trylinski-Wladyslaw.html . live .
- Book: Rossi. Cesare. Russo. Flavio. Ancient Engineers' Inventions: Precursors of the Present. limited. 2009. Springer. 978-9048122523. 235. Second.
- Dominic Lieven. The Cambridge History of Russia: Volume 2, Imperial Russia, 1689–1917. Cambridge University Press. 2006. p. 182.
- Sal P. Restivo. Science, Technology, And Society: An Encyclopedia. Oxford University Press. 2005. p. 502.
- Simon Collier, William F. Sater. A History of Chile, 1808–2002. Cambridge University Press. 2004. p. 98
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