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Gabriel NarutowiczThe first president of Poland, held office for only 5 days
Date of Birth: 17.03.1865
Country:  Poland |
Content:
Biography of Gabriel Narutowicz
Gabriel Narutowicz (Polish: Gabriel Narutowicz; March 17, 1865, Telsze, Kovno Governorate, now Lithuania - December 16, 1922, Warsaw) was the first president of Poland, serving for only 5 days, from December 11 (elected on the 9th) to December 16, 1922. He was a professor at the Technological Institute in Zurich and a hydraulic engineer.
Early Life and Family
Gabriel Narutowicz was born on March 17, 1865, in Telsze, which was part of the Kovno Governorate (now in Lithuania). His brother, Stanisław (Stanislovas Narutavičius), had a successful career as a Lithuanian politician and played a role in the declaration of Lithuania's independence in 1918.
Career in Politics
Gabriel Narutowicz became involved in Polish politics in 1919 as an independent deputy. He served as the Minister of Public Works and later as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was elected as the president of the republic by the Sejm (the Polish parliament), and was handed over the power by the "Head of State," Marshal Józef Piłsudski.
Interestingly, one of the candidates for the presidency was another scholar, the famous Russian-Polish linguist I. A. Baudouin de Courtenay.
Assassination and Aftermath
On December 16, the newly elected president was shot at an art exhibition in Warsaw by an extremist named Eligiusz Niewiadomski, a critic-modernist and artist who held extreme right-wing views. Niewiadomski sought revenge against Narutowicz for his election being supported by leftists and a coalition of national minorities (Jews, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, etc.).
Niewiadomski was sentenced to death and executed on January 31, 1923, in the Warsaw Citadel. The funeral of the assassin was attended by 10,000 people, and nationalists declared him a martyr.
The death of Narutowicz further intensified the political instability in the country and fueled Józef Piłsudski's skepticism towards the republican authorities. The crisis that ensued led to the May Coup in 1926.
