ABSTRACT
ALEKSANDER ZAWADSKI (President, November 20, 1952-August 7, 1964). Aleksander Zawadski was born in Dabrowa Gornicza on December 16, 1899. He worked in the coal mines in his youth and joined the Communist Youth Union in 1923. He soon became a party organizer. Zawadski was arrested in 1925 and remained imprisoned for the next six years. He went into exile in the Soviet Union after his release. Zawadski returned to Poland in 1939. He was again arrested, but was liberated during the Soviet invasion. He fought with the Soviets during World War II and became a general in the Polish army formed in the Soviet Union in 1942. He also served on the Central Committee of the Polish Workers' party. He represented the Polish government in Silesia after the war. Zawadski was elected to the Sejm, or Parliament, in 1947. He served as vicepremier in the early 1950s and was chosen as Poland's president of the Council of State to succeed Boleslaw Bierut on November 20, 1952. He served in the largely ceremonial position until his death from cancer in Warsaw at the age of 65 on August 7, 1964.
