Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski

Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski
Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski
Prime Minister of Poland 27th Prime Minister of the Second Republic
In office 15 May 1936 – 20 September 1939
President	Ignacy Mościcki
Vice PM	Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski
Preceded by	Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski
Succeeded by	Władysław Sikorski
Personal details
Born	9 June 1885 Gąbin, Congress Poland
Died	31 August 1962 (aged 77) London, United Kingdom
Resting place	Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw
Spouse(s)	Jadwiga Szoll, Germaine Susanne Coillot, Jadwiga Dołęga-Mostowicz
Profession	Physician, military officer
Religion	Calvinism
Awards	Virtuti Militari
Military service
Allegiance	Poland
Service/branch	Polish Legions Polish Army
Years of service	1914–1939
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	World War I Polish–Soviet War World War II

Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski (Polish pronunciation: [fɛˈlit͡sjan ˈswavɔj skwatˈkɔfskʲi]; 9 June 1885,Gąbin – 31 August 1962) was a Polish physician, general and politician who served as Minister of Internal Affairs and was the last Prime Minister of Poland before World War II.

Składkowski studied medicine at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, graduating in 1911. He then worked as a physician in Sosnowiec. He fought in the Polish Legions in World War I and later in the Polish–Soviet War. In 1924, as a brigadier general, he was appointed head of the Polish military health service by Józef Piłsudski. After the May Coup of 1926, Składkowski served as Minister of the Interior, a post he held (with one short break) until June 1931. After that, he was appointed Deputy Minister of War. On 13 May 1936 Składkowski became Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. He was Poland's longest serving prime minister in the inter-war years, his cabinet lasting for 3 years and 4 months, until 30 September 1939. He was also the first Polish Protestant (a converted Calvinist) to hold that position.

While serving as prime minister, he was appalled by the lack of sanitation in many of Poland's villages, and issued a decree that every household in Poland must have a latrine in working order. This prompted many village-dwellers to erect wooden sheds in their backyards for this purpose, which have been subsequently dubbed "slawojkis". After the German Invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, he fled to Romania and was interned there. In 1940 he went to Turkey and thence to Palestine. In 1947, he went to London, where he died in 1962. He was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.