Ryszard Kaczorowski
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His Excellency Ryszard Kaczorowski GCMG |
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President of the Republic of Poland 6th President in Exile |
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In office 19 July 1989 – 22 December 1990 |
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| Prime Minister | Edward Szczepanik |
| Preceded by | Kazimierz Sabbat |
| Succeeded by | Lech Wałęsa (domiciled) |
| Minister of the Country Affairs in Exile | |
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In office 1986–1989 |
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| President | Kazimierz Sabbat |
| Prime Minister | Edward Szczepanik |
| Preceded by | Edward Szczepanik |
| Succeeded by | Ryszard Zakrzewsk |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
26 November 1919 Białystok, Poland |
| Died | 10 April 2010 (aged 90) Smolensk, Smolensk Oblast, Russia |
| Political party | None |
| Spouse(s) | Karolina Kaczorowska |
| Children | 2 |
Ryszard Kaczorowski, GCMG [ˈrɨʂart kat͡ʂɔˈrɔfskʲi] (26 November 1919 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish statesman. Between 1989 and 1990 he served as the last President of Poland in exile. He succeeded Kazimierz Sabbat and resigned his post following Poland's regaining independence from the Soviet sphere of influence and election of Lech Wałęsa as the first democratically elected president of Poland since World War II. He also passed the presidential insignia to Wałęsa, thus ending the 45-years long episode of the Polish government in exile.
He died on 10 April 2010 in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia, along with the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and 94 others. On 19 April 2010, Kaczorowski's coffin was taken to St John's Cathedral for a funeral mass, before being buried in a crypt at the National Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw.
Ryszard Kaczorowski was born on 26 November 1919, in Białystok, Poland. His parents were Wacław Kaczorowski of Jelita and Jadwiga née Sawicka. He completed his education at a school of commerce. He was also a Scouting instructor of a local branch of the Polish Scouting Association. Following the Invasion of Poland in the beginning of World War II he recreated the scouting movement – then delegalised by the Soviet authorities – clandestinely, and became a head of the Białystok banner of the Szare Szeregi. In 1940 he was arrested by the NKVD and sentenced to death, which was later changed to 10 years in a concentration camp in Kolyma.
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