List of Polish people

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
Albert Sabin, polio vaccine; President of the Weizmann Institute of Science
Andrzej Wiktor Schally, Nobel-laureate endocrinologist
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

Franciszek Armiński
Tadeusz Banachiewicz
Jan Brożek
Albert Brudzewski
Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer, the son of a Polish father and a mother who was of mixed German-Polish descent; he is also often considered as a German by Germans
Wojciech Dziembowski
Władysław Dziewulski
Michał Falkener
Jan Gadomski
Johannes Hevelius, Mayor of Gdańsk; he is also often considered as a German
Felicjan Kępiński
Marian Albertovich Kowalski
Kazimierz Kordylewski
Wojciech Krzemiński
Jan Latosz
Stanisław Lubieniecki
Bohdan Paczyński
Marcin Poczobutt-Odlanicki
Alexius Sylvius Polonus
Adam Prażmowski
Antoni Przybylski
Agata Różańska
Konrad Rudnicki
Jan Mikołaj Smogulecki
Jan Śniadecki
Andrzej Udalski
Wiesław Wiśniewski
Aleksander Wolszczan, first discovery of extrasolar planets
Thomas Zebrowski
Anna N. Żytkow

Mathematics

Nachman Aronszajn
Michel Balinski
Stefan Banach
Tadeusz Banachiewicz
Kazimierz Bartel
Andrzej Białynicki-Birula
Karol Borsuk
Jacob Bronowski
Jan Brożek
Andrzej Ehrenfeucht
Meier Eidelheit
Samuel Eilenberg
Andrzej Grzegorczyk
Witold Hurewicz
Henryk Iwaniec
Tadeusz Iwaniec
Zygmunt Janiszewski
Stanisław Jaśkowski
Jan Jaworowski
Mark Kac
Stefan Kaczmarz
Marek Karpinski, computer scientist
Dawid Kielak
Bronisław Knaster
Sławomir Kołodziej
Robert Kowalski
Zdzisław Krygowski
Krystyna Kuperberg
Włodzimierz Kuperberg
Kazimierz Kuratowski
Izabella Łaba
Franciszek Leja
Stanisław Leśniewski
Adolf Lindenbaum
Stanisław Łojasiewicz
Antoni Łomnicki
Jerzy Łoś
Jan Łukasiewicz, logician, inventor of the parenthesis-free Polish Notation
Benoit Mandelbrot
Edward Marczewski
Józef Marcinkiewicz
Stanisław Mazur
Stefan Mazurkiewicz
Jan Mikusinski
Michał Misiurewicz
Andrzej Mostowski
Jan Mycielski
Jerzy Spława-Neyman
Otton M. Nikodym
Wiesława Nizioł
Andrew Odlyzko
Władysław Orlicz
Józef H. Przytycki
Maksym Radziwill
Helena Rasiowa
Marian Rejewski, mathematician-cryptologist who broke the German Enigma cipher
Jerzy Różycki, Enigma-breaker
Stanisław Ruziewicz
Czesław Ryll-Nardzewski
Stanisław Saks
Wojciech Samotij
Juliusz Schauder
Wacław Sierpiński
Roman Sikorski
Julian Sochocki
Hugo Steinhaus
Włodzimierz Stożek
Wanda Szmielew
Władysław Ślebodziński
Ivan Śleszyński
Jan Śniadecki
Alfred Tarski
Adam Henryk Toruńczyk
Stanisław Ulam, co-designer (with Edward Teller) of the hydrogen bomb
Kazimierz Urbanik
Tadeusz Ważewski
Mariusz Wodzicki
Józef Hoene-Wroński
Kazimierz Zarankiewicz
Stanisław Zaremba
Henryk Zygalski, Enigma-breaker
Antoni Zygmund
Kazimierz Żorawski

Computer science

Krzysztof R. Apt
Paul Baran
Krzysztof Cios
Jarosław Duda
Andrzej Ehrenfeucht
Siemion Fajtlowicz, known for his Graffiti
Tomasz Imieliński
Piotr Indyk
Jacek Karpiński
Marek Karpiński
Marian Mazur
Jan Mycielski
Zdzislaw Pawlak
Emil Leon Post
Stanisław Radziszowski
Andrew Targowski
Jack Tramiel
Andrzej Trybulec, Mizar system
Stanisław Ulam
Jan Węglarz
Michał Zalewski
Dominic Wajda, Known for Creating Liberatube

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 (1871-1958), geophysicist, meteorologist, Antarctic explorer
Leon Barszczewski, explorer^[3]
Piotr Ignacy Bieńkowski, scholar, archaeologist, professor
Karol Bohdanowicz, geologist^[3]
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 (1932-2015), psychiatrist, historian
Benedykt Polak (Benedict the Pole, Benedictus Polonus), explorer
Jan Potocki, linguist, Egyptologist, sociologist, author of The Saragossa Manuscript
Eugeniusz Romer, cartographer
Stanisław of Skarbimierz, political scientist
Paweł Edmund Strzelecki (1797-1873), geologist, explorer of Australia
Tadeusz Sulimirski, archeologist
Antoni Józef Śmieszek, Egyptologist
Józef Święcicki, 19th century architect
Józef Trzemeski, polar explorer^[3]
Bernard Wapowski, "father of Polish cartography"
Andrzej Wawrzyniak (1931-2020), 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 (1932-2015), 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
Ignacy Żagiell (1826–1891), historian of ancient Egypt
Marek Żukow-Karczewski, historian and journalist

Philosophy

Prose literature

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

Journalism

Poetry

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

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^[12]
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

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 driver
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

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)

Brzeziński
Buzek
Colonna-Walewski
Czartoryski

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