Articles containing Polish-language text

Frederick II (German: Friedrich II.; 24 January 1712 – 17 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia, declaring himself King of Prussia after annexing Royal Prussia from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Silesian wars, his reorganisation of the Prussian Army, the First Partition of Poland, and his patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment. Prussia greatly increased its territories and became a major military power in Europe under his rule. He became known as Frederick the Great (German: Friedrich der Große) and was nicknamed "Old Fritz" (German: der Alte Fritz).
In his youth, Frederick was more interested in music and philosophy than in the art of war, which led to clashes with his authoritarian father, Frederick William I of Prussia. However, upon ascending to the Prussian throne, he attacked and annexed the rich Austrian province of Silesia in 1742, winning military acclaim for himself and Prussia. He became an influential military theorist, whose analyses emerged from his extensive personal battlefield experience and covered issues of strategy, tactics, mobility and logistics.
Frederick was a supporter of enlightened absolutism, stating that the ruler should be the first servant of the state. He modernised the Prussian bureaucracy and civil service, and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation. He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men of lower status to become judges and senior bureaucrats. Frederick also encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Prussia, although he enacted oppressive measures against Catholics in Silesia and Polish Prussia. He supported the arts and philosophers he favoured, and allowed freedom of the press and literature. Frederick was almost certainly homosexual, and his sexuality has been the subject of much study. Because he died childless, he was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick William II. He is buried at his favourite residence, Sanssouci in Potsdam.
Nearly all 19th-century German historians made Frederick into a romantic model of a glorified warrior, praising his leadership, administrative efficiency, devotion to duty and success in building Prussia into a great power in Europe. Frederick remained an admired historical figure through Germany's defeat in World War I, and the Nazis glorified him as a great German leader prefiguring Adolf Hitler, who personally idolised him. His reputation became less favourable in Germany after World War II, partly due to his status as a Nazi symbol. Historians in the 21st century tend to view Frederick as an outstanding military leader and capable monarch, whose commitment to enlightenment culture and administrative reform built the foundation that allowed the Kingdom of Prussia to contest the Austrian Habsburgs for leadership among the German states.

Anna Jenny Charlotte Perrelli (Swedish: [ɧaˈɭɔtː pɛˈrɛ̌lːɪ]; née Nilsson; born 7 October 1974), known simply until 2003 as Charlotte Nilsson and later as Charlotte Perrelli, is a Swedish singer and television host. Under her maiden name, she won the 1999 Melodifestivalen and subsequently that year's Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven".
Since 1999 Perrelli has released seven albums and multiple singles. She once again won Melodifestivalen 2008 and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with her song "Hero". She is one of Sweden's most popular female singers, often performing at Sweden's top shows. Throughout her career, she has worked with different types of music, ranging from dansband and schlager, via modern pop, to soulful ballads and jazz melodies.

Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius (Polish: Jerzy Bolesław Matulewicz-Matulaitis; 13 April 1871 - 27 January 1927) was a Latin Church Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Vilnius from late 1918 until his resignation in 1925. Matulaitis was also the founder of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception and the Handmaids of Jesus in the Eucharist; he served as the Superior-General of the Marian Fathers from 1911 until his death. He worked in secret to revive the Marian Fathers after the Russian authorities suppressed all religious orders and he even relinquished his teaching position to better dedicate himself to that secret revival. He was a noted teacher and spiritual director who set up other branches of the order in places such as Switzerland and the United States far from Russian authorities.Matulaitis' cause for sainthood opened in the 1950s before he was titled as Venerable in 1982. Pope John Paul II beatified the late bishop on 28 June 1987 in Saint Peter's Basilica and referred to the bishop as a "man of God's heart".

Rudolf Gundlach (1892–1957) was a Polish military engineer, inventor and tank designer. He headed the design division of the Armored Weapons Technical Research Bureau (Biuro Badań Technicznych Broni Pancernych). He held the military rank of major in the Corps of Engineers of the Polish Army.
He was the chief designer of the Ursus wz. 29 armored car and supervised design work for the 7TP light tank and the 10TP fast tank prototype.

Sofia Sigizmundovna Dzerzhinskaya (born Muszkat; Polish: Zofia Dzierżyńska—Muszkat; Russian: Софья Сигизмундовна Дзержинская—Мушкат; 4 December 1882 – 27 February 1968) was a leading Polish Social Democrat and later Communist politician. During World War II, she was director of the Polish language Tadeusz Kościuszko radio station, broadcasting the communist message into occupied Poland.
From September 1918 through February 1919, Sofia was a member of the Soviet diplomatic mission in Bern. From 1920, she lived in the Soviet Union, in Moscow where she worked as a teacher. In 1922, Sofia worked in the School of Rosa Luxemburg in Moscow, later, 1923–24 at the Communist University of the National Minorities of the West. After that, she worked in the Polish Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1939 to 1943, Sofia worked at the Executive Committee of Comintern. In 1969, her memoirs "Lata wielkich bojów: wspomnienia" were published in Poland by Książka i Wiedza publishing house. She died in Moscow in 1968 and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.

Władysław Tatarkiewicz (Polish: [vwaˈdɨswaf tatarˈkʲevitʂ]; 3 April 1886 – 4 April 1980) was a Polish philosopher, historian of philosophy, historian of art, esthetician, and ethicist.

Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski (7 June 1923 – 22 January 2021), also known under his pseudonym Papcio Chmiel, was a Polish comic book artist and journalist.
During World War II, Chmielewski served in the Home Army and took part in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war, he started working as a graphic artist in the Świat Młodych magazine, where he also published comics. Since the debut of his first Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek comic book in 1966, he focused his career almost entirely on this series, telling the story of Tytus de Zoo, an anthropomorphic, talking chimpanzee who wants to become a human. The last, thirty first book of the main series was published in 2008, but Chmielewski continued to create other works, such as artbooks, with his characters.
Chmielewski's comics are known for the use of absurdist humour, puns and word plays. Aimed at children and teenagers, with the goal of being both entertaining and educational, his works often explore history (especially history of Poland), science, art or have the characters trying different professions.

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Polish: [staˈɲiswaf iɡˈnatsɨ vʲitˈkʲɛvʲitʂ]; 24 February 1885 – 18 September 1939), commonly known as Witkacy, was a Polish writer, painter, philosopher, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before World War I and during the interwar period.

Wolf Grigoryevich (Gershkovich) Messing (Russian: Во́льф Григо́рьевич (Ге́ршикович) Ме́ссинг, Polish: Wolf Grigoriewicz Messing, Hebrew: וולף מסינג‎) (10 September 1899 – 8 November 1974) was a self-proclaimed psychic, telepath and stage hypnotist.