List of presidents of Poland

This article lists the presidents of Poland. The president of Poland is the head of state of the country.

Presidents of the Polish National Government (1830–1831)

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Entered office Left office
1 78x78px Prince
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski
(1770–1861)
3 December 1830 15 August 1831
60px Józef Chłopicki
(1771–1854)
(dictator)
5 December 1830 17 January 1831
2 60px General
Jan Stefan Krukowiecki
(1772–1850)
17 August 1831 7 September 1831
3 Bonawentura Niemojowski.JPG Bonawentura Niemojowski
(1787–1835)
8 September 1831 23 September 1831
4 60px Jan Nepomucen Umiński
(1778–1851)
23 September 1831 23 September 1831
5 72x72px Maciej Rybiński
(1784–1874)
25 September 1831 9 October 1831

Presidents of the National Government of the Republic of Poland (1846)

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Entered office Left office
60px
Tyssowski
National Government of the Republic of Poland (triumvirate):

Jan Tyssowski (President)
(1811–1857)
Ludwik Gorzkowski
(1811–1857)
Aleksander Grzegorzewski
(1806–1855)

22 February 1846 24 February 1846
60px Jan Tyssowski
(1811–1857)
(dictator)
24 February 1846 3 March 1846

President of the National Committee in Poznań (1848)

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Entered office Left office
1 60px Gustaw Potworowski
(1800–1860)
20 March 1848 9 May 1848

Presidents of the Polish National Government (1863–1864)

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Entered office Left office
1 60px Stefan Bobrowski
(1840–1863)
21 January 1863 17 February 1863
61x61px Ludwik Mierosławski
(1814–1878)
(dictator)
17 February 1863 11 March 1863
60px Marian Langiewicz
(1827–1887)
(dictator)
11 March 1863 18 March 1863
2 60px Stefan Bobrowski
(1840–1863)
21 March 1863 12 April 1863
3 60px Agaton Giller
(1831–1887)
12 April 1863 23 May 1863
4 60px Franciszek Dobrowolski
(1830–1896)
23 May 1863 9 June 1863
5 60px Piotr Kobylański
(1823–1868)
9 June 1863 10 June 1863
6 60px Karol Majewski
(1833–1897)
14 June 1863 17 September 1863
7 60px Franciszek Dobrowolski
(1830–1896)
17 September 1863 17 October 1863
8 Romuald Traugutt 111.PNG Romuald Traugutt
(1826–1864)
(dictator.)
17 October 1863 10 April 1864
60px Aleksander Waszkowski
(1841–1865)
12 April 1864 19 December 1864
9 60px Bronisław Brzeziński
(1837–1865)
20 April 1864 October 1864

Republic of Poland (1918–1939)

Chief of State

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Entered office Left office Political party Notes
Józef Piłsudski
(1867–1935)
14 November 1918 11 December 1922 Independent Provisional Chief of State until 1918

President of the Republic

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Entered office Left office Political party Election Notes
Previous office
1 99x99px Wojciech Jaruzelski
(1923–2014)
19 July 1989 22 December 1990
(Resigned)
Polish United Workers' Party
(to 30 January 1990)
1989 Following the Polish Round Table Agreement between the Polish United Workers' Party and Solidarity, the Council of State was abolished. Its chairman was elected President of the People's Republic by the Parliament.
2 93x93px Lech Wałęsa
(born 1943)
22 December 1990 22 December 1995 Solidarity Citizens' Committee 1990 First president elected by popular vote
3 Aleksander kwasniewski konferencja (cropped).jpg Aleksander Kwaśniewski
(born 1954)
23 December 1995 23 December 2005 Democratic Left Alliance 1995
2000
Member of the Sejm (1991–95). First President of the Third Republic elected twice
4 File:Lech Kaczyński.jpg Lech Kaczyński
(1949–2010)
23 December 2005 10 April 2010
(Died in office)
Law and Justice 2005 Senator (1989–91), Member of the Sejm (1991–93 and 2001–02), Mayor of Warsaw (2002-2005). Died in a plane crash
103x103px Bronisław Komorowski
(born 1952)
Acting President
10 April 2010 8 July 2010 Civic Platform Marshal of the Sejm. Resigned as Marshal of the Sejm, and thus as Acting President, after being confirmed as the winner of the 2010 presidential election
75px Bogdan Borusewicz
(born 1949)
Acting President
8 July 2010 8 July 2010 Civic Platform Marshal of the Senate. Acting president for less than a day, between Komorowski's resignation as the Marshal of the Sejm and Grzegorz Schetyna being sworn in.
75px Grzegorz Schetyna
(born 1963)
Acting President
8 July 2010 6 August 2010 Civic Platform Marshal of the Sejm. Served as Acting President until Komorowski was sworn in as president as the result of the 2010 presidential election
5 103x103px Bronisław Komorowski
(born 1952)
6 August 2010 6 August 2015 Civic Platform 2010 Member of the Sejm (1991–2010), Marshal of the Sejm (2007–10); Acting President (2010).
6 Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej Andrzej Duda.jpg Andrzej Duda
(born 1972)
6 August 2015 Incumbent Law and Justice 2015
2020
Member of the Sejm (2011–14), Member of the European Parliament (2014–15); Duda was the Law and Justice candidate in the 2015 election, but resigned his membership on 26 May 2015. Second President of the Third Republic elected twice

Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile (1939–1990)

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Entered office Left office Political party Notes
1 Władysław Raczkiewicz
(1885–1947)
30 September 1939 6 June 1947
(Died in office)
Independent Raczkiewicz's government lost recognition by the Western Allies on 6 July 1945.
2 August Zaleski
(1883–1972)
9 June 1947 7 April 1972
(Died in office)
Independent From 1954 onwards, opposed by the Rada Trzech (Council of Three)
3 Stanisław Ostrowski
(1892–1982)
9 April 1972 24 March 1979 Independent
4 Edward Raczyński
(1891–1993)
8 April 1979 8 April 1986 Independent
5 Kazimierz Sabbat
(1913–1989)
8 April 1986 19 July 1989
(Died in office)
Independent
6 Ryszard Kaczorowski
(1919–2010)
19 July 1989 22 December 1990 Independent Kaczorowski resigned on 22 December 1990, upon the election of Lech Wałęsa as President of the Republic of Poland.

Polish People's Republic (1944–1989)

President of the State National Council

The Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland was founded under Soviet protection on 31 December 1944 and recognised by the United States and the United Kingdom since 6 July 1945. It evolved into the Government of National Unity on 28 June 1945, and eventually into the Polish People's Republic on 19 February 1947.

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Entered office Left office Political party Notes
1 75px Bolesław Bierut
(1892–1956)
31 December 1944 4 February 1947 Polish Workers' Party

Chairman of the Council of State

In 1952, the July Constitution abolished the office of president and made the Council of State the collective head of state, chairmen of which are listed below. Real power rested with the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), its Central Committee, and the secretary general/first secretary.

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Entered office Left office Political party Notes
1 98x98px Aleksander Zawadzki
(1899–1964)
20 November 1952 7 August 1964
(Died in office)
Polish United Workers' Party Died in office (cancer)
In accordance with the constitution, the vice presidents of the Council of State, Edward Ochab, Stanisław Kulczyński, Oskar R. Lange, and Bolesław Podedworny, became collegially acting heads of state.
2 75px Edward Ochab
(1906–1989)
12 August 1964 10 April 1968 Polish United Workers' Party
3 75px Marian Spychalski
(1906–1980)
10 April 1968 23 December 1970 Polish United Workers' Party
4 75px Józef Cyrankiewicz
(1911–1989)
23 December 1970 28 March 1972 Polish United Workers' Party
5 91x91px Henryk Jabłoński
(1909–2003)
28 March 1972 6 November 1985 Polish United Workers' Party
6 75px Wojciech Jaruzelski
(1923–2014)
6 November 1985 19 July 1989 Polish United Workers' Party Also the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party

First Secretaries of the Polish Workers' Party (PPR)/Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR)

Since 1954, the head of the party was also the Chairman of the Central Committee.

Name
(Birth–Death)
Portrait Entered office Left office Position
Władysław Gomułka
(1905–1982)
108x108px 23 November 1943 10 August 1948 First Secretary of PPR
Bolesław Bierut
(1892–1956)
80px 10 August 1948 12 March 1956
(Died in office)
First Secretary of PPR to 16 December 1948;

First Secretary of PZPR from 22 December 1948

Edward Ochab
(1906–1989)
80px 20 March 1956 21 October 1956 First Secretary of PZPR
Władysław Gomułka
(1905–1982)
108x108px 21 October 1956 20 December 1970
Edward Gierek
(1913–2001)
106x106px 20 December 1970 6 September 1980
Stanisław Kania
(1927–2020)
80px 6 September 1980 18 October 1981
Wojciech Jaruzelski
(1923–2014)
80px 18 October 1981 29 July 1989
Mieczysław Rakowski*
(1926–2008)
98x98px 29 July 1989 29 January 1990
  • By the second half of 1989, the office of First Secretary, occupied at the time by Mieczysław Rakowski, ceased to hold any real power.

Republic of Poland (1989–present)

List Of Presidents Of Poland Media