biography
| name: |
Piłsudski, Józef (Klemens)
|
pronunciation:
[pilsudskee]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1867–1935)
|
| biography:
| Polish marshal, statesman, and first president (1918–22), born in Zulow, N Poland. Often imprisoned in the cause of Polish independence, he became leader of the Polish Socialist Party (1892), and formed a band of troops which fought on the side of Austria during World War 1. He declared Poland's independence in 1918, and became the country's first president. Following a military coup in 1926, he refused the post of president, but served as a powerful minister of defence in the new government. |
|
|
