Ignace Jan Paderewski: (1860-1941) Polish Composer and Pianist

Ignace Jan Paderewski was born on November, 18, 1860 in Kurylowka, Podolia province in Russian Poland.  In 1872, he studied music at the Warsaw Conservatory and went on to teach piano.  His education and talent would carry him to Vienna where he taught the Strasbourg Conservatory.  “Between 1887 and 1891 he made his first public appearances as a pianist, in Vienna, Paris, London, and New York”. (The Encyclopedia Britannica, 15^th Edition, p. 52)

Paderewski grew into a strong patriot of Poland throughout his life, and later became a statesman.  He presented a monument to the city of Krakow commemorating the victory of the Poles over the Teutonic Order.  During World War I, he joined the Polish National Committee and became its leading attaché to the United States urging President Woodrow Wilson to support Polish independence. On January, 8, 1918, Wilson included the Polish cause as the thirteenth of his Fourteen Points. (The Encyclopedia Britannica, 15^th Edition, p. 53)

As a result of his success in the states, he became the Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw.  His political career did not succeed; however, in 1921 he resumed his musical career, playing in Europe and the United States for war victims.  (The Encyclopedia Britannica, 15^th Edition, p. 53)

In 1939, he became chairman of the Polish National Council in Paris and London.  In 1941, he died in the United States and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery temporarily.  Fifty-one years later, he was given a Polish burial at St. John’s Cathedral in Poland. (Who's Who in the First World War)

Photographs:

Bust of Paderewski

University of Pennsylvania Library, 2002-2004

Photographs of the Garden

Further Reading:

Polish Music Center, University of Southern California

Who’s Who in the First World War

plaque in Arlington National Cemetery

Smithsonian National Museum of American History

The Poles, The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

Polish National Catholic Church, The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

The Encyclopedia Britannica, 15^th Edition, Vol. 9, p. 52-53, 2002.

Sanford, George and Adriana Gozdecka-Sanford.  Historical Dictionary of Poland.  Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., p.142, 1994.