Poland is one of the most developed countries in Europe: you can go to college completely for free, play at one of the online casino Polish sites when you want to have fun or visit one of the 16 UNESCO World Heritage sites in the country. Poland is also the birthplace of many well-known people around the world. The kings are the saviors of Western civilization, the founders of modern astronomy, the Nobel laureates, etc. Poland is known as the homeland of all of these people and more. Below, we list the world-known Polish people and explain what we owe them.
Table of Contents
Nicolaus Copernicus
No matter which city you visit in Poland, you will see a statue of Copernicus. He is particularly famous in Warsaw, and there are multiple musonline casino Polisheums dedicated to him. You probably learned who he was in high school, but here is a quick reminder: Copernicus is the world’s most famous mathematician and astronomer. All astronomers before him would place the Earth at the “center of the universe” and think that all the planets revolve around the Earth. So, even the sun was something created for the world, and it would revolve around our Earth. After all, God created the world, so it is the most important thing out there, and it was unthinkable for any other plan to exist.
Copernicus was the first to say that this was nonsense, and that all the planets, including the Earth, revolve around the sun. To understand what a radical statement it was, let us point out that being so open-minded in the 15th century was not a good idea for your health: you could be declared an enemy of the Church and killed by fire or any other innovative torture technique at any moment. Fortunately, this did not happen to Copernicus, and he managed to become the founder of modern astronomy with his innovative model of the universe.
Frederick Chopin
Many people think that Chopin is French, but this is false. Chopin was born in the town of Zelazowa Wola and lived in Warsaw for half of his life. He lived the other half and died in France but always wanted to return to Poland. In fact, his last wish on his deathbed was for his body to remain in France and his heart to be buried in Poland. Chopin is one of the greatest pianists of all time and is known as a legendary composer.
He had to leave Poland due to the November Uprising in 1830. He lived in Vienna for a while and then moved to France permanently. But when you read his diaries and letters, you see how much he regrets his decision: Chopin deeply regrets that he did not stay in Poland and join the resistance. Founded by the Polish Parliament, the Fryderyk Chopin Institute has a large part of these diaries and letters and annually organizes an event called the “International Chopin Piano Competition.”
John III Sobieski
Sobieski has the title of “Savior of Vienna and Western European civilization” awarded by the Pope. It can be said that he is literally the most important figure in European history, not just Poland. Without Sobieski, it would be a much different Europe today – perhaps what we call Europe would never have happened. Sobieski was the king of Poland in the 17th century, and in 1683 he defeated the Ottomans in battle. This battle, now known as the “Battle of Vienna,” halted the Ottoman advance in Europe and forced them to preserve, not expand, their existing borders. If Vienna was conquered by the Ottomans, there would be no power left to stand against them: The Ottoman Empire would conquer the entire European continent and most likely turn the United States into a colony as well.
Sobieski eliminated all these possibilities by stopping the advance of the Ottomans and, as the Pope said, indeed saved Western civilization. Moreover, he did this by attacking a 150,000-strong army with just 70,000 soldiers: Sobieski was a military genius. Although his name is mentioned in every history book today, many still do not understand the importance of his victory: without Sobieski, there would be no European civilization.
Maria Skłodowska-Curie
The number of famous people who were born in Poland and died in France is quite high. Marie Curie is one of them: she was born in Poland in 1867 and died in France in 1934. But unlike Chopin, it was local customs and laws that forced Marie Curie to emigrate to France: at that time, women were not able to do scientific work in Poland. They were not even allowed to work in daily jobs. Therefore, Marie Curie immigrated to France with her husband and continued her studies at the Sorbonne University.
You probably know the rest of the story: she won the Nobel prize in 1903 for her work on radioactivity. She discovered the elements Polonium and Radium and was able to isolate radioactive isotopes. She even sent mobile X-Ray units to the front during World War I. Her devotion to Poland has always continued: why do you think she named the element she discovered “Polonium”? Unfortunately, it was not known at the time that radioactivity could harm human health: Marie Curie became “aplastic anemia” due to the radiation she was exposed to during her lifetime and died in a sanatorium. Her work has inspired thousands of scientists in both physics and chemistry.
