Leon Wasilewski

Leon Wasilewski studied at Charles University and Lviv University. The recorded working language is Polish and German. The field of work recorded is politics, opinion journalism and historiography. Positions recorded include ambassador of Poland to Estonia. Distinctions recorded are Cross of Liberty, Commander of the Order of Polonia Restituta and Commander with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

• Name — Leon Wasilewski • Office — Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland • Term Start — 17 November 1918 • Term End — 16 January 1919 • Predecessor — Władysław Wróblewski • Successor — Ignacy Paderewski (acting) • Born — 24 August 1870 • Birthplace — Saint Petersburg, Russia • Died — 10 December 1936 • Place of death — Warsaw, Poland • Party — Polish Socialist Party • Relations — Halszka Wasilewska and Wanda Wasilewska • Occupation — Politician • Committees — architect of Polish foreign policy

Born on 24 August 1870 in Saint Petersburg, to an impoverished gentry family with roots in Livonia and Samogitia. His father was an organist at Saint Stanislaus church in St. Petersburg. His mother, Maria Reiter, was a teacher of mixed German and Czech ancestry, and came from Moravia. After completing his secondary education he attended Lwow University, where he met his future wife, Wanda Zieleniewska. Both were involved in student politics. He dropped out of his course to follow his political ambitions. Later he briefly attended Prague University, where he met Jan Masaryk. He and Wanda had three daughters: Halszka (born in London) and Wanda and Sofia Aldona (born in Kraków).

After a brief participation in the endecja movement (Liga Narodowa), he joined the PPS in Galicia in the 1890s - he would remain a member of the party for his entire life (and join the party's top policy-making body in the late 1920s). Editor of Przedświt (PPS publication in London), and later, Robotnik in Galicia. He was loyal to Piłsudski, even during the PPS split in the 1900s, when he remained with his Revolution Faction. Activist in the Komisja Tymczasowa Skonfederowanych Stronnictw Niepodległościowych (1912–1914). During the First World War, he was a member of several Polish organizations, including the Chief National Committee, and from 1917, a member of the Polish Military Organisation. After Poland regained independence, he became the first Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving in the government of Jędrzej Moraczewski from 17 November 1918 to 16 January 1919. Afterwards he served as an advisor to Chief of State Józef Piłsudski; he was a member of the Polish National Committee in Paris (in 1919) and Provisional Political Committee of the Kaunas Land that sought Polish occupation of Lithuania; and served as the Polish ambassador to Estonia (1920–1921). He took part in the Treaty of Riga negotiations and the commission for the delimitation of Poland's eastern borders.

• Litwa i Białoruś (Lithuania and Belarus) (1912) • Kresy Wschodnie - Litwa i Białoruś. Podlasie i Chełmszczyzna. Galicya Wschodnia. Ukraina (1917) • Zarys dziejów PPS (Overview of the History of PPS) (1925) • Józef Piłsudski, jakim go znałem (Józef Piłsudski as I Knew Him) (1935)

He also worked under the names Левко Васильчук, Teofil Woyszwiłło and Leon Płochocki. His recorded languages were Polish and German. One child is recorded: Wanda Wasilewska.

Leon Wasilewski worked in politics, opinion journalism and historiography. Recorded position is ambassador of Poland to Estonia. He belonged to National League.

Leon Wasilewski is recorded as historian, diplomat, ethnographer, translator and writer.

Afterwards he concentrated on historical research. He researched linguistics (particularly Slavic languages), ethnography of the Central and Eastern European lands, and history of literature. He would serve as the director of two institutes (Instytut Badania Najnowszej Historii Polski (Institute of Studies of Modern Polish History) in the 1920s and Instytut Badań Narodowościowych (Institute of Nationality Studies) in the 1930s) and editor of the journal Niepodległośc. Supporter of Międzymorze federation idea, as well as Prometheism, he was also a vocal opponent of polonization, arguing that Ukrainians and Belarusians living in Poland should be allowed to assimilate into Polish society at their will and speed. Author of many works, among them Litwa i Białoruś ("Lithuania and Belarus", 1912), Ukraińska sprawa narodowa w jej rozwoju historycznym ("The Ukrainian National Cause in its Historical Development", 1925), Zarys dziejów PPS ("A Short History of the PPS", 1925), Józef Piłsudski, jakim go znałem ("Józef Piłsudski, as I knew him", 1935). His daughter, Wanda Wasilewska, was a prominent pro-Soviet communist activist in the People's Republic of Poland.