Edward Szczepanik

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Edward Szczepanik : biography

August 22, 1915 – 11 October 2005

Marriage and children

Edward Szczepanik married Hanna Maria Janikowska on June 29, 1946 in Rome. They had four children, Barbara, Tadeusz, Zofia and Tomasz, all of whom were born in London.

Economist career

Szczepanik’s career as an economist encompassed many educational institutions, including:

  • assistant lecturer – Warsaw School of Economics, Poland (1938-1939 SGH)
  • assistant professor – Polish University College, London (1947-1953)
  • senior lecturer – University of Hong Kong (1953-1961)
  • advisor – Harvard University Advisory Team, Karachi, Pakistan (1961-1963)
  • senior research fellow – University of Sussex, England (1978-1981)
  • professor of economics – Polish University Abroad, London (Polski Uniwersytet na Obczyznie – PUNO) 1981.

In addition, Szczepanik also performed consulting for the following:

  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Hong Kong (1954)
  • United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (UN-ECAFE), Bangkok, Thailand (1956)
  • International Coffee Organisation (ICO), London (1975)

Szczepanik also worked with the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the UN – first as a consultant in Hong Kong from 1954-1955; and later as Senior Economist in Rome, Italy from 1963 until 1977.

Polish politics

Szczepanik was founder and Chairman of the Polish Institute for Research into National Affairs (Instytut Badań Zagadnień Krajowych) in London during 1951 to 1953 and 1983 to 1986. While in Rome, Italy from 1963 to 1977, he was also the Polish representative to the Holy See – one of only three states that still continued its relations with the Polish Government in Exile. He was director of the Council for Understanding Research on Poles Living Abroad (Rada Porozumiewawcza Badań nad Polonią), and was President of the Polish Society of Arts and Sciences Abroad (Polskie Towarzystwo Naukowe na Obczyźnie – PTNO) in London. In 1981 he also became the Minister of Home Affairs of the Polish Government in Exile. On April 7, 1986 he was chosen the successor of Kazimierz Sabbat to be the next Prime Minister of that government. After Sabbat’s death, his successor as the president of Poland in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, asked him to continue with his mission, which ended in 1990. This is when Szczepanik’s cabinet advised their last President in Exile to accept the invitation of Poland’s Speaker of the Senate to transfer the Flag and other Office pre-war Insignia to Lech Wałęsa in Warsaw, as the “President of the Republic elected by Polish people in free general elections”.

Polish honours

Szczepanik was honoured to be named a Knight of the Order of Polonia Restituta by the Polish Government in Exile in 1981. In 1982 he obtained the freedom of his native town Suwałki as its honorary citizen. The President of the Republic of Poland in London awarded him with a Commander’s Star in 1985, to which a Grand Sash was added in 1989. He was awarded the title of Doctor of Economic Science – Honoris Causa in 1995 by the Warsaw School of Economics. In 1996, Szczepanik received from the starost (mayor) of Powiat of Suwałki the Medal for Merits to the Powiat of Suwałki; and from Poland’s Minister of Culture, the Medal for Merits to Polish Culture.

Szczepanik died on 11 October 2005 in Worcestershire. His ashes were buried with military honours in his home town of Suwałki following a requiem mass at St Alexander’s Church.

Szczepanik cabinets