Polish Senate in tribute to Paderewski
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
16.06.2016 11:34
The Senate, the Upper House of the Polish Parliament, has paid tribute to Ignacy Jan Paderewski on the 75th anniversary of his death, which falls on 29 June.
An exhibition marking the 75th anniversary of the death of Ignacy Jan Paderewski at the Polish Senate. Photo: Katarzyna Czerwińska/Kancelaria Senatu
In a special resolution, the senators describe Paderewski not only as the world-famous musician but also a statesman and co-founder of Polish independence, regained in 1918 after over 120 years of foreign rule.
The resolution recalls Paderewski’s lobbying for the Polish cause in the United States in 1915, stressing that it was as a result of his efforts that US President Woodrow Wilson supported the idea of the rebirth of Poland as a united and sovereign state.
In 1919, as Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Paderewski co-chaired (with Roman Dmowski) the Polish delegation at the Peace Conference in Paris and signed the Treaty of Versailles.
He died in the United States in 1941 and, following a decision by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was buried at Arlington Military Cemetery in Washington.
In 1992 his remains were brought to Poland and buried at St John’s Cathedral in Warsaw.
The adoption of the resolution by the Senate was followed by the opening of an exhibition documenting Paderewski’s activities as a statesman and artist.
Hailed by his contemporaries as the greatest pianist since Franz Liszt, Paderewski achieved the peak of his triumphant career at the turn of the 19th century, when his fame across the world. He was also a talented composer.
His opera “Manru” remains, to this day, the only Polish opera staged at the Metropolitan in New York. (mk/rg)