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Władysław Gomułka
Władysław Gomułka , 1905-82, Polish Communist leader. Long a Communist, he helped establish the Polish Workers' party and was (1943-49) secretary of its central committee. After World War II, he served (1945-49) as deputy premier of Poland. A Polish nationalist, he was purged in 1949 ...
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Czesław Miłosz
Czesław Miłosz , 1911-2004, poet, essayist, and novelist, b. Szetejnie, Lithuania (then in Russia). Widely considered the greatest contemporary Polish poet, Miłosz was born into an ethnically Polish family, studied law in Vilnius and literature in Paris, lived in Warsaw during World W...
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Joseph Piłsudski
Joseph Piłsudski , Pol. Józef Piłsudski , 1867-1935, Polish general and politician. He was exiled (1887-92) to Siberia for an alleged attempt on the life of Czar Alexander III, who ruled a large section of Poland. On his return he joined the Polish Socialist party and began (1894) ...
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Wrocław
Wrocław , Ger. Breslau, city (1993 est. pop. 644,000), capital of Dolnośląskie prov., SW Poland, on the Oder (Odra) River. A railway center and river port, the city is also an industrial center with manufactures of heavy machinery, electronics, computers, iron goods, textiles, coppe...
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Edward Rydz-Śmigły
Edward Rydz-Śmigły , 1886-1941, Polish politician. He served under Piłsudski in the Polish Legions (1914-17), in the war with Soviet Russia (1920), and in the coup of 1926. At Piłsudski's death and in accordance with his wish, Rydz-Śmigły succeeded him (1935) as inspe...
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Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa , 1943-, Polish labor and political leader. He worked as an electrician at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk but was dismissed in 1976 for his antigovernment protests. In 1980 striking workers at the shipyard won his reinstatement, and he assumed leadership of the independent t...
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Stefan Wyszynski
Stefan Wyszynski , 1901-81, Polish prelate, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Ordained in 1924, he received (1929) a doctorate in sociology and canon law from the Catholic Univ. of Lublin. He was active in the resistance during World War II. In 1946 he was consecrated bishop of Lublin. Pope Piu...
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Frankfurt an der Oder
Frankfurt an der Oder , city (1994 pop. 83,850), Brandenburg, E Germany, a port on the Oder River, at the Polish border. It is an industrial center, agricultural market, and rail junction. Manufactures include textiles, machinery, foodstuffs, shoes, and furniture. Lignite is mined nearby. Frankfurt ...
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Lamía
Lamía , city (1991 pop. 44,084), capital of Fthiótis prefecture, E central Greece. It is a transportation hub and an agricultural center. Founded about the 5th cent. BC, it was the chief city of the small region of Malis and developed as an ally of Athens. It gave its name to the Lamia...
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Vistula
Vistula , Pol. Wisła, longest river and principal waterway of Poland, c.665 mi (1,070 km) long. It rises in the West Beskid range of the Carpathians, S Poland, and flows NE past Kraków, NW past Warsaw and Toruń, and N past Grudziądz and Tczew to the Gulf of Danzig on the Balt...
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