Professor Jan Gwiazdomorski (1899–1977): Biography Notes

Abstract

The present article seeks to cast light on the figure of Professor Jan Gwiazdomorski from a perspective distinct from that adopted in the scholarly literature hitherto. The authors intend to depict this eminent jurist not solely as a professor of law but also as an individual actively committed to the formation of a reborn Polish state, personally participating in the struggle for its independence and subsequently contributing to the development of a robust state grounded in constitutional principles. The analysis is consistently centred on three thematic areas. First, the impact of the familial milieu on the development of Professor patriotic attitudes, as illustrated by the lives of his grandfather Jan, his father Jan Kazimierz, and his brother Kazimierz. Second, the Professor’s active involvement in the struggle for Poland’s independence and in the building of its statehood, recalling both his participation in the battles for independence between 1918 and 1920 and his later role as an official of the General Prosecutor’s Office in Kraków in the famous lawsuit brought against Poland by the Habsburg family concerning the so-called Cieszyn Chamber (Ger. Teschener Kammer). The final area addressed in the article is the Professor’s journalistic activity, centred on an analysis of the contemporary internal situation of the state and an evaluation of the methods by which public authority was exercised.