Today is the 144th anniversary of the birth of Walery Sławek, soldier and politician, Marshal of the Sejm, served three times as Prime Minister of Poland, one of the closest, most trusted associates of Józef Piłsudski.

He was born on 2 November 1879 in Strutynka into an impoverished noble family, related to the family of the eminent composer Ignacy Paderewski. In 1900, he became involved with the socialist movement, joining the underground ranks of the Fighting Organisation of the Polish Socialist Party (OB PPS). He was co-organiser of a demonstration on Grzybowski Square in Warsaw (13 XI 1904), in response to the conscription of Poles into the Russian army (linked to the ongoing Russo-Japanese War). This protest ended in a fight with the tsarist police. It was the first armed uprising of Poles against the partitioner since the fall of the January Uprising.

On 26 September 1908, after a successful action by PPS fighters aimed at a Russian postal train near Bezdany, (popularly known as the action of the four prime ministers because of the active participation of Józef Piłsudski, Tomasz Arciszewski, Aleksander Prystor and Walery Sławek, who later became prime ministers of the Polish government), he co-organised the structures of the Active Struggle Association.

During WWI, Sławek was an officer in the First Brigade of the Polish Legions, commanded by Józef Piłsudski, who later delegated him to form the Polish Military Organisation. He was a member of the Central National Committee and the secret Organisation A, which was Piłsudski’s close political support. In the years 1919-1921, he took part in the Polish-Soviet War.

In the inter-war period, Sławek headed the Polish Government three times, was a member of the Grand Lodge of the Polish National Party, founder of the Non-Partisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government (BBWR), and co-author of many points contained in the April Constitution of 1935, in particular the postulate on social solidarity, stating that the state was the good of all its citizens.

In fact, for most of his life, Walery Sławek strictly followed the directives of Marshal Józef Piłsudski. After Marshal’s death, he was marginalised, which caused him feelings of loneliness and depressive moods. Finally, on 2 April 1939, at 20.45 (the hour of Piłsudski’s death), he attempted suicide by shooting himself in the mouth. Despite attempts at resuscitation, he died after several hours in a military hospital.