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Adam Ignacy Koc | |
|---|---|
 Koc, sometime before 1937 | |
| Minister of Treasury | |
| In office 30 September 1939 – 9 December 1939 | |
| Prime Minister | Władysław Sikorski |
| Preceded by | Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski |
| Succeeded by | Henryk Strasburger |
| Minister of Industry and Trade | |
| In office 9 October 1939 – 9 December 1939 | |
| Prime Minister | Władysław Sikorski |
| Preceded by | Antoni Roman |
| Succeeded by | Henryk Strasburger |
| Vice-minister of Treasury | |
| In office 23 December 1930 – December 1935 | |
| Vice-minister of Treasury | |
| In office 10 September 1939 – 30 September 1939 | |
| Prime Minister | Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski |
| 2nd Vice-minister of Treasury | |
| In office December 1939 – March 1940[1] | |
| Prime Minister | Władysław Sikorski |
| State commissioner for the Bank of Poland | |
| In office 3 January 1932 – 7 February 1936 | |
| Head of the Bank of Poland[2] | |
| In office 7 February 1936 – 8 May 1936 | |
| Preceded by | Władysław Wróblewski |
| Succeeded by | Władysław Byrka |
| 2nd Convocation member of Sejm | |
| In office 4 March 1928 – 30 August 1930 | |
| Constituency | Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government (BBWR) |
| 3rd Convocation member of Sejm | |
| In office 16 November 1930 – 10 July 1935 | |
| Constituency | Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government (BBWR) |
| 4th Convocation member of Sejm | |
| In office 8 September 1935 – 13 September 1938 | |
| Constituency | Camp of National Unity (OZN, from 1937) |
| 5th Convocation member of Senate | |
| In office 13 November 1938 – 2 October 1939 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Adam Ignacy Koc August 8, 1891 Suwałki, Congress Poland |
| Died | February 3, 1969 (aged 77) New York City |
| Resting place | Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford, England 51°47′29″N 1°16′24″W / 51.79131°N 1.27321°W |
| Political party | Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government (BBWR) |
| Other political affiliations | Camp of National Unity (OZN) |
| Alma mater | Wyższa Szkoła Wojskowa, 1924 |
| Profession | soldier, journalist, politician |
| Awards | Virtuti Militari, Order of Polonia Restituta Officer's Cross, Cross of Valour (Poland), Cross of Independence, Officer's Star "Parasol", Légion d'honneur Officier |
| Signature |  |
| Nickname(s) | Witold, Szlachetny, Adam Krajewski, Adam Warmiński, Witold Warmiński |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Poland |
| Branch/service | Polish Legions; Polish Armed Forces |
| Years of service | 1915–1928 (formally until 1930), 1939 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | World War I, Polish–Soviet War |
Adam Ignacy Koc (31 August 1891 – 3 February 1969)[3] was a Polish politician, MP, soldier, journalist and Freemason. Koc, who had several noms de guerre (Witold, Szlachetny, Adam Krajewski, Adam Warmiński and Witold Warmiński), fought in Polish units in World War I and in the Polish–Soviet War.
In his youth, he was a member of the Revolutionary Association of the Nation's Youth, the Union of Active Struggle and the Riflemen's Association. He then became a commandant of the Polish Military Organisation, first in the Warsaw district, and then its Commandant-in-Chief. Adam Koc was one of the officers of the Polish Legions and a member of so-called Convent of Organisation A.
In the Second Polish Republic, Adam Koc joined the Polish Armed Forces, in December 1919, where he was given command of the 201 Infantry Regiment of Warsaw's Defense, which later became a Volunteer Division (31 July – 3 December 1920). Afterwards, he served in the Ministry of Military Affairs, in different positions. A participant in the May Coup, he was promoted in 1926 to be chief of the Command of VI District of Corps in Lwów, a position he held until 1928.
Considered a member of Piłsudski's colonels group, he was elected to the Sejm three times and once to the Senate. He was also multiple times in office, mostly in financial positions (he was Vice-Minister of Treasury and head of the Bank of Poland). He was one of the negotiators of loans to the Second Polish Republic from the UK and France.
As a Sanational politician, he created the newspaper Gazeta Polska, published from 1929 to 1939. He was editor-in-chief of its Sanational predecessor Głos Prawdy in 1929.[4]
After Piłsudski died in May 1935, Adam Koc joined the people close to Edward Rydz-Śmigły. He became commandant-in-chief of the Association of Polish Legionists.
In 1936–1937, Koc started co-creating a new political entity, the Camp of National Unity (OZN). He became its head a year later. He was supportive of the idea of OZN's approach towards the radical right National Radical Camp Falanga and right-wing National Democracy.
As World War II started, Koc coordinated the evacuation of the Bank of Poland's gold reserves. He served as Minister of Finance, Trade and Industry for a short period in 1939, before he fled to the United States in 1940. He became one of the active members of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America and died, still in exile, in 1969.
- ^ Koc, Adam (2005). Wspomnienia. Wrocław: Towarzystwo przyjaciół Ossolineum. pp. 8–10. ISBN 83-7095-080-9.
- ^ Morawski, Wojciech (1998). Słownik historyczny bankowości polskiej do 1939 roku [The historical dictionary of Polish banking until 1939] (PDF) (in Polish). Fundacja Bankowa im. Leopolda Kronenberga; Muza. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ "Adam Koc". PORTAL 1920 (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ Milek, Jerzy. "Głos Prawdy ma nowego Naczelnego Redaktora" ["Głos Prawdy" newspaper has its new editor-in-chief] (in Polish). Retrieved 2017-07-10.