Jan Szembek (diplomat)

Jan Szembek

Jan Szembek (July 11, 1881 – July 9, 1945) was a Polish diplomat, one of the most influential in the final years of the Second Polish Republic, and a close associate of Józef Beck. Szembek was born in a szlachta family on July 11, 1881, in the village of Poręba near Alwernia. He graduated from the Vienna University, then took up the post of an Austrian government clerk in Bosnia (1905–1908). In 1908 he settled in Kraków

In 1919, after Poland regained independence (see: Partitions of Poland), Szembek was named chargé d'affaires. Later, he was the Polish ambassador in Budapest (1921–1924), Brussels (1925), and Bucharest (1927), where he remained until 1932. After returning to Poland, he took up the job of deputy secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw.

On September 17, 1939, he left Poland, together with other members of the government. His home, located in the village of Mloszowa (near Trzebinia), was ransacked by the Germans, who also burned Szembek's personal library. He died on July 9, 1945, in Estoril near Lisbon. Szembek authored two books:

  • Diariusz i teki Jana Szembeka 1934 - 1939, t. 1 - 4, London 1964 - 1972
  • Jan Szembek Diariusz. Wrzesien-Grudzien 1939, Wydawnictwo PAX Warszawa 1989, ISBN 83-211-1100-9

Decorations and awards

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