Jan Załuska is simply a character who in the past of Poland of the 20th century combines 2 main spheres of activity: medicine and national policy. As an educated doctor and active political activist of the People's and National Union, Załuska left a lasting way both in the field of wellness protection and in the turbulent political life of the Second Republic. His life is simply a communicative of tenacity, sacrifice and fight for independent Poland – both on the ideological front and in the sanitary service.
Childhood and Youth
Jan Załuska was born on 5 January 1873 in the village of Godlewo, located in Ostrow County, then under the Russian partition. He was the boy of Lorenzo and Antonina of Jabłonowski, although any sources – e.g. Stanisław Łoza – erroneously state their mother's name as Anna. He grew up in a household of deep patriotic traditions, which had a immense impact on his further life choices.
In 1891, he graduated from a junior advanced school in Łomża. It was a period of intensified rusification of education, in which the young Załuska matured into a stance of opposition to the Tsaric dominance. Immediately after his graduation he started medical studies at the Faculty of medicine of the Imperial University of Warsaw – 1 of the fewer universities available to Poles at the time in the Polish Kingdom.
Even in student times Załuska was distinguished by political and social activity. In 1894, he participated in a patriotic manifestation in Warsaw organized in honor of Jan Kiliński. The demonstration was brutally suppressed by the Tsarist police, and Załuska was arrested and spent 2 weeks in prison.
From 1894 to 1898, he served as president of the People's Education ellipse of university students. He was besides a associate of the Association of Polish Youth “Zet” – 1 of the most crucial secret youth organizations of the era – and the National League, the ideological basis of the later national movement.
In 1898 he finished his studies, but due to another arrest – this time for educational activity – he did not receive his diploma. Incarcerated in the Xth Warsaw Citadel pavilion, he was sentenced to exile. However, he managed to escape from captivity and take refuge in the Austrian partition, in Lviv.
Scientific work and return to the Kingdom
In Lviv, Jan Załuska settled for longer. From 1903 to 1905 he worked as an assistant in the Department of Physiology of the University of Francis (now the University of Lviv named after Ivan Franki). In 1905, he obtained his doctoral degree there.
In the same year he decided to return to Warsaw, but this time under a changed name. Knowing that he was being pursued by the Russian authorities, he acted in a conspiracy. He collaborated with the national press, publishing articles in “Warsaw Gazeta” and “Wszystko Poland” where he commented on social, political and wellness issues.
In 1910 he married Edwarda Przyłuska, and in 1911 moved to Ostrów Mazowiecki. There he founded and published the local paper “Gazeta Ostrowska”, a average with a clear national profile.
With the outbreak of planet War I, Jan Załuska became active in military activity. In 1914, he joined the Puławski Legion as a doctor and then served in the 1st Polish Corps in Russia, commanded by General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki from 1915 to 1918.
In July 1917, in Moscow, he became a associate of the Council of the Polish Interparty Unity – a body to represent the interests of Poles during the turbulent period of the Russian Revolution. In parallel, he conducted independency activities in national environments.
Parliamentary career
After the war ended, Jan Załuska engaged in parliamentary activity. In 1919, he was elected an MP to the Legislative Sejm from the territory of Łomżyński, representing the environment of the National Camp. After finishing his tenure in 1922, he again became an MP, this time on the list of the National People's Union (ZLN), which continued the perfect legacy of the National League.
In the Sejm he was an active associate of the public wellness committee, military commission and constitutional commission. As a doctor, he brought large experience and cognition to work on creating a wellness strategy in reborn Poland.
In 1922 it was verified to the degree of lieutenant colonel of the common physician's departure with seniority dated June 1, 1919. In 1924 he assumed the position of president of the General Board of ZLN, which he held until 1927.
Party and public activities
After the end of his parliamentary career, Jan Załuska did not retreat from public life. From 1919 to 1939 he served as the editor of “Zory” – a socio-political writing on the national profile. It was 1 of the most crucial releases of this environment, to advance national thought and civic education.
In parallel, as a doctor, he engaged in professional and self-government activities. He was the Secretary-General of the Association of Doctors of the Polish State (ZLPP), and in 1931–1933, the editor-in-chief of the two-week “Social and Medical Innovations”, issued by ZLPP. This letter aimed at integrating the medical environment and promoting modern treatments and professional ethics.
In 1939, despite his advanced age, he became a associate of the Main Committee of the National organization – a follower of the ideological pre-war ZLN.
Period of business and death
After the outbreak of planet War II, Jan Załuska remained in Warsaw. His activity in the last months of his life has been limited by illness and hard business conditions. He died on 26 January 1941 in Warsaw, aged 68. He was buried in the Powązkowski Cemetery, in accommodation 299b-2-18 – the resting place of many prominent Poles
Jan Załuska was a unique figure not only due to his political commitment, but besides due to the combination of roles of a doctor, social and politics in times of large historical breakthroughs. He was an thought man who consistently implemented his program based on national, ethical and civic values.
In his parliamentary and professional career, he emphasized responsibility, education and public service. His activity in the medical community had a crucial influence on the improvement of organizational structures of medicine in Poland, and as a politician he made a crucial contribution to the improvement of the strategy of the II Polish Republic.
Tomasz Kavalec
