Stefan Wyszyński (1901 –1981) Polish cardinal of the Catholic Church, archbishop of Warsaw and Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He assumed the title of the Primate of Poland and is often referred to as the Primate of the Millennium.
In 1929 he received a doctorate at the Faculty of Canon Law and Social Sciences of the Catholic University of Lublin. A staunch adversary of Nazism and Communism, he was the unquestionable leader of the community of Polish Catholics persecuted at the time of the communist regime in Poland after 1945. In 1953-1956 he was imprisoned in a provincial monastery in the countryside. One of his most prominent achievements was the public celebration in 1966 of Poland’s Millennium of Christianity – the thousandth anniversary of the baptism of Poland’s first ruler, prince Mieszko I.
He was widely acclaimed for both his religious and his social commitment. In the absence of any form of officially recognized opposition, he was often treated as the sole representative of Poland’s long democratic tradition. He cooperated closely with another prominent member of Polish Catholic clergy – Karol Wojtyła (in 1978-2005 pope John Paul II).
