Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski

Who was Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski?

Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski was a Polish physician, general and politician who served as Polish Minister of Internal Affairs and was the last Prime Minister of Poland before World War II.

Składkowski studied medicine at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, graduating in 1911. He then worked as a physician in Sosnowiec. He fought in the Polish Legions in World War I and later in the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921. In 1924, as a Brigadier-General, he was appointed head of the Polish military health service by Józef Piłsudski.

After the May Coup of 1926, Składkowski served as Minister of the Interior, a post he held until June 1931. After that, he was appointed Deputy Minister of War.

On 13 May 1936 Składkowski became Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. He was Poland's longest serving Prime Minister in the inter-war years, his cabinet lasting for 3 years and 4 months, until 30 September 1939. He was also the first Polish Protestant to hold that position.

While serving as Prime Minister, he was appalled by the lack of sanitation in many of Poland's villages, and issued a decree that every household in Poland must have a latrine in working order. This prompted many village-dwellers to erect wooden sheds in their backyards for this purpose, which have been subsequently dubbed "slawojkis".