Maciej Rataj

Maciej Rataj (born February 19, 1884 in Chłopy , Gródek district near Lemberg ; † June 21, 1940 in Palmiry , Czosnów municipality ) was a Polish politician of the peasant parties, teacher, journalist, minister of culture and 1922 to 1927 Sejmmarschall (President of Parliament). During the vacancy, he represented the President twice (1922 and 1926) . He belonged u. a. the Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (PSL) and Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe Piast (PSL "Piast").

Life

Rataj came from a small farming family. After attending the one-year village school and four-year elementary school in Komarno , he attended Classical Gymnasium No. 4 in Lemberg . During this time he was able to earn his living with tutoring during his studies in classical philology at the University of Lemberg, which followed in 1904 and completed in 1908 . After completing his studies, he worked from 1908 to 1913 and 1917 to 1918 as a grammar school teacher for ancient languages in Lemberg and in the meantime as a private teacher for the children of Prince Witold Leon Czartoryski at Jarosław .

From 1900 he published articles in people's newspapers and was in contact with the Polish peasant movement . He became a member of the PSL and after its split in 1913 belonged to the moderate right wing PSL "Piast". In June 1918 he took part in the first joint conference of the Polish peasant movement in the Austrian, Prussian and Russian territories. After he accepted a new position as a high school teacher in Zamość in September 1918 , he switched to the left PSL "Wyzwolenie", since PSL "Piast" was not represented there. In January 1919 he was elected to the constituent Sejm and was first deputy chairman, then chairman of the constitutional committee. After a temporary unification of the two PSL parliamentary groups, he switched back to PSL "Piast" when they were divided in 1920.

Between July 24, 1920 and September 13, 1921, he was Minister for Religious Confessions and Public Education in the first cabinet of Wincenty Witos . The first ban on corporal punishment in schools falls during his term of office .

In the first election to the regular Sejm on November 5, 1922, he received a direct mandate in Sambor and was elected Sejm Marshal on December 1, 1922. In this function he was in front of the National Assembly , which was convened on December 9, 1922 for the election of the President . After the elected President Gabriel Narutowicz was assassinated on December 16 by a nationalist fanatic, Rataj temporarily took over the duties of head of state. He exercised it until the next presidential election on December 20, 1922 , in which his party friend Stanisław Wojciechowski was elected. After Wojciechowski's resignation as a result of the coup in May 1926 , Rataj was again provisional representative of the state until June 4. After the end of the legislative period in 1927, he again obtained a mandate in the Sejm in 1928, this time through the PSL “Piast” list of countries. His successor as President of Parliament was the socialist Ignacy Daszyński . In the early election of 1930, which was accompanied by a wave of harassment from the ruling Sanacja , Rataj was not re-elected.

In March 1931 he participated in the unification of both PSL parties with Stronnictwo Chłopskie to Stronnictwo Ludowe (SL) and was elected to the party's executive committee. From 1935 he was chairman of the main committee of the party and subsequently until 1939 its deputy chairman. He became the publisher of the party newspaper Zielony Sztandar (Green Standard) . In January 1934 he moved from the state list to the Sejm after Wincenty Witos had been withdrawn and remained a member of the SL until the end of the legislative period in 1935.

After the German invasion of Poland , Rataj became active in the resistance. In March 1940 he was arrested in Pawiak and shortly afterwards murdered by the SS or Gestapo in the AB action . He was given an honorary grave in the Palmiry memorial, established in 1948 .

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personal data
SURNAME	Rataj, Maciej
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Polish politician of the peasant parties, teacher and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH	February 19, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH	Peremoshee (Horodok)
DATE OF DEATH	June 21, 1940
Place of death	Palmiry