Lubomirski Family - Interwar Period

Interwar Period

For more details on this topic, see Second Polish Republic.

In the years 1919 – 1939 princes Lubomirski served as Members of Parliament, senators; worked in the ministries. They were also engaged in the process of industrialization of the state. They formed banking centres and credit unions, which provided cheap loans to the poorest. They were active in educational organizations, funded and financed schools. They also belonged to the key organizations involved in modernization of roads, railways, and aviation. They took part in the reconstruction of the Polish army. They were also engaged in Polish culture and worked on a voluntary basis.

Prince Stefan Lubomirski (1862 – 1941) was an initiator of the creation of the Polish Olympic Games Committee (later the Polish Olympic committee) and a member of the International Olympic Committee. He was the first president of the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOL). The next president was his cousin, Prince Kazimierz Lubomirski. Prince Stefan was passionate about racehorse breeding. He formed with his brothers the most modern horse breeding in Poland in the manor of Widzów near Częstochowa.

Stefan Lubomirski was the owner of the Warsaw Commuter Railways (Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa) company, which created the narrow gauge: passenger and freight railways – of Grójec, Jabłonków and Wilanów. Railways were the only modern means of transport, which allowed capital city dwellers to reach factories located outside the city and residents of suburban areas to get to the capital city. Lines built by Lubomirski also worked during World War II delivering supply to the city controlled by the occupation authorities and bringing employees to Warsaw offices and factories.

Prince Stanisław Sebastian Lubomirski also established the Central Union of Polish Industry “Leviatan”, where he was the president since 1932. The union promoted the ideas of development of the industry – lowering taxes, social security benefits for workers and increasing state aid to the industry. Members of the organization were elected to the Sejm, the Senate; were members of many governments of the Second Republic of Poland and other state institutions. They had extensive information background – published three magazines: “Economic Review” (“Przegląd Gospodarczy”), “The Polish Courier” (“Kurier Polski”) and “The Telegram” (“Depesza”). The prince established the Industrial Bank of Warsaw SA (“Bank Przemysłowy Warszawski S.A.”); was the president of the Commercial Bank (“Bank Handlowy”) in Warsaw, the Central Union of Polish Industry (“Centralny Związek Przemysłu Polskiego”), the Polish Bank Association (“Związek Banków Polskich”), and the Association of Polish Industrialists („Stowarzyszenie Przemysłowców Polskich”). He devoted his life to the struggle for independence of the Polish economy from the influence of the partitioners, and after regaining independence – of the neighbouring countries.