Eustachy Sapieha

Eustachy Kajetan Sapieha (1881-1963) was a Polish nobleman, prince of the Sapieha family, politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, and deputy to the Polish parliament (Sejm).

A conservative activist from Kresy, he worked with the Regency Council and Józef Piłsudski during the First World War. Afterwards, disappointed with Piłsudski's leftist policies, he was an organizer of the failed 1919 "coup d'etat"; despite that, he subsequently worked with Piłsudski and supported him.

During the Polish-Soviet War, he joined the Polish Cavalry. Afterwards, in 1920, he was chosen by Prime Minister Władysław Grabski to head the Foreign Ministry. Although he successfully negotiated several agreements with the Western powers, his negotiations over federation with Lithuania failed and, faced with criticism from the National Democrats, in 1921 he resigned his post.

In 1928-29 he was a "Sejm" deputy from the Non-partisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government. After the Soviet invasion of Poland (1939) he was arrested by the Soviets and imprisoned. Later he joined Anders' Army. After the war he did not return to then-communist Poland, but settled in Nairobi.