Thomas Szczeponik

Thomas Szczeponik (born 4 December 1860 in Peiskretscham, Province of Silesia (now Poland), died 30 January 1927 in Katowice (Kattowitz)) was a German-Polish Catholic politician.

He was educated as a teacher at a Catholic seminary in Peiskretscham between 1874 and 1881, and worked as a teacher. He was elected to the Weimar National Assembly in 1919 as a representative of the Catholic Centre Party, and was a member of the German Reichstag until 31 August 1922. In 1920, he voted against the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles. After his hometown became Polish, and he became a Polish citizen, he left the Parliament of Germany in 1922.

After becoming a Polish citizen, he founded the Katholische Volkspartei, a Catholic party that promoted the interests of the German minority in Upper Silesia. He was a Senator of the Republic of Poland and a member of the Silesian Parliament from 1922 until his death. He was also a member of the city council of Katowice. After his death, succeeded him as Senator and as Member of the Silesian Parliament. Eduard Pant was elected new chairman of the party.

A school in Hindenburg in the German part of Silesia was named in his honour from 1929 to 1935. He received the Order of St. Gregory the Great.

Literature[]

• , "Thomas Szczeponik. Ein Leben für Glaube, Volkstum und Heimat", in: Jahrbuch der Schlesischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau, Band XVI, Seiten 159 - 214, Göttingen 1971.

External links[]

• Thomas Szczeponik in the German National Library catalogue