Bohdan Winiarski


Bohdan Stefan Winiarski was a Polish politician, jurist and former President of the International Court of Justice.

Life and career

Winiarski studied law nationally at the Jagiellonian University and the University of Warsaw and did studies of the same studies overseas at the University of Paris and Heidelberg University. After obtaining Ph.D., Winiarski started working at the University of Poznań, obtaining ranks of deputy professor in 1921 and associate professor in 1922. In 1930, Winiarski became full professor of public international law and from 1936 to 1939 served as dean of the Faculty of Law and Economics. During thoise years, he also served as vice chairman of the League of Nations Communications and Transport Committee and chairman of the League of Nations Inland Navigation Law Committee. During World War II he settled in Great Britain where he served as the President of the Polish Bank under London Government. In 1946, Winiarski was elected to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and then served as its president from 1961 to 1964. Winiarski was also a professor at the Academy of International Law in The Hague, and was a member of the Institut de Droit International, the Polish Academy of Learning and the Polish Academy of Sciences.