1891 Ignace J. Paderewski's Philadelphia Debut Photo Announcement Card

Description

Ignacy Jan Paderewski
was a
Polish
pianist
and
composer
who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's
Prime Minister
and foreign minister during which he signed the
Treaty of Versailles
, which ended
World War I
.
A favorite of concert audiences around the world, his musical fame opened access to diplomacy and the media, as possibly did his status as a
freemason
, and charitable work of his second wife,
Helena Paderewska
. During World War I, Paderewski advocated an independent Poland, including by touring the United States, where he met with President
Woodrow Wilson
, who came to support the creation of an independent Poland in his
Fourteen Points
at the
Paris Peace Conference
in 1919, which led to the Treaty of Versailles.
Shortly after his resignations from office, Paderewski resumed his concert career to recoup his finances and rarely visited the politically-chaotic Poland thereafter, the last time being in 1924.
3 1/4" x 5 1/4".