# Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Poland)

The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Polish: Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego) is a ministry within Polish government led by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage responsible for national heritage preservation and Polish culture promotion. Ministry oversees state or partially state cultural institutions and implements the law regarding art and cultural property. Ministry headquarters are located at Potocki Palace, 15 Krakowskie Przedmieście Street in Warsaw. Incumbent minister has been Hanna Wróblewska member of the Cabinet) since May 2024

## History

It was formed on 31 October 2005, from transformation of Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Poland. The ministry can trace its history back to 1918 when the Ministry of Art and Culture was established. It was suppressed in 1922 due to rationalization of public expense and structural reform of the government. It was reestablished within the temporary communist government in 1944 and has existed continuously henceforth until the merger with the Ministry of Sport in 2021.

## List of ministers

| | Name | Party | Term of offices | Term of offices | Prime minister (cabinet) |
| Ministers of Culture and Art |||||||
| | Medard Downarowicz | SNN | 17 November 1918 | 16 January 1919 | Jędrzej Moraczewski |
| | Zenon Przesmycki | nonpartisan | 16 January 1919 | 9 December 1919 | Ignacy Jan Paderewski |
| | Jan Fryderyk Heurich | nonpartisan | 24 June 1920 | 11 August 1921 | Władysław Grabski Wincenty Witos |
| | Maciej Rataj | PSL „Piast” | 11 August 1921 | 13 September 1921 | Wincenty Witos |
| | Antoni Ponikowski | PSChD | 19 September 1921 | 5 March 1922 | Antoni Ponikowski |
| Ministers of Culture and Art in Poland under Communism (1944–89) |||||||
| | Wincenty Rzymowski | SD | 21 July 1944 | 2 May 1945 | Polish Committee of National Liberation |
| | Edmund Zalewski | SL | 2 May 1945 | 28 June 1945 | Provisional Government of National Unity |
| | Władysław Kowalski | SL | 28 June 1945 | 5 February 1947 | Provisional Government of National Unity |
| | Stefan Dybowski | SL/ZSL | 6 February 1947 | 20 November 1952 | Józef Cyrankiewicz (Cyrankiewicz I) |
| | Włodzimierz Sokorski | PZPR | 21 November 1952 | 19 April 1956 | Bolesław Bierut (Bierut) |
| | Karol Kuryluk | PZPR | 19 April 1956 | 29 April 1958 | Józef Cyrankiewicz (Cyrankiewicz II) |
| | Kazimierz Rusinek (acting) | PZPR | 3 May 1958 | 2 July 1958 | Józef Cyrankiewicz (Cyrankiewicz III) |
| | Tadeusz Galiński | PZPR | 2 July 1958 | 12 December 1964 | Józef Cyrankiewicz (Cyrankiewicz IV) |
| | Lucjan Motyka | PZPR | 12 December 1964 | 26 October 1971 | Józef Cyrankiewicz (Cyrankiewicz V) |
| | Czesław Wiśniewski (acting) | PZPR | 26 October 1971 | 22 December 1971 | Józef Cyrankiewicz (Cyrankiewicz V) |
| | Stanisław Wroński | PZPR | 22 December 1971 | 16 February 1974 | Piotr Jaroszewicz (Jaroszewicz I) |
| | Józef Tejchma | PZPR | 16 February 1974 | 26 January 1978 | Piotr Jaroszewicz (Jaroszewicz II) |
| | Janusz Wilhelmi (acting) | PZPR | 26 January 1978 | 16 March 1978 | Piotr Jaroszewicz (Jaroszewicz II) |
| | Jan Mietkowski | PZPR | 29 March 1978 | 4 July 1978 | Piotr Jaroszewicz (Jaroszewicz II) |
| | Zygmunt Najdowski | PZPR | 20 July 1978 | 8 October 1980 | Piotr Jaroszewicz (Jaroszewicz II) |
| | Józef Tejchma | PZPR | 8 October 1980 | 9 October 1982 | Edward Babiuch (Babiuch) Józef Pińkowski (Pińkowski) Wojciech Jaruzelski (Jaruzelski) |
| | Kazimierz Żygulski | nonpartisan | 9 October 1982 | 29 September 1986 | Wojciech Jaruzelski (Jaruzelski) Zbigniew Messner (Messner) |
| | Aleksander Krawczuk | nonpartisan | 29 September 1986 | 1 August 1989 | Zbigniew Messner (Messner) Mieczysław Rakowski (Rakowski) |
| Ministers of Culture and Art (1989–1999) |||||||
| | Izabella Cywińska | nonpartisan | 12 September 1989 | 12 January 1991 | Tadeusz Mazowiecki (Mazowiecki) |
| | Marek Rostworowski | nonpartisan | 12 January 1991 | 23 December 1991 | Jan Krzysztof Bielecki (Bielecki) |
| | Andrzej Siciński | nonpartisan | 23 December 1991 | 11 July 1992 | Jan Olszewski (Olszewski) |
| | Piotr Łukasiewicz (acting) | nonpartisan | 11 July 1992 | 17 February 1993 | Hanna Suchocka (Suchocka) |
| | Jerzy Góral | Christian National Union | 17 February 1993 | 26 October 1993 | Hanna Suchocka (Suchocka) |
| | Kazimierz Dejmek | nonpartisan | 26 October 1993 | 26 January 1996 | Waldemar Pawlak (Pawlak II) Józef Oleksy (Oleksy) |
| | Zdzisław Podkański | Polish People's Party | 15 February 1996 | 31 October 1997 | Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (Cimoszewicz) |
| | Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa | Freedom Union | 31 October 1997 | 26 March 1998 | Jerzy Buzek (Buzek) |
| | Andrzej Zakrzewski | Conservative People's Party | 26 March 1998 | 19 October 1999 | Jerzy Buzek (Buzek) |
| Ministers of Culture and National Heritage (1999–2001) |||||||
| | Andrzej Zakrzewski | Conservative People's Party | 19 October 1999 | 10 February 2000 | Jerzy Buzek (Buzek) |
| | Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski | Conservative People's Party | 10 February 2000 | 12 July 2001 | Jerzy Buzek (Buzek) |
| | Andrzej Zieliński | nonpartisan | 12 July 2001 | 19 October 2001 | Jerzy Buzek (Buzek) |
| Ministers of Culture (2001–2005) |||||||
| | Andrzej Celiński | Democratic Left Alliance | 19 October 2001 | 6 July 2002 | Leszek Miller (Miller) |
| | Waldemar Dąbrowski | nonpartisan | 6 July 2002 | 31 October 2005 | Leszek Miller (Miller) Marek Belka (Belka I, Belka II) |
| Ministers of Culture and National Heritage (2005–Present) |||||||
| | Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski | Law and Justice | 31 October 2005 | 7 September 2007 | Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz (Marcinkiewicz) Jarosław Kaczyński (Kaczyński) |
| | Jarosław Kaczyński (acting) | Law and Justice | 7 September 2007 | 12 September 2007 | Jarosław Kaczyński (Kaczyński) |
| | Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski | Law and Justice | 12 September 2007 | 16 November 2007 | Jarosław Kaczyński (Kaczyński) |
| | Bogdan Zdrojewski | Civic Platform | 16 November 2007 | 14 June 2014 | Donald Tusk (Tusk I, Tusk II) |
| | Małgorzata Omilanowska | nonpartisan | 14 June 2014 | 16 November 2015 | Donald Tusk (Tusk II) Ewa Kopacz (Kopacz) |
| | Piotr Gliński | Law and Justice | 16 November 2015 | 27 November 2023 | Beata Szydło (Szydło) Mateusz Morawiecki (Morawiecki, Morawiecki II) |
| | Dominika Chorosińska | Law and Justice | 27 November 2023 | 13 December 2023 | Mateusz Morawiecki (Morawiecki III) |
| | Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz | Civic Platform | 13 December 2023 | 13 May 2024 | Donald Tusk (Tusk III) |
| | Hanna Wróblewska | nonpartisan | 13 May 2024 | present | Donald Tusk (Tusk III) |