List of Kresy-born Poles

The macro region of Kresy denotes the Eastern historical provinces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 20th century during the Second Republic of Poland it was the term for its Eastern Borderlands. Following the "Fourth Partition of Poland", the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam Conferences, in the wake of the Second World War, ratified the annexation of the Kresy territories by the Soviet Union. They were apportioned to Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine where they remain.

A number of notable or influential figures from Polish history were born in the former macro region (note: the following list does not include Poles born in the cities of Lwów (Lviv), and Wilno (Vilnius) - see List of Leopolitans, List of Vilnius-related people).

{|
 * valign="top" width=25%|

A

 * Roman Aftanazy, historian and librarian, chronicler of the residences of the Eastern Borderlands, born in Morszyn, current Ukraine

B

 * Jan Beyzym, priest, teacher, Jesuit missionary in Madagascar born in Stari Beyzymi, currently in Ukraine
 * Tadeusz Borowski, writer and journalist, born in Zhitomir, current Ukraine


 * Jan Brzechwa, poet, children's author and lawyer born in Żmerynka, Podolia, current Ukraine

C

 * Tadeusz Czacki, historian, born in Poryck, now Pavlivka, current Ukraine
 * Joseph Conrad, novelist in English, born in Berdychiv, current Ukraine
 * Zbigniew Cybulski, stage and film actor, born in Kniaze, current Ukraine

D

 * Ignacy Domeyko, 19th-century geologist, born in Niedźwiadka Wielka, current Belarus
 * Benedykt Dybowski, naturalist and physician, born near Nowogródek, current Belarus

F

 * Feliks Falk, film director, born in Stanisławów, current Ukraine

G

 * Mieczysław Gębarowicz, art historian, soldier, custodian of cultural heritage
 * Zygmunt Gloger, historian, archeologist, geographer and ethnographer, born in Kamionka Podolska, current Ukraine
 * Artur Grottger, painter, born in Otynevychi, current Ukraine

H

 * Mirosław Hermaszewski, astronaut, born in Lipniki, current Ukraine

I

 * Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, writer and poet, born in Kalnik, current Ukraine

J

 * Wladyslaw Marian Jakowicki, soldier, physician, academic, rector of Stefan Batory University, born in Vitebsk, current Belarus
 * Aleksander Jełowicki, Roman Catholic priest, publisher of Adam Mickiewicz and writer in Paris. born in Hubnyk, now in Ukraine.

K

 * Jerzy Kawalerowicz, film director, born in Gwoździec, current Ukraine
 * Hugo Kołłątaj, social and political activist, political thinker, historian and philosopher, born in Dederkały Wielkie, current Ukraine
 * Tadeusz Konwicki, film director and writer, born in Nowa Wilejka, current Lithuania
 * Ryszard Kapuściński, journalist, travel writer, Nobel nominee, born in Pinsk, current Belarus
 * Tadeusz Kościuszko, national hero of Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Belarus, born in the village of Mereczowszczyzna, current Belarus
 * Jerzy Kulczycki, civil engineer, activist publisher and bookseller in London

L

 * Tadeusz Łomnicki, notable Polish actor of stage and screen, born in Podhajce, current Ukraine

M

 * Stanisław Maczek, tank commander in World War II, exiled in Scotland, born in Szczerzec, current Ukraine
 * Kornel Makuszyński, poet, creator of Koziolek Matolek, born in Stryj, current Ukraine
 * Ernest Malinowski, railway engineer builder, defender of Peru, born in Seweryny, current Ukraine
 * Tadeusz Manteuffel, historian, medievalist, born in Rezekne, now in Latvia
 * Adam Mickiewicz, a Bard of Poland, poet born in Zaosie, current Belarus
 * Czesław Miłosz, poet, prose writer, translator Nobel Laureate in Literature, diplomat, born in Seteniai, current Lithuania
 * Stanisław Moniuszko, Polish/Belarusian conductor, composer and teacher born in Ubiel, current Belarus

N

 * Gabriel Narutowicz, first President of the Second Polish Republic, born in Telsiai, current Lithuania
 * Adam Naruszewicz, poet, historian, dramatist, translator, publicist and Jesuit, born in Pinsk, current Belarus
 * Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, poet, playwright and statesman, born near Brześć nad Bugiem, current Belarus
 * Czesław Niemen, singer, born in Stare Wasiliszki, current Belarus

O

 * Napoleon Orda, Polish-Lithuanian musician, composer and artist, born in Worocewicze, current Belarus
 * Eliza Orzeszkowa, Positivist novelist, lost out Nobel Prize in Literature to Leo Tolstoy and Henryk Sienkiewicz, born in Milkowszczyzna, current Belarus
 * Stanisław Julian Ostroróg, Crimean war veteran, exile, London and Paris early portrait photographer born in Mogilev current Belarus

P

 * Ignacy Jan Paderewski, composer, diplomat, pianist, prime minister of Poland, born the village of Kurilovka, current Ukraine
 * Aniela Pawlikowska, draughtswoman, graphic artist, illustrator, painter
 * Józef Piłsudski, statesman, Chief of State, First Marshal, and leader of the Second Polish Republic, born in Zułów, current Lithuania
 * Stanisław August Poniatowski, last King of Poland, born in Voŭčyn, current Belarus
 * Jan Potocki, writer and adventurer, author of The Manuscript Found in Saragossa, born in Pikov, current Ukraine
 * Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki, magnate and military leader, after whom the city of Stanisławów was named, born in Podhajce, current Ukraine

R

 * Mikołaj Rej, renaissance poet and prose writer in Polish, born in Zurawno, current Ukraine


 * Edward Rydz-Śmigły, marshal of Poland, born in Lapshin, current Ukraine
 * Wacław Rzewuski, drama writer, poet, Grand Crown Hetman, ancestor of Balzac's wife, born in Rozdol, current Ukraine

S

 * Konstanty Skirmunt, foreign minister (1921-1922), representative to the League of Nations, ambassador to London, born in Moładava, current Belarus
 * Juliusz Słowacki, the father of modern Polish drama, born in Krzemieniec, current Ukraine
 * John III Sobieski, King of Poland, saviour of Europe at Battle of Vienna, born in Olesko, current Ukraine
 * Karol Szymanowski, pianist, composer, born in Tymoszówka, current Ukraine

T

 * Jerzy Tabeau, cardiologist, as an imprisoned medical student he broke out of Auschwitz to report about the genocide, born in Zabolotiv, current Ukraine
 * Wiktor Thommée, Brigadier General of the Polish Army, born in Švenčionys, current Lithuania
 * Romuald Traugutt, commander of the January Uprising, born in the village of Szostakowo, near Brześć nad Bugiem, current Belarus
 * Michał Tyszkiewicz, landowner, collector, egyptologist, born in Wołożyn, current Belarus

W

 * Anna Walentynowicz, Solidarity legend, born in Równe, current Ukraine
 * Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland, born in Wiśniowiec, current Ukraine

Z

 * Gabriela Zapolska, novelist, theatre critic and actor, born in Podhajce, current Ukraine
 * Franciszek Żwirko, aviator, born in Švenčionys, current Lithuania
 * }
 * Jozef J. Zwislocki, physicist and neuroscientist, born in Lwów.