Polish Uruguayans



A Polish Uruguayan is a Uruguayan citizen of full or partial Polish ancestry.

The Polish arrived in Uruguay at the end of the 19th century. The most recent figure is from the 2011 Uruguayan census, which revealed 497 people who declared Poland as their country of birth. Other sources claim around 5,000 Poles in Uruguay. Similar to neighboring country Argentina, often, Poles came when the Germans and the Russians ruled Poland and so were known as "Germans" or "Russians".

Most Polish Uruguayans belong to the Roman Catholic Church; they have their own chapel in the Atahualpa neighbourhood. There is also a significant Polish Jewish minority.

Polish Uruguayans have two important institutions: the Polish Society Marshal Joseph Pilsudsky (Sociedad Polonesa Mariscal José Pilsudski), established in 1915, and the Uruguayan Polish Union (Unión Polono Uruguaya), established in 1935, both associated with USOPAL.

Notable Polish Uruguayans

 * Arts
 * José Serebrier (born 1938), conductor and composer
 * Daniel Hendler (born 1976), film, television, and theatre actor


 * Business
 * Jan Kobylański (1923-2019), businessman
 * Ida Holz (born 1935), engineer, computer scientist, professor, and researcher
 * Chil Rajchman (1914-2004), Holocaust survivor and entrepreneur
 * Pedro Steinbruch, entrepreneur


 * Sports
 * Eduardo Dluzniewski (born 1952), football referee
 * Daniel Fedorczuk (born 1976), football referee
 * Francisco Majewski (1939–2012), footballer
 * Juan Carlos Masnik (born 1943), footballer
 * Ladislao Mazurkiewicz (1945–2013), footballer
 * Hernán Petryk (born 1994), footballer
 * Gustavo Szczygielski (born 1967), former basketball player
 * Marcelo Tulbovitz (born 1961), football trainer
 * Matías Vitkieviez (born 1985), footballer


 * Other Professions
 * The sisters Paulina, Luisa, Inés, and Clotilde Luisi, prominent feminists, all daughters of Josefina Janicki (of Polish descent)
 * Freddy Nieuchowicz (born 1968), radio host and entertainer known by his stage name Orlando Petinatti
 * Wacław Radecki (1887-1953), psychological professor
 * Camila Rajchman (born 1994), singer and television personality
 * Lucía Topolansky (born 1944), politician and First Lady (2010-2015)