About Rotary
Notable Rotarians
Rotary is, above all, its people. Below are names usually known for an entirely different reason — from science, music, politics or a company we use every day. Each of these people belonged or belongs to a Rotary club.
Around the world
Science, music, literature
From the very beginning Rotary brought together people of different professions — and that can be seen in the names from the organisation’s first decades.
Thomas Mann 1875–1955
Writer, Nobel laureate
The author of The Magic Mountain. The Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929.
RC Munich
Guglielmo Marconi 1874–1937
Inventor, Nobel laureate
The creator of the first working radio link. The Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909.
RC Bologna
Jean Sibelius 1865–1957
Composer
The author of Finlandia — the piece that became his country’s unofficial anthem.
RC Helsinki-Helsingfors
Franz Lehár 1870–1948
Operetta composer
The author of The Merry Widow — the most often performed operetta in the world.
RC Vienna
Emilio Pucci 1914–1992
Fashion designer
An Italian designer and politician; his patterns are recognised by their colours alone.
RC Florence
Kōnosuke Matsushita 1894–1989
Industrialist
The founder of the Japanese corporation known today as Panasonic.
RC Osaka
Luciano Pavarotti 1935–2007
Opera singer
A lyric tenor, regarded as one of the greatest singers of the 20th century.
RC Modena
Margaret Thatcher 1925–2013
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, a chemist and a lawyer by training.
Winston Churchill 1874–1965
Prime Minister, Nobel laureate
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. The Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953.
RC London
The United States
Where Rotary began
In the country of the first club, Rotary counted among its members presidents, inventors and founders of companies known all over the world.
Woodrow Wilson 1856–1924
President of the United States
The 28th President of the United States, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
RC Birmingham
Warren G. Harding 1865–1923
President of the United States
The 29th President of the United States.
RC Washington
Franklin D. Roosevelt 1882–1945
President of the United States
The 32nd President of the United States — the only one elected to four terms.
RC Albany
John F. Kennedy 1917–1963
President of the United States
The 35th President of the United States.
RC Hyannis
Gerald Ford 1913–2006
President of the United States
The 38th President of the United States.
RC Grand Rapids
Thomas Edison 1847–1931
Inventor
The phonograph, the light bulb, the first power stations. An honorary member of the club.
RC Orange, New Jersey
Orville Wright 1871–1948
Aircraft designer
Together with his brother Wilbur he built the first aeroplane that rose into the air.
RC Dayton
Neil Armstrong 1930–2012
Astronaut
The first man on the Moon. He belonged to the club in his home town.
RC Wapakoneta
Walt Disney 1901–1966
Creator of animated films
The father of animation as we know it. An honorary member of the club in Palm Springs.
RC Palm Springs
Charles H. Mayo 1865–1939
Surgeon
Co-founder of the Mayo Clinic — one of the best-known clinics in the world.
RC Rochester
Sam Walton 1918–1992
Entrepreneur
The founder of the Walmart chain.
RC Bentonville
Harland Sanders 1890–1980
Restaurateur
“Colonel Sanders”, the creator of Kentucky Fried Chicken. He co-founded Rotary clubs in three cities.
RC Jeffersonville
Poland
Polish Rotarians
A list kept by District 2231 — from the founders of the first club in 1931 to people active today.
Piotr Drzewiecki 1865–1943
Engineer, Mayor of Warsaw
Mayor of Warsaw from 1917 to 1921. In 1931, together with Professor Jerzy Loth, he founded the first Polish Rotary club and became the first governor of Polish Rotarians.
RC Warszawa
Jerzy Loth 1880–1967
Professor, geographer
Co-founder of RC Warszawa and its president in 1936/37. From 1939 to 1941 he sat on the board of Rotary International.
RC Warszawa
Stefan Banach 1892–1945
Mathematician
The creator of the foundations of functional analysis; a whole class of mathematical spaces bears his name. He belonged to the club in Lviv.
RC Lwów
Stefan Starzyński 1893–1943
Mayor of Warsaw
Mayor of Warsaw from 1934 to 1939, who stayed in the city during the September siege.
RC Warszawa
Jan Karski 1914–2000
Courier of the Polish Underground State
One of the first to bring the Allies testimony about the Holocaust.
RC Kazimierz Dolny
Aleksander Kwaśniewski b. 1954
President of the Republic of Poland
President of the Republic of Poland from 1995 to 2005.
RC Warszawa Wilanów
Leszek Balcerowicz b. 1947
Economist
A professor of economics, a former deputy prime minister and president of the National Bank of Poland.
RC Kraków Wawel
Andrzej Zoll b. 1942
Lawyer
A professor of law, the Commissioner for Citizens’ Rights and earlier president of the Constitutional Tribunal.
RC Kraków
Jerzy Bralczyk b. 1947
Linguist
A professor, known for programmes and books about the Polish language.
RC Warszawa City
Andrzej Blikle b. 1939
Mathematician and confectioner
A professor and, for years, also the head of the family firm A. Blikle.
RC Warszawa
Wiesław Ochman b. 1937
Opera singer
A tenor, he performed on the greatest opera stages in the world.
RC Warszawa
Maciej Słomczyński 1922–1998
Translator and writer
He translated the whole of Shakespeare and Joyce’s Ulysses. Under the pen name Joe Alex he wrote crime novels.
RC Kraków
Andrzej Szczypiorski 1928–2000
Writer
The author of The Beginning, a commentator and a member of the Senate in its first term.
RC Warszawa City
Antoni Dziatkowiak b. 1931
Cardiac surgeon
A professor, the creator of the Kraków centre of cardiac surgery.
RC Kraków
Hanna Zdanowska b. 1959
Mayor of Łódź
Mayor of Łódź.
RC Łódź Centrum
Maciej Krzeptowski b. 1938
Biologist and sailor
A doctor of natural sciences and a yacht master. A participant in the first Polish Antarctic expedition (1975–1976) and in a round-the-world voyage on the yacht “Maria”. Honorary Ambassador of Szczecin.
RC Szczecin
Rafał Fronia
Himalayan climber and cartographer
A conqueror of eight-thousanders and a participant in the winter expedition to K2. In 2019 he received the Fair Play award of the Polish Olympic Committee for taking part in the rescue operation for Élisabeth Revol. President of his club in 2013/2014.
RC Karpacz Karkonosze
Ukraine
Rotary on the other side of the border
For our club this is not a distant subject: for sixteen years we were in the same district as the Ukrainian clubs, and we helped one of them come into being.
The first club in Lviv received its charter on 20 December 1935 — at that time still as a Polish club. Stefan Banach belonged to it. The war closed this club together with the whole of Rotary in this part of Europe.
Rotary returned to Ukraine half a century later: in 1992 the club in Kyiv received its charter, and a year later the Lviv club was revived. Today the Ukrainian clubs make up District 2232.
Photo authors and licences
- Thomas MannNobel Foundation · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Guglielmo MarconiPach Brothers · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Jean SibeliusPhotographer: Daniel Nyblin · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Franz LehárUnknown (Bain News Service, publisher). Restoration by Adam Cuerden · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Emilio PucciCamera dei deputati · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Kōnosuke Matsushitaauthor unknown · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Luciano PavarottiKingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Margaret Thatcherderivative work by Begoon · Copyrighted free use · Wikimedia Commons
- Winston ChurchillYousuf Karsh · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Woodrow WilsonHarris & Ewing, photographer · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Warren G. HardingHarris & Ewing, photographer · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Franklin D. RooseveltLeon Perskie · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- John F. KennedyCecil W. Stoughton · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Gerald FordDavid Hume Kennerly · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Thomas EdisonLouis Bachrach, Bachrach Studios, restored by Michel Vuijlsteke · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Orville WrightOrville Wright and Wilbur Wright (credited as photographers) [1], [2] · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Neil Armstrongauthor unknown · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Walt DisneyBoy Scouts of America · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Charles H. Mayoauthor unknown · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Sam WaltonPhoto credit: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Harland SandersEdgy01/Dan Lindsay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Piotr Drzewieckiunknown-anonymous · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Jerzy LothWładysław Miernicki · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Stefan Banachnieznany/unknown · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Stefan StarzyńskiJan Malarski (active 1903-1937) [1] · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Jan KarskiLilly_M · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Aleksander Kwaśniewski© European Union 2012 - Source : EP · Attribution · Wikimedia Commons
- Leszek BalcerowiczRalf Lotys (Sicherlich) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Andrzej ZollAdrian Grycuk · CC BY-SA 3.0 pl · Wikimedia Commons
- Jerzy BralczykAdam Koprowski · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Andrzej BlikleAdrian Grycuk · CC BY-SA 3.0 pl · Wikimedia Commons
- Wiesław OchmanAdrian Grycuk · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Maciej Słomczyńskiauthor unknown · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Andrzej SzczypiorskiAndrzej Tadeusz Kijowski · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Antoni Dziatkowiakauthor unknown · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Hanna Zdanowskabelgium24.eu · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Maciej KrzeptowskiKapitel · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Rafał Froniaphoto: Rotary Polska · District 2231 material · rotary.org.pl