Aleksander Kakowski

Aleksander Kakowski (Polish pronunciation: [alɛˈksandɛr kaˈkɔfskʲi]; 5 February 1862 – 30 December 1938) was a Polish politician, diplomat, a member of the Regency Council and, as Cardinal and Archbishop of Warsaw, the last titular Primate of the Kingdom of Poland before Poland fully regained its independence in 1918.

In 1910 he became Rector of the Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy, and on 22 July 1913 he was ordained a bishop by Stanisław Zdzitowiecki.

On 14 September 1913 he became the archbishop of Warsaw in St. John's Cathedral, thus becoming the titular primate of the Kingdom of Poland.

After the outbreak of World War I, he remained in Warsaw and in 1917, he was appointed to be a member of the Regency Council, a semi-independent and temporary highest authority of the Kingdom of Poland, recreated by the Central Powers as part of their Mitteleuropa plan.

On 28 November 1919, he was the main consecrator of Achille Ratti, the papal nuncio to Poland who later became Pope Pius XI.

Archbishop Kakowski with other members of the Regency Council in 1917