Józef Adam Zygmunt Cyrankiewicz (pronounced [ˈjuzɛf t͡sɨranˈkʲɛvit͡ʂ] ⓘ; 23 April 1911 – 20 January 1989) was a Polish Socialist (PPS) and after 1948 Communist politician.

[4] His father was a local activist of the National Democracy[5] as well as lieutenant in the Polish Armed Forces[6] while his mother was an owner of several sawmills.

[8] Active in the Union of Armed Struggle (Związek Walki Zbrojnej, later renamed to Armia Krajowa), the Polish resistance organisation, from the beginning of Poland's 1939 defeat at the start of World War II, Cyrankiewicz was captured by the Gestapo in the spring of 1941 and after imprisonment at Montelupich was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Cyrankiewicz argued that the PPS should support the communists (who held most of the posts in the government) in carrying through a socialist programme, while opposing the imposition of one party rule.

The Communist Polish Workers' Party (PPR) played on this division within the PPS, dismissing Osóbka-Morawski and making Cyrankiewicz prime minister.

A few months after these demonstrations, Cyrankiewicz turned over the premiership to his longtime deputy, Piotr Jaroszewicz, and was named chairman of the Council of State—a post equivalent to that of president.