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Africans in Poland

Members of Sejm, Killion Munyama and John Godson, 2013
Total population
~15,000 (2024)
Regions with significant populations
Łódź, Lower Silesian, Masovian, Pomeranian, West Pomeranian
Languages
Polish, English, French, others
Religion
Islam, Roman Catholicism, Atheism, others

Africans in Poland, also known as Afro-Poles or Afro-Polish (Polish: Afropolacy), are citizens or residents of Poland who are of African descent. As of 2024, among European countries, the proportion of people from Africa is one of the lowest (<0.1% of the total population).

History

The origins of the Afro-Polish community are rooted in educational immigration to the Polish People's Republic. The Communist government strongly supported anti-colonial movements in Africa as part of broader Soviet policy. From the 1950s to the 1980s, many Africans emigrated to Poland to pursue their educations. While most African students in Poland returned to their countries of origin, many decided to remain in Poland and acquire citizenship. The contemporary Afro-Polish community includes many of these Africans and their descendants.

In 1955, the 5th World Festival of Youth and Students was held in Warsaw. Organized by the leftist, anti-imperialist World Federation of Democratic Youth, the festival invited thousands of delegates from around the world, including almost 1,000 Africans. The Communist leadership of Poland wished to express solidarity and promote socialism to Africans from colonized nations. This was one of the earliest Polish encounters with non-white people, following the end of the multicultural and multiethnic Second Polish Republic following World War II. The Polish Press Agency was given the task of documenting the African visitors, which began an ongoing series of Polish press photography depicting African visitors and residents of Poland.

Notable Afro-Polish citizens or residents

Historical

• Władysław Franciszek Jabłonowski (1769–1802), Polish-born Napoleonic General of English and African descent
• Eduard von Feuchtersleben (1798–1857), Kraków-born (then in the Austrian Partition of Poland) engineer and writer, whose mother was a daughter of African-born Angelo Soliman

Entertainment and media

• Mamadou Diouf – Senegalese-born musician
• Sara James – Polish-born singer of Nigerian descent
• Patricia Kazadi – Polish-born actress of Congolese descent
• Omenaa Mensah – Polish-born TV presenter of Ghanaian descent
• Omar Sangare – Polish American actor, academic, poet, and theatre director
• Patrycja Soliman - Actress, Egyptian father
• Aleksandra Szwed – Polish-born actress of Nigerian descent
• Ifi Ude – Nigerian-born singer

Political and social activists

• Killion Munyama – Zambian-born Civic Platform former member of the Sejm
• John Godson – Nigerian-born Polish People's Party former member of the Sejm
• Krystian Legierski - LGBT activist, of Polish and Mauritanian descent

Sportsmen

• Babatunde Aiyegbusi – Polish-born professional wrestler of Nigerian descent
• Michael Ameyaw - Footballer of Ghanaian descent
• Ishmael Baidoo - Ghanaian footballer
• Ferdinand Chi Fon - Cameroon-born retired footballer
• Martins Ekwueme - Nigerian footballer
• Sofia Ennaoui - Athlete, Moroccan father
• Kelechi Iheanacho - Nigerian footballer
• Benjamin Imeh - Nigerian footballer
• Maxwell Kalu - Nigerian footballer
• Thomas Kelati - Basketball player of Eritrean heritage
• Tafara Madembo - Footballer of Zimbabwean descent
• Alain Ngamayama - Footballer of Congolese descent
• Emmanuel Olisadebe - Nigerian-born footballer
• Natalia Padilla - Footballer of Moroccan descent
• Artur Partyka - Former high jumper, Algerian father
• Yared Shegumo – Ethiopian-born distance runner, who specializes in the Marathon
• Jeremy Sochan - Polish-Afro-American basketball player
• Mouhamadou Traoré - Senegalese footballer
• Stanley Udenkwor - Former footballer of Nigerian descent
• Izuagbe Ugonoh – Polish-born boxer of Nigerian descent

Other

• August Agbola O'Browne - Jazz drummer, Polish resistance member
• Abdulcadir Gabeire Farah – Somalian-born historian and social activist.
• Maxwell Itoya – Nigerian immigrant in Poland, who was killed in a police raid on a flea market.
• Robert Mitwerandu - Late footballer of Zimbabwean descent
• Simon Mol - Cameroonian anti-racism activist arrested for knowingly spreading HIV virus

See also

• Media related to African diaspora in Poland at Wikimedia Commons

• Murzyn
• Murzynek Bambo
• African immigration to Europe

References

1. "Polska". migracje.gov.pl. 26 August 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
2. "Poland: Sub-Saharan Africans and the struggle for acceptance". Minority Rights Group International. 22 August 2018. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
3. "Afro-Poland: a revolutionary friendship, captured in rare photographs from 1955-1989". The Calvert Journal. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
4. "Sara Egwu-James z "The Voice Kids" już tak nie wygląda. Dziewczyna przeszła metamorfozę". plejadapl (in Polish). 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-09-26.

• African diaspora in Poland
• Ethnic groups in Poland
• Polish people of African descent