Piotr Bąblewski (Kielce) Priest Antoni Sobczyński (1888-1959). Social Activist and Politician Priest Antoni Sobczyński, PhD, was born on 31 May 1888 in Szydłów. He attended a middle school for male students in Kielce. In 1905, he was removed from the list of students and imprisoned in a jail in Kielce for his active participation in a school strike. He passed his A-level examinations in Russia, in the second middle school for male students in Voronezh. In 1907, he joined High Theological Seminary in Kielce. In 1909, Sobczyński went to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where in 1911 he received a degree of doctor of philosophy. In the same year he received his ordination. Sobczyński practiced preaching and teaching ministry in the parishes of Chmielnik, Niwki, Rogów, Ostrowce, Brzesko Nowe and Minoga. In 1916 he became professor of High Theological Seminary in Kielce, where he taught Scripture, sociology, theological Latin and Russian. Professor Sobczyński was one of the closest associates of Bishop Augustyn Łosiński. He was both politically and socially active, holding numerous positions, including: Church Assistant and Head of Diocesan Catholic Institute, Secretary of Catholic Action Commission, Member of the Commission of Faith and Observance, Member of Charity Commission, Member of Social Commission, Director of the Association of Retreat Preachers, Secretary of the Board of Priests Association ‘Praca’, Deputy President of the Board of ‘Jedność’ Cooperative Bookshop, Bishop’s Delegate to the Higher Board of Vincent de Paul’s Association of Ladies of the Divine Mercy, President of Organists Commission and Administrator of Organists Association. He also carried out the following functions: Church Assistant of Catholic Association of Polish Male Intelligentsia, Church Assistant of Catholic Association of Polish Female Intelligentsia, Church Assistant of the Catholic Association of Female Intelligentsia of Cathedral Paris, and Moderator of Jasna Górna Ladies Congregation. He was one of the organizers of Polish Association of Catholic People, a political party founded in 1918 under the patronage of Bishop Augustyn Łosiński. In 1922, Sobczyński established the Kielce Branch of Society for the Promotion of Industry, Crafts and Trade ‘Rozwój’, which he presided over for some following years. In 1924, he became a member of poviat authorities of Obóz Wielkiej Polski [Camp of Great Poland]. He served two terms of office as a member of parliament - in 1926 as an MP of Zjednoczenie Ludowo Narodowe [Peoples’ National Union] and then, in the years 1928 - 1930, an MP of Stronnictwo Narodowe [National Party]. He also became a member of regional authorities of those political parties. In 1935, he actively participated in the conflict between Kielce Bishop and the authorities of the Second Republic of Poland, acting as defendant of the former. In 1938, Sobczyński became a vicar in Książ Wielki. In 1947, he moved to the diocese of Łódź, where he held the position of professor at the Higher Theological Seminary in Łódź. He died on 14 August, 1959. Professor Sobczyński was regarded as a great speaker and one of the most outstanding Polish preachers of the 20th century. He was an author of 200 articles published in religious and social journals.