Ignacy Jan Paderewski was a very famous Polish Concert Pianist, Composer, Politician and humanitarian. From 1890 to his death in 1941 he was easily the most famous and recognized performing artist in the world. He convinced U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to support the cause of a free Poland at the conclusion of the First World War. Included in Wilson's proposal for peace terms, The Fourteen Points, point number 13, "There should be a free and independent state of Poland with access to the sea." He became Poland's first democratically elected Premiere in 1919 and in that capacity, signed the Peace Treaty of Versailles. During the War he raised millions of dollars for Polish war relief. He was certainly the most important Pole in the first part of the Twentieth Century.