Bolesław Bierut (18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish politician, communist activist and leader of the Polish People's Republic between 1947 and 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 to 1947, President of Poland from 1947 to 1952, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party from 1948 to 1956 and temporarily Prime Minister of Poland from 1952 to 1954. Bierut, a self-taught man, with full knowledge and iron resolve aimed to implement the Stalinist system in Poland. Together with Władysław Gomułka, his main rival, Bierut is chiefly responsible for the historic changes that Poland underwent in the aftermath of World War II. Unlike any of his communist successors, Bierut ruled Poland until his death.