Walery Jan Sławek (; 2 November 1879 – 3 April 1939) was a Polish politician, freemason, military officer and activist, who in the early 1930s served three times as Prime Minister of Poland. He was one of the closest aides of Polish leader, Józef Piłsudski. Early years Walery Sławek was born on November 2, 1879 into an impoverished noble family, in the village of Strutynka in the region of Podolia, then part of the Russian Empire. He was one of four children: two of his older sisters died early of Tuberculosis. His father, Bolesław Sławek, worked at a sugar plant owned by Count Józef Mikołaj Potocki. His mother was Florentyna née Przybylska, and the Sławek family was distinctly related to the family of composer and politician Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Between 1888 and 1894, he attended an elementary school in Nemyriv. In 1899, Sławek graduated from a trade school in Warsaw and began working for an insurance company. At that time, he became involved in the activities of several socialist organizations. In 1900, Sławek moved to Łódź as an employee for the insurance company Horodiczka i Stamirowski. Soon afterwards, he joined the Polish Socialist Party (PPS). While in Łódź, he was deeply involved in the activities of the PPS, which targeted the Tsarist authorities and struggled for Polish independence. Upon returning to Warsaw (May 1901), Sławek was named one of the leaders of local branch of the PPS. He was frequently sent on missions to other cities of the Russian Empire. In Vilnius (1902), he met and became friends with the future Marshal of Poland, Józef Piłsudski, and Aleksander Prystor. In June 1902, Sławek was elected leader of the PPS for the Governorates of Kielce and Piotrków Trybunalski. At that time, he fell in love with Wanda Juszkiewicz, the stepdaughter of Józef Piłsudski. She became the love of his life, and after her premature death, Sławek did not become involved in any other relationship. On March 6, 1903, he was for the first time arrested by Russian police, at a rail station in Będzin. Sent first to a prison in Piotrków Trybunalski, Sławek escaped on December 18, 1903, while being transferred to a prison in Sieradz. Soon afterwards, by the order of Piłsudski, he began working on the creation of a secret, paramilitary organization within the socialist party. On November 13, 1904, he organized a mass anti-Tsarist rally at Warsaw's Grzybowski