A quick glance at Wikipedia's [list of Polish people](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Polish_people) demonstrates the stereotype as false. Poland has produced notable minds in such diverse areas of knowledge as Astronomy (Nicolaus Copernicus), Chemistry (Marie Curie), Music (Frédéric Chopin and Henryk Górecki), Literature (Stanisław Lem), Religion (Karol Józef Wojtyla AKA Pope John Paul II), and Politics (Lech Wałęsa). A deeper look into that list reveals a number of highly intelligent Polish people who are less well known.

Yet, there are an innumerable jokes and unfair stereotypes regarding Polish people being of inferior intelligence in American culture.

**Where did this stereotype originate?**