Fortieth anniversary of the death of Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski prompts reflection on the life and work of this man. Kwiatkowski was part of the last, most strict political leadership of the pre-September Republic of Poland and was one of the greatest economic activists in the entire history of Poland. The creator of Gdynia and the Polish commercial fleet, Moscice and factories of the Warsaw Industrial District, COP and Stalowa Wola - during eight years of work in the government he managed to change the face of Polish land, integrate internally and strengthen the external young independent state. He was an economic visionary: his plans for the country's development before the war reached the mid-1950s. After the war, he became a pioneer in developing the new Polish coast. There were few economic activists in the history of Poland who, with all the critics and doubts raised at that time, would enjoy such widespread recognition during their lifetime. At the same time, Kwiatkowski was the Great Link: his life combined Galician autonomy with the economy of the Kingdom of Poland, an independent state and its independent economy with Poland conquered by Moscow, the PRL with the diaspora of post-war emigration. Let's add to this his Renaissance versatility of interests, resulting in dozens of books and articles, including impressive, still not yet rated syntheses from the history of science and economics. Kwiatkowski was one of the most interesting figures of the Polish history of the 20th century, a real "man-Poland" of recent times.