The famous Stepien's

Poland
France
USA
Australia

Poland

In Turon, a novel by Stefan Zeromski, someone with the name Stepien is mentioned at the time of Jakub Szela's insurrection in Galicia (1846).

In April and May 1940, 4143 Polish Army officers were killed by the Soviets and buried in mass graves in Katyn Forest. Two of them had the name Stepien, including Janek Stepien (his family has emigrated to the US). The following Stepien's received the Polish Order of Virtuti Militari: Stepien, Antoni; Stepien, Tadeusz; Stepien, Konrad; Stepien, Waclaw; Stepien, Adam; Stepien, Franciszek; Stepien, Stefan; Stepien, Pawel; Stepien, Stanislaw; Stepien, Marian. [Source: Polish Order of the Virtuti Militari Recipients (1792-1992)]

In "The river is overflowing", a booklet for children by Meissner whose action takes place in the mountain area of Podhale before World War II, the hero is a young boy named Kacper Stepien.

In the arts, Józef Stepien and Jadwiga Teresa Stepien are famous opera singers at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw

In politics, Jerzy Stepien was senator of the province of Kielce from 1989 to 1993, Piotr Pawel Stepien was a senator representing the province of Tarnobrzeg from 1993 to 1997 and Wladyslaw Stepien is a deputy to the Sejm (lower house of the Polish Parliament), also from Tarnobrzeg. Wlodzimierz Stepien is the mayor of the city of Kielce.

In religion, the Pope John Paul II beatified Father Herman Karol Stepien, OFMC (1910-1943), one of 108 Polish martyrs of nazism, on 13 June 1999 (see here).

In sports, Piotr Stepien had a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in greco-roman wrestling (82 kg)

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France

Hélène Stepien (born 28/06/1948) is deputy representative for Meurthe-et-Moselle in the French National Assembly (Parliament).

Daniel Stepien is mayor of Contamines sur Arve, in Haute-Savoie.

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USA

An estimated 20,000 Polish persons answered the call to fight for freedom and the opportunity to regain Poland's independence during World War I in the Polish Army in France (in Polish, Armia Polska we Francji). They were recruited from among the Polish immigrants who came to America to fight with France. The Polish Army in France was also called "Haller's Army," after the general who commanded it, or the "Blue Army," for the blue uniforms the soldiers wore. The following Ste(m)pi(e)n's were recruited in this Army: Stempien, Jan, Detroit, MI; Stempien, Michal, Trenton, NJ; Stempien, Piotr, Hamtramck, MI; Stempin, Antoni, Buffalo, NY; Stempin, Józef, Pittsburgh, PA.; Stepien, Antoni, Johnstown, PA; Stepien, Józef, Pittsburgh, PA; Stepien, Maryan, Toledo, OH; Stepien, Michal, Trenton, NJ. (Source:Polish Genealogical Society of America, where copies of the recruitment papers can be obtained)

Ted Stepien is rather notorious in Cleveland, Ohio as the owner of the local professional basketball team and a local advertising tycoon.

Jerry Stempien was a famous American football player for Central Michigan University.

Timothy Eric ("Tim") Stempien graduated from ITT Technical Institute with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Automated Manufacturing Technology. While in college, he took some acting classes at Charmaine School & Model Agency, Los Angeles, and became an actor. See his site for more details.

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