Leon Bilià Âski (15 June 1846 in Zalischyky â 15 June 1923 in Vienna) was a Polish-Austrian statesman of the Bilià Âski family. He had several important political functions in the Habsburg monarchy and independent Poland: He was President of Austrian State Railways (Kaiserlich-königliche österreichische Staatsbahnen) (1893âÂÂ1895), Minister of Finance of Austria (1895âÂÂ97, 1909âÂÂ11) and Minister of Finance of Austria-Hungary (1912âÂÂ1915), Governor of the Austro-Hungarian Bank (1900âÂÂ1909), Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1912âÂÂ1915), Minister of Finance of the Republic of Poland (1919), president of the Supreme National Committee (1914âÂÂ1917) and Governor of Galicia (1895âÂÂ1897).
Bilià Âski was one of the first governors to strongly support women's intellectual and economic emancipation and their free access to higher education. In 1876 he became a member of the Polish Academy of Learning. His academic and feminist efforts later bore fruit â in 1897, the first female students graduated from Lwów University. He was awarded the KnightâÂÂs Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1923.