Warsaw, Dec 13 (AP) Poland's only cosmonaut, Gen. Miroslaw Hermaszewski, who circled the Earth in a Soviet spaceship in 1978, has died. He was 81.

The retired air force pilot's death on Monday was announced via Twitter by his son-in-law, European Parliament member Ryszard Czarnecki. He later told Polish media outlets that Hermaszewski died at a hospital in Warsaw of complications from a surgery he had undergone in the morning.

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“On behalf of the family, I'm confirming the very sad news about the death of Gen. Miroslaw Hermaszewski,” Czarnecki tweeted, calling him a “great pilot, good husband and father, and much beloved grandfather.”

Hermaszewski became a national hero thanks to his trip to space. For nine days in June and July of 1978, Hermaszewski and Soviet cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk circled the Earth in the Soyuz 30 spaceship that docked at the Salyut 6 orbital space station. They went around the globe 126 times. (AP)

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(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)