Jan Józef Lipski (26 May 1926 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

– 10 September 1991 in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

) was a Polish critic, literature historian, politician and freemason. As a soldier of the Home Army (

Armia Krajowa The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

), he fought in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

. Editor of collected works by Jan Kasprowicz, Benedykt Chmielowski and Gabriela Zapolska.

Political life

Between 1956 and 1957 Lipski was an editor of the pro-reform weekly "Po prostu"; from 1957 to 1959 he was president of the Crooked Circle Club. In 1964 Lipski organized the Letter of the 34 (objecting to the expansion of censorship in communist Poland). In 1975 he signed the Letter of 59 and in 1976 he co-founded the

Workers' Defence Committee The Workers' Defense Committee ( , KOR) was a Polish civil society group that was established to give aid to prisoners and their families after the June 1976 protests and ensuing government crackdown. It was a precursor and inspiration for efforts ...

(Komitet Obrony Robotnikow); as one of the most active members of this organization he organized help for the workers who protested in June 1976 against the government sponsored price increases in

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship. Radom is the fifteenth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in its province w ...

and in Ursus district of

. In 1980, Lipski became a member of the

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

Union and was elected a delegate to the 1st Delegates' Rally to represent the

Masovia Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...

Region (based in

). On December 14, 1981, after the imposition of the

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

, he was arrested and charged with orchestrating a protest. As the only senior member of the non-communist opposition, he re-established the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...

(Polska Partia Socjalistyczna), which he led from 1987. In 1989 he was elected

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from

and was a member of the Civic Parliamentary Club (''Obywatelski Klub Parlamentarny''); he died during his term in office.

Honours and awards

On December 8, 1969, Lipski received the Armia Krajowa Cross, and on December 12, 1969 he was awarded the Medal of the Army for the fourth time. In 1984 awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Paris X

Nanterre Nanterre (; ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, b ...

. For acts during the uprising, Lipski was decorated with the Cross of Valour (''Krzyż Walecznych'') ("for lifetime achievement, for the brave stance in the street fighting of 25 September, for persevering in a shed at the police station giving a small fire under a strong defence, where he was wounded, and for active participation in patrols"),

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (by Polish President Lech Walesa on 13 September 1991) and with the highest Polish decoration, the Order of the White Eagle (by President Lech Kaczynski, 23 September 2006). In 2000, Jacek Kuroń established the Jan Józef Lipski Open University of Teremiski.

Publications in English

Publications in Polish

* , Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warszawa 1967 * , Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warszawa 1973 (dwutomowa antologia felietonu prasowego) * , Aneks, London 1983; 2nd ed. Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Warszawa 2006 * , Kultura, Paris 1981National identity and foreign policy: nationalism and leadership in Poland
Ilya Prizel * , Instytut Literacki, Paryż 1987 * , PEN, Warszawa 1992 * , Aneks, Londyn 1994 * , Wydawnictwo Polsko-Niemieckie, Warszawa 1996 (bilingual German-Polish edition)

References

*
Jan Józef Lipski Open University of Teremiski website (in Polish)
* __NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Lipski, Jan Josef 1926 births 1991 deaths Members of the Workers' Defence Committee Polish resistance members of World War II Politicians from Warsaw Solidarity (Polish trade union) activists Polish Socialist Party politicians Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Armia Krajowa Cross Warsaw Uprising insurgents Members of the Senate of Poland 1989–1991 Polish dissidents Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) People associated with Kultura (magazine) University of Warsaw alumni