Joanna Senyszyn (; born 1 February 1949) is a Polish politician and professor of Economics. Senyszyn is member of the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

party

Democratic Left Alliance The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social-democratic political party in Poland. It was formed in 9 July 1991 as an electoral alliance of centre-left parties, and became a single party on 15 April 1999. It was the major coalition party in Po ...

(SLD), in which she was vice-president (2005–2008). From 2001 to 2009 she was a member of the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

until she was elected as a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

(2009–2014). Since 2019 she is again a member of the Sejm. She is known as a critic of

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Educational career

Joanna Senyszyn holds the academic rank of

Professor ordinarius Academic ranks in Germany are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia. Overview Appointment grades * (Pay grade: ''W3'' or ''W2'') * (''W3'') * (''W2'') * (''W2'', ...

and holds the chair in

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers: know about them, starting with who they are. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Mark ...

at the

University of Gdańsk The University of Gdańsk ( pl, Uniwersytet Gdański) is a public research university located in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of the top 10 universities in Poland and is also an important centre for the studies of the Kashubian language. History ...

, where she also served as the Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration before being elected to the Sejm.

Political career

From 1975 and until 1990 when it was disbanded as a result of

fall of communism in Poland Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( South ...

, Senyszyn was a member of the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...

(PZPR), the governing

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

. However, in 1980 she joined the

Solidarność Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...

opposition movement, of which she continued to be a member until 1995. Later, she joined SLD and was a successful candidate in the 2001 parliamentary election from the

Democratic Left Alliance-Labor Union Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

(SLD-UP) list, becoming a member of the Sejm. She was also a candidate in the

European Parliament election Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...

in 2004, but did not win a seat. In 2005, she won another Sejm term in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

(getting 11925 votes in district 26

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...

) and became a vice-president of her party. From 2009 to 2014 she was a member of the European Parliament.

Media

Senyszyn's public appearances, both in the Sejm and on other occasions, are often marked by the use of provocative language and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

. She is credited with coining the term

kaczyzm ''Kaczyzm'' () is a Polish neologism and an ideological concept ( wikt:ideologeme, ideologeme) pejoratively or satirically describing the rule of the Law and Justice party (PiS), derived from the names of Polish politicians, brothers Jarosław an ...

to describe her political opponents of the

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

government. She raised some controversy (and gained media attention) when she

paraphrase A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''. History Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...

d the words of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

during the

Parada Równości Equality Parade ( pl, Parada Równości) is an LGBT community pride parade held in Warsaw since 2001, usually in May or June. It has attracted at least several thousand attendees each year; 20,000 attendees (the largest number of any year prio ...

(''Equality Parade''), a demonstration promoting

LGBT rights in Poland Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Poland face legal challenges not faced by non-LGBT residents. According to ILGA-Europe's 2022 report, the status of LGBTQ rights in Poland is the worst among European Union countries. Bo ...

coupled with a

gay pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

. Senyszyn frequently criticizes the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Poland. On her internet

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

, she called it "impudent, spiritless, rich, unpunished and brazen". In response, bishop

Tadeusz Pieronek Tadeusz Pieronek (pronounced ; 24 October 1934 in Radziechowy, Poland – 27 December 2018 in Kraków) was a Polish Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop-emeritus, Catholic academic and professor of theology and civil law. Pieronek was a leading membe ...

said that she should be pasturing cattle instead.

Personal life

Senyszyn's husband, Bolesław Senyszyn, is a lawyer from Gdynia.

External links

Official pageJoanna Senyszyn at EP page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senyszyn, Joanna 1949 births Living people People from Gdynia Members of the Polish Sejm 2001–2005 Members of the Polish Sejm 2005–2007 Members of the Polish Sejm 2007–2011 Members of the Polish Sejm 2019–2023 Democratic Left Alliance politicians Democratic Left Alliance MEPs MEPs for Poland 2009–2014 Women MEPs for Poland Women members of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland University of Gdańsk alumni Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Polish atheists Critics of the Catholic Church