Józef Oleksy (; 22 June 1946 – 9 January 2015) was a Polish left-wing politician, former chairman of the

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 ...

(''Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej'', SLD).

Early life and education

In his youth he lived in

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; hu, Újszandec; yi, Tzanz, צאַנז; sk, Nový Sonč; german: Neu-Sandez) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. It has ...

, and was an altar boy at St. Margaret church. He graduated from Kazimierz Brodziński High School in Tarnów. Later on, he graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Trade of the Warsaw School of Planning and Statistics (currently

SGH Warsaw School of Economics SGH Warsaw School of Economics ( pl, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie, ''SGH''Vistula University Vistula University (VU; Polish language, Polish: ''Akademia Finansów i Biznesu Vistula'') is a private university in Warsaw, Poland. It was established in 1992 as the University of Insurance and Banking. Its branch since 2019, is Aleksander Gi ...

in Warsaw.

Career

From 1968 to 1990 he was a member of the communist

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). He was a member of the board of the main Socialist Union of Polish Students. He chaired the National Council of Young Scientists. He was the secretary of the PZPR University Committee at the Warsaw School of Planning and Statistics. In 1977 he went to work in party apparatus at the Department of Ideological and Educational Work of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party. From 1981 to the X Congress of the Party, he headed the office of the Central Committee of the Party. In 1987-1989 he was the First Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee in Biala Podlaska. In 1989, he served as Minister-Council member for cooperation with trade unions. In the same year he took part in the round table talks on the government side. Oleksy represented the Communist leadership in round table talks with the opposition Solidarity movement in early 1989. In 1990 he was one of the founders of the

Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (SdRP) ( pl, Socjaldemokracja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, SdRP) was a social-democratic political party in Poland created in 1990, shortly after the Revolutions of 1989. The party was the main party of ...

, he was the chairman of this party from 28 January 1996 to 6 December 1997, and co-founded the

in 1999. In the years 1989–2005, he was the 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 ...

. In the years 1993-1995 he was the

Marshal of the Sejm The Marshal of the Sejm , also known as Sejm Marshal, Chairman of the Sejm or Speaker of the Sejm ( pl, Marszałek Sejmu, ) is the Speaker (politics), speaker (chairperson, chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Parliament of Poland, Polish ...

. From 7 March 1995 to 7 February 1996, he served as

Prime Minister of Poland The President of the Council of Ministers ( pl, Prezes Rady Ministrów, lit=Chairman of the Council of Ministers), colloquially referred to as the prime minister (), is the head of the cabinet and the head of government of Poland. The responsibi ...

. He resigned after being accused by Interior Minister

Andrzej Milczanowski Andrzej is the Polish form of the given name Andrew. Notable individuals with the given name Andrzej * Andrzej Bartkowiak (born 1950), Polish film director and cinematographer * Andrzej Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657), Polish saint, missionary and ...

for spying for Russia under the pseudonym "Olin". These allegations have never been confirmed. In the years 2001-2005 he was a chairman of the European Union Committee in the Sejm which was responsible for aligning all Polish laws and regulations before Poland joined

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

in 2004. In 2004 he was 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 ...

and the

Convention on the Future of Europe The Convention on the Future of the European Union, also known as the European Convention, was a body established by the European Council in December 2001 as a result of the Laeken Declaration. Inspired by the Philadelphia Convention that led to ...

, which was responsible to produce a draft constitution for the European Union for the European Council to finalise and adopt. In early 2004 he took the office of the

Minister of Internal Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

. Between 21 April 2004 and 5 January 2005 he was the

. A record of a private conversation Jozef Oleksy had with one of Poland's richest businessmen Aleksander Gudzowaty "leaked" to the media on 22 March 2007. The tapes suggested corruption in the SLD party. Oleksy accused former president

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule, he was active in the Socialist Union of Poli ...

of illegal financial procedures, and spoke very harshly of then SLD leader

Wojciech Olejniczak Wojciech Michał Olejniczak (; born 10 April 1974) is a Polish leftist politician and member of the European Parliament. He was the chairman of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) from 29 May 2005, to 31 May 2008 (the first chairman of that part ...

and several other members of the party. He soon left the SLD. He re-joined the SLD on 1 February 2010 and on 12 May 2012 he became vice-president of this party.

Private life

Józef Oleksy was married to Maria Oleksy. He had two children. Since 2005 he had been struggling with cancer. He died on 9 January 2015. Funeral ceremonies with representatives of the state authorities, including President

Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercised ...

, Prime Minister

Ewa Kopacz Ewa Bożena Kopacz (; given name, née Lis; born 3 December 1956) is a Polish politician who has served as a Vice-President of the European Parliament since 2019. She previously was Marshal of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014, the first woman to hold th ...

and Marshal of the Sejm

Radosław Sikorski Radosław Tomasz "Radek" Sikorski (; born 23 February 1963) is a Polish politician and journalist who is a Member of the European Parliament. He was Marshal of the Sejm from 2014 to 2015 and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Donald Tusk's cabinet b ...

, took place on 16 January 2015 in the Field Cathedral of the Polish Army in Warsaw. Józef Oleksy was buried at the

Powązki Military Cemetery Powązki Military Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach) is an old military cemetery located in the Żoliborz district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquiall ...

Honours and awards

* : **Grand Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

(2015, posthumously) **Officer's Cross of the

**Knight's Cross of the

(1984) **Silver Cross of Merit (1972) **

Medal of Merit for National Defence The Medal of Merit for National Defence ( pl, Medal Za Zasługi dla Obronności Kraju) is a decoration of the Ministry of National Defence of Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divi ...

* : Grand Cross 1st Class

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

* :Grand Commander Cross of the

Order for Merits to Lithuania The Order for Merits to Lithuania ( lt, Ordinas Už nuopelnus Lietuvai) is an award, presented by the President of Lithuania, which may be conferred on the citizens of Lithuania and foreign nationals for distinguished services promoting name of Lit ...

(2004)

References

External links

* * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Oleksy, Jozef 1946 births 2015 deaths Prime Ministers of Poland Deputy Prime Ministers of Poland Marshals of the Sejm of the Third Polish Republic Polish United Workers' Party members Democratic Left Alliance politicians Members of the Polish Sejm 1991–1993 Members of the Polish Sejm 1993–1997 Members of the Polish Sejm 1997–2001 Members of the Polish Sejm 2001–2005 People from Nowy Sącz SGH Warsaw School of Economics alumni Recipients of the Medal of Merit for National Defence Interior ministers of Poland Polish Round Table Talks participants Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Deaths from cancer in Poland