Maciej Marian Giertych (, born 24 March 1936 in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
) is a Polish
dendrologist and social conservative politician of the
League of Polish Families
The League of Polish Families (Polish: ''Liga Polskich Rodzin'', LPR) is a conservative political party in Poland, with many far-right elements in the past. The party's original ideology was that of the National Democracy movement which was heade ...
(LPR). He favours state intervention in the economy. He 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 ...
(between 2001 and 2004) and a Polish 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 ...
(from 2004 to 2009). He was a candidate in the
2005 Polish presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Poland on 9 October and 23 October 2005. The outgoing President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, had served two five-year terms and was unable to stand for a third term. Lech Kaczyński defeated Donald Tusk t ...
s, but withdrew from the race because of low vote results (circa 3%). He is a notable
creationist
Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 'th ...
and has stated that he opposes the theory of evolution as a scientist, a geneticist, and not on religious grounds.
Biography
Maciej Giertych was born on 24 March 1936 in Warsaw, the son of notable writer politician of the nationalist
National Democracy National Democracy may refer to:
* National Democracy (Czech Republic)
* National Democracy (Italy)
* National Democracy (Philippines)
* National Democracy (Poland)
* National Democracy (Spain)
See also
* Civic nationalism, a general concept
* ...
movement
Jędrzej Giertych
Jędrzej Giertych (7 January 1903 – 9 October 1992) was a Polish right-wing politician, journalist and writer.
Biography
Jędrzej Giertych was born in Sosnowiec on 7 January 1903, the son of Franciszek Giertych (1868–1938), an engineer. He ...
and his wife Maria. Giertych was one of nine children, including his brother
Wojciech Giertych
Wojciech Giertych (; born 27 September 1951) is a Polish Roman Catholic priest in the Dominican Order. He has served in the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household as Theologian of the Pontifical Household since 2005 during the pontificates of P ...
, O.P.,
Theologian of the Papal Household and professor of theology at the
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'' in Rome.
Two of his sisters also entered
religious life
Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life (religious and se ...
.
In late 1945 his family left
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
for
post-war Germany's British zone and finally settled in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. In 1954 Giertych passed his final school exams and entered
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, where he founded the Polish Students Club during his studies. He received the
BA and
MA in
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
. Between 1958 and 1962 he studied at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, where he received his
PhD for studies on
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
.
In 1962, Giertych returned to Poland, where he completed his qualifications for an assistant professorship at the Institute of Dendrology of the
Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...
(PAN) in
Kórnik
Kórnik (german: Kurnik, 1939-45 Burgstadt) is a town with about 7,600 inhabitants (2018), located in western Poland, about south-east of the city of Poznań. It is one of the major tourist attractions of the Wielkopolska region and the Greater ...
near
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...
. In 1964 he married Antonina Giertych, née Jachnik. In 1970, he received his
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...
degree for his studies on forest
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
at the
Agricultural University of Poznań. Since 1976, he has lectured at the
Nicolaus Copernicus University Nicolaus is a masculine given name. It is a Latin, Greek and German form of Nicholas. Nicolaus may refer to:
In science:
* Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer who provided the first modern formulation of a heliocentric theory of the solar syst ...
of
Toruń
)''
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =
, image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg
, image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg
, nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town
, pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...
. He has also published more than 200 works and studies, mostly on forest-related topics. The same year he became a member of the Forest Sciences Committee of the PAN. In 1981 he received the grade of ''associate professor'' and in November 1989 of full professor.
In 1986, Giertych joined the advisory council (Rada Konsultacyjna), made up of opposition members and party officials set up by the leader of the
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
authorities,
Wojciech Jaruzelski
Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military officer, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party be ...
. He continuously showed his support for General Jaruzelski, and supported the alliance between Poland and the Soviet Union. The council included several prominent Poles such as
Marek Kotański
Marek Kotański, (March 11, 1942 – August 19, 2002) was a Polish charity worker and campaigner on behalf of disadvantaged people, including the homeless and those with HIV. He died in a car accident in Nowy Dwor Mazowiecki, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, ...
,
Krzysztof Skubiszewski
Krzysztof Jan Skubiszewski (8 October 1926 – 8 February 2010) was a Polish politician, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs (1989–1993) and an established scholar in the field of international law.
Early life and education
Skubiszewsk ...
and Kazimierz Dejmek, but also leading members of the communist party. He also served as the Polish representative to the International Union of Forest Research Organisations from 1986 to 1995.
After the fall of the communist regime in Poland in 1990, Giertych continued his scientific work; between 1993 and 2000 he was an advisor to the Ministry of Environmental Affairs. In 1990 he was a member of one of the minor political parties, the
National Party of Poland (''Stronnictwo Narodowe''). Most of its members eventually entered the League of Polish Families (LPR) and dissolved the National Party.
On 23 September 2001 Giertych was elected to the Polish Parliament from a Poznań constituency. On 16 June 2004 he became a Member of the European Parliament for the LPR. Together with the rest of his party he sits as a
Non-attached
Non-Inscrits (; abbreviated NI; also non-attached members, abbreviated NA) are Members of the European Parliament (MEP) who do not belong to one of the recognised political groups.
These MEPs may be members of a national party, or of a Europe ...
Member.
Giertych comes from a prominent family of Polish nationalist politicians: he is the grandson of Franciszek Giertych and son of Jędrzej Giertych, and father of
Roman Giertych
Roman Jacek Giertych (; born 27 February 1971 in Śrem, Poland) is a Polish politician and lawyer; he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education until August 2007. He was a member of the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament) fr ...
, who led the LPR in the past.
[Mariusz Urbanek: Giertychowie: Maciej i Roman - Dekalog rodzinny](_blank)
at Polityka.pl, 7 March 2007.
Political views
Maciej Giertych opposed lifting the ban on purchase of land in Poland by foreigners (due to fears of resurgence of German colonialism),
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
and
moral relativism
Moral relativism or ethical relativism (often reformulated as relativist ethics or relativist morality) is used to describe several philosophical positions concerned with the differences in moral judgments across different peoples and cultures. ...
. He criticized and opposed Poland's entry into the
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 ...
. He has supported closer ties with
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
an countries (especially
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
), as well as defending Polish industry against what he regards as the unfair practices of western companies. He is also against the proposed
European Constitution
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...
. In general, the views of Maciej Giertych are in line with the ideology of
Radio Maryja
Radio Maryja is a religious and political socially conservative Polish radio station. It was founded in Toruń, Poland, on 9 December 1991, by the Redemptorist Tadeusz Rydzyk. The name "Maryja" is a traditional Polish form of the name "Mary", ...
, a media group and political-religious channel of religiously conservative parties in Poland.
However, since 2014 and take over by
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 ...
, he deeply opposes it.
During his discourse Giertych had explicitly condemned
National Socialism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...
and insisted
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
and
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
also had an "atheistic and socialistic taste about them". He praised
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
,
António Salazar
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...
and
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...
, as guardsmen of traditional European values, in the same address to the European Parliament.
In February 2007, Giertych sparked outrage among European Union officials and Jewish organizations by publishing a brochure called "Civilisations at war in Europe" that claimed Jews create their own "ghettos" because they supposedly prefer to separate themselves from others. A number of journalists and certain Jewish organizations considered the brochure to be
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
.
During the European Parliament's session on 14 March 2007, Parliament's President
Hans-Gert Pöttering
Hans-Gert Pöttering (born 15 September 1945) is a German lawyer, historian and conservative politician ( CDU, European People's Party), who served as President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009 and as Chairman of the CD ...
reprimanded Maciej Giertych for the content of his pamphlet in accordance with Rule 147 of the EP's Rules of Procedure. He said that the publication was "a serious breach of fundamental rights and, in particular, the dignity of human beings to which our institution so strongly adheres". Pöttering dissociated the Parliament from the work saying that it had made no financial contribution to its publication. Several members of the Parliament have joined with the
European Jewish Congress
The European Jewish Congress, (EJC), was founded in 1986. It is based in Brussels, with offices in Paris, Strasbourg, Berlin and Budapest. It is a representative body of democratically elected European Jewish communities throughout Europe.
Overv ...
in calling for an investigation of the publishing of the pamphlet and whether Parliament funds were involved.
["Dateline World Jewry", April 2007, ]World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...
Creationist views
Giertych supports a version of
creationism
Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 't ...
that attributes the creation of the universe, life, and its further development to an act of God's will. He is an honorary member of the
Daylight Origins Society
This is a list of Catholic Church, Catholic creationist organisations.
Cercle d'Étude Scientifique et Historique
Cercle d'Étude Scientifique et Historique (CESHE), was founded in 1971 in Belgium to preserve and disseminate the work of French s ...
, a creationist organisation based in the United Kingdom.
In his foreword to Gerard Keane's 1999 book ''Creation Rediscovered'', Giertych documented how his views changed from assuming
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
is true to being skeptical of it.
In 2006, Giertych rebutted the accusation
that he advocated teaching creationism in schools. He stated, "I am a scientist — a population geneticist with a degree from Oxford University and a PhD from the University of Toronto — and I am critical of the theory of evolution as a scientist, with no religious connotation."
On 11 October 2006 Giertych introduced and moderated a pro-creationist seminar held in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
for members of the European Parliament; The title of the presentation was ''Teaching evolutionary theory in Europe. Is your child being indoctrinated in the classroom?''
In 2008, Giertych appeared in
Ben Stein
Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944) is an American writer, lawyer, actor, comedian, and commentator on political and economic issues. He began his career as a speechwriter for U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford before ente ...
's movie ''
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed'' (credited as ''Marciej'' Giertych). The documentary features Giertych talking about his views on the theory of evolution.
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
at the IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
See also
* 2005 Polish presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Poland on 9 October and 23 October 2005. The outgoing President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, had served two five-year terms and was unable to stand for a third term. Lech Kaczyński defeated Donald Tusk t ...
* Radio Maryja
Radio Maryja is a religious and political socially conservative Polish radio station. It was founded in Toruń, Poland, on 9 December 1991, by the Redemptorist Tadeusz Rydzyk. The name "Maryja" is a traditional Polish form of the name "Mary", ...
References
External links
personal website
(Polish & English)
League of Polish Families
(Polish)
Maciej Giertych – "Poland above all!"
Maciej Giertych – Speech in European Parliament, 4 July 2006, about the Spanish Civil War
Skeptics:_scientists_who_are_skeptical_of_the_claims_of_Darwinism,_abiogenesis
_or_macroevolution.html" ;"title="abiogenesis">Skeptics: scientists who are skeptical of the claims of Darwinism, abiogenesis
or macroevolution">abiogenesis">Skeptics: scientists who are skeptical of the claims of Darwinism, abiogenesis
or macroevolution*
Civilisations at war in Europe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giertych, Maciej
1936 births
Living people
Politicians from Warsaw
Christian creationists
Polish Roman Catholics
Candidates in the 2005 Polish presidential election
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń faculty
University of Toronto alumni
Alumni of the University of Oxford
Members of the Polish Sejm 2001–2005
Dendrologists
League of Polish Families MEPs
MEPs for Poland 2004
MEPs for Poland 2004–2009