Marian Odon Orzechowski (24 October 1931 – 29 June 2020) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

politician and a former member of the Polish Communist Party. He served as foreign minister of the People's Republic of Poland from 1985 to 1988.

Early life and education

Orzechowski was born 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 (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...

on 24 October 1931. He received a degree in history from the University of Leningrad in

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. In 1960, he received PhD from the

University of Wrocław , ''Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau'' (before 1945) , free_label = Specialty programs , free = , colors = Blue , website uni.wroc.pl The University of Wrocław ( pl, Uniwersytet Wrocławski, U ...

Career

Orzechowski was a senior politician 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 ...

. He became a member of the central committee of the party in 1966. He served in a variety of party posts and was appointed a central committee secretary. He also headed the party's academy of social sciences. In addition, he became a lecturer of history and political science at the University of Wrocław in 1966. From 1971 to 1975 he served as the rector of the university. He was the chief ideologist of the party, being ideology secretary to which he was elected at the fifth plenum on 27–28 October 1981. From 1984 to 1986 he was the rector of the Academy of Social Sciences. He was appointed foreign minister on 12 November 1985 to the cabinet led by the then prime minister

Zbigniew Messner Zbigniew Stefan Messner (; 13 March 1929 – 10 January 2014) was a Communist economist and politician in Poland. His ancestors were of German Polish descent who had assimilated into Polish society. In 1972, he became Professor of Karol Adamiecki ...

. Revised and incorporated in He succeeded

Stefan Olszowski Stefan Michał Olszowski (born 28 August 1931) is a Polish politician, who was a member of Polish United Workers' Party. He served as the foreign minister of the People's Republic of Poland for two terms. Biography Olszowski was born in Torun ...

in the post. In addition, Orzechowski headed the PRON's national council, that was formed by the Polish authorities to develop a close interaction with the church, during that time. He became a member of the politburo in June 1988 while retaining his post as foreign minister. His term as foreign minister ended on 17 June 1988 and he was replaced by

Tadeusz Olechowski Tadeusz Olechowski (10 January 1926, Vilnius – 4 January 2001, Warsaw) was a Polish communist politician, Polish ambassador to various countries from 1960s to 1980s (France, 1969–1972 and 1976–1980, Egypt, 1972–1974, Western Germany Th ...

in the post. From 1988 to 1989 he served as the head of the Communist parliament delegation. In July 1989 Orzechowski lost his position as executive ideology secretary of the party's central committee when

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 ...

resigned from the leadership of the party. However, his membership at the central committee of the party continued for a while.

Views and activities

During his term as foreign minister, Orzechowski stated "historians who were members of the party were particularly inspected by the censors since they were to represent it." In 1986 he was able to persuade the Soviet authorities to appoint Wlodzimierz Natorf, a controversial figure, as the Polish ambassador to Moscow. Orzechowski participated in round table talks between the ruling party and opposition figures that lasted from 6 February to 4 April 1989.

Work

Orzechowski is the author of a book about political conditions in Poland and Polish foreign relations from 1989 to 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orzechowski, Marian 1931 births 2020 deaths Rectors of universities in Poland Members of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland Members of the Contract Sejm People from Radom Polish Round Table Talks participants 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Saint Petersburg State University alumni University of Wrocław alumni Academic staff of the University of Wrocław