Mark Francis Brzezinski (born April 7, 1965) is an American lawyer serving as the

United States Ambassador to Poland The history of ambassadors of the United States to Poland began in 1919. Until the end of World War I, Poland had been partitioned between Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. After the war and the collapse of the empires, Poland became an inde ...

since 2022. He previously served as the

United States Ambassador to Sweden The United States Ambassador to Sweden ( sv, Förenta Staternas ambassadör i Sverige) serves as the official diplomatic representative of the President and the Government of the United States of America to the King and the Government of the Kin ...

from 2011 to 2015 under President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. The son of Zbigniew Brezinski, former US National Security Advisor to President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

, Brezinski attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

, the

University of Virginia Law School The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

, and St. Antony's College, Oxford.

Early life and education

Brzezinski is the son of

Emilie Benes Brzezinski Emilie Beneš Brzezinski (born Emilie Anna Beneš; January 21, 1932 – July 22, 2022) was a Swiss-American sculptor and the wife of Zbigniew Brzezinski. Education and career Emilie Beneš was born in Geneva, Switzerland. She earned a fine ar ...

and Polish-born former National Security Advisor

Zbigniew Brzezinski Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński ( , ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), or Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was President Jimmy Carter' ...

, and the grandson of Polish diplomat Tadeusz Brzeziński. His mother is the grandniece of former

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

president

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...

. His sister is

Mika Brzezinski Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski Scarborough (; pl, Brzezińska; born May 2, 1967) is an American talk show host, liberal political commentator, and author who currently co-hosts MSNBC's weekday morning broadcast show ''Morning Joe''. She was forme ...

, co-host of the morning talk show '' Morning Joe'', and his brother is military expert

Ian Brzezinski Ian Joseph Brzezinski (born December 23, 1963) is an American foreign policy and military affairs expert. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy from 14 May 2001 to 20 January 2005, under President Geo ...

. He is also first cousin of author

Matthew Brzezinski Matthew Brzezinski (born October 7, 1965) is an American writer and journalist. Biography Brzezinski was born in Canada and is of Polish heritage. He graduated from McGill University in 1991. Brzezinski began working as a journalist in the earl ...

. Brzezinski graduated from

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

, earned a Juris Doctor from the

, and holds a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

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 th ...

. He also earned a Fulbright Scholarship to study the

Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland The Constitutional Tribunal ( pl, Trybunał Konstytucyjny) is the constitutional court of the Republic of Poland, a judicial body established to resolve disputes on the constitutionality of the activities of state institutions; its main task ...

Career

Ambassador Brzezinski, Malena Ernman and Natalia Brzezinski

Brzezinski was a corporate and securities associate at Hogan & Hartson LLP in Washington, D.C. from 1996-1999. From 1999-2001, Brzezinski served in the Clinton administration as a director of Russian/Eurasian affairs and director of Southeast European affairs of the National Security Council at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

. In that capacity, he was White House coordinator for U.S. democracy and rule of law assistance programs for the region. Brzezinski was a foreign policy advisor to the presidential campaign of

, and was later appointed Ambassador to Sweden by Obama.

Ambassador to Poland

Secretary Blinken Arrives in Rzeszow (51919357337)

On May 26, 2021, ''The New York Times'' reported that President Joe Biden is considering nominating Brzezinski to be the

. Brzezinski was officially nominated on August 4. On August 9, 2021, his nomination was sent to the Senate. Hearings on his nomination were held before the

Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid p ...

on December 1, 2021. His nomination was favorably reported by the committee on December 15, 2021, and was confirmed by the Senate on December 18, 2021 by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. Brzezinski was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to Poland on January 19, 2022 by Vice President

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

. He presented his credentials to President

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and th ...

on February 22, 2022.

Awards

In 2007

President of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Pola ...

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he pre ...

decorated him with Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. The order was awarded ''"for outstanding contributions to the development of Polish-American relations and for promoting a positive image of Poland in the world"''.

Personal life

His first wife was Carolyn M. Campbell, a lawyer. His second wife, from 2008, was Natalia Brzezinski, née Lopatniuk.Steve Clemons (September 6, 2008)
''Congratulations Natalia Lopatniuk & Mark Brzezinski''
Retrieved November 23, 2019.

References

External links

Profile at the GlobalistProfile at McGuireWoods
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brzezinski, Mark 1965 births Living people University of Virginia School of Law alumni Dartmouth College alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Sweden Ambassadors of the United States to Poland Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford American people of Czech descent American people of Polish descent

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

Washington, D.C., Democrats Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American diplomats Fulbright alumni