The Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Marszałek Senatu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is the presiding officer of the

Senate of Poland The Senate ( pl, Senat) is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe ...

. The marshal is also third person according to the

Polish order of precedence There is no official document specifying the order of precedence in Poland. In practice, the precedence of officials in Poland is based on an outdated informal instruction dating back to 1992. Polish civil servants responsible for the protocol ofte ...

, after

President of the Republic 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 Polan ...

and

Sejm Marshal 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 (chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament. The office traces its origins to the 15th ...

, and second in line to become Acting President of the Republic of Poland (after Sejm Marshal; in period 1935-1939 Senate Marshal was the first). Because of both precedence order and succession order, the marshal is commonly referred to as the "third person in state". The person who functions as their second-in-command is the

Deputy Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland Deputy Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Wicemarszałek Senatu RP) is one of the Polish Senators in the upper house of the Polish parliament who serves as the deputy of the Senate Marshal (speaker). There could be a maximum o ...

Role

Marshal: * Represent Senate * Preside over Senate sessions * Preside over Senate Presidium and caucus of heads of Senatorial caucuses (''Konwent Seniorów'') meetings * Performing some representative roles on the state level * Becoming Acting President when Sejm Marshal cannot do so * Is in charge on peacekeeping in the Senate

History

Marshals of the Senate existed as early as the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

(19th century). In the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

, the role was performed by the Grand Crown Marshals.

List of officeholders

Second Republic

:In Second Polish Republic: The office was interrupted by

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...

in 1939 and not reinstated in People's Republic of Poland.

Third Republic

:In modern Poland: {, class="wikitable" ! colspan="2" , No ! Name ! !District !Senate ! Period ! Party , - , , 1 , Andrzej Stelmachowski , Andrzej Stelmachowski 01

, Białystok , I , November 22, 1989 – November 26, 1991 , Obywatelski Klub Parlamentarny , - , , 2 ,

August Chełkowski August Chełkowski (, 27 February 1927 – 31 October 1999) was a prominent Polish physicist and politician. Born in the small village of Telkwice, then in East Prussia (then a part of Weimar Republic) he was a son of Franciszek Chełkowski, ...

, Katowice , II , November 26, 1991 – October 15, 1993 , Solidarity , - , style="background-color:" , , 3 ,

Adam Struzik Adam Krzysztof Struzik (born 1 January 1957 in Kutno, Poland) is a Polish medical doctor and politician, serving as the current Marshal of Masovian Voivodeship since December 2001. Struzik previously served as Marshal of the Polish Senate Th ...

Płock Płock (pronounced ) is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2021, there were 116,962 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to th ...

, III , October 26, 1993 – October 19, 1997 ,

Polish Peasant Party The Polish People's Party ( pl, Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) is an agrarian political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although i ...

, - , , 4 ,

Alicja Grześkowiak Alicja Grześkowiak (born 10 June 1941) is a Polish politician who served as Marshal of the Senate of Poland from 21 October 1997 to 18 October 2001. Biography and career She graduated with a law degree from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in ...

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 ...

, IV , October 21, 1997 – October 18, 2001 ,

Solidarity Electoral Action Solidarity Electoral Action ( pl, Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność, AWS) was a political coalition in Poland from 1996 to 2001. From 1997 to 2001, its official name was ''Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność Prawicy'' (AWSP) or Electoral Action Solidarity ...

, - , style="background-color:" , , 5 ,

Longin Pastusiak Longin Hieronim Pastusiak (pronounced ; born August 22, 1935 in Łódź, Poland) is a Polish politician and historian. Academic career In 1959 Pastusiak earned his Master of Arts degree form Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affa ...

, 24 Gdańsk , V , October 20, 2001 – October 18, 2005 ,

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 Pol ...

, - , style="background-color:" , , 6 , Bogdan Borusewicz , Bogdan Borusewicz 02 Senate of Poland

, 65 Gdańsk , VI VII VIII , October 20, 2005 – November 11, 2015 , Independent /

Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It ...

, - , style="background-color:" , , 7 , Stanisław Karczewski , Stanisław Karczewski Kancelaria Senatu 2015

, 49

Kozienice Kozienice (; yi, קאזשניץ ''Kozhnits''; german: Koschnitz) is a town in eastern Poland with 21,500 inhabitants (1995). Located four miles from the Vistula, it is the capital of Kozienice County. Even though Kozienice is part of Lesser Pol ...

, IX , November 12, 2015 – November 11, 2019 , Law and Justice , - , style="background-color:{{party color, Civic Platform" , , 8 ,

Tomasz Grodzki Tomasz Paweł Grodzki (born 13 May 1958) is a Polish politician, doctor and surgeon. He has served as Marshal of the Senate since 12 November 2019, defeating Stanisław Karczewski with a majority of 51 votes from the Senate. Biography Educati ...

, 97 Szczecin , X , November 12, 2019 – present ,

Role

History

List of officeholders

Second Republic

Third Republic

See also