![Tadeusz Mazowiecki bust in Sarajevo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Tadeusz_Mazowiecki_bust_in_Sarajevo.jpg)
Tadeusz Mazowiecki (; 18 April 1927 – 28 October 2013) was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the
Solidarity
''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
movement, and the first
non-communist Polish prime minister since 1946.
[BBC (corporate author), p. 1]
Biography
Tadeusz Mazowiecki was born in
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 the ...
, Poland on 18 April 1927 to a
Polish noble family, which uses the
Dołęga coat of arms Dolega (in Polish Dołęga) may refer to:
Places
*Dolega, Chiriquí, Panama
* Dołęga, Lesser Poland Voivodeship (south Poland)
People
* Mycielski (Dołęga) (singular masculine), Mycielska (singular feminine), Mycielscy (plural), from a Polish n ...
.
[Kopka & Żelichowski, p. 135][Pszczółkowski, pp. 1-2] Both his parents worked at the local Holy Trinity Hospital: his father was a doctor there while his mother ran a charity for the poor.
[Pac, p. 1] His education was interrupted by the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. During the war he worked as a runner in the hospital his parents worked for.
After the German forces had been expelled from Płock, Tadeusz Mazowiecki resumed his education and in 1946 he graduated from
"Marshal Stanisław Małachowski" Lyceum, the oldest
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
in Poland and one of the oldest continuously operating school in Europe.
He then moved to
Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
and then to
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 ...
, where he joined the Law Faculty of the
Warsaw University
The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...
. However, he never graduated and instead devoted himself to activity in various Catholic associations, journals and publishing houses.
[Friszke, "Koło posłów Znak...", p. 606]
Catholic activist
PAX and WTK
Already during his brief stay at the Warsaw University Mazowiecki joined the
Caritas Academica charity organisation, he also briefly headed the University Printing Cooperative between 1947 and 1948.
In 1946 he also joined
Karol Popiel
Karol Michał Popiel (28 October 1887 – 6 June 1977) was a Polish politician of the christian democracy tendency and writer. During World War II Popiel served as Minister of Justice from 1941 to 1942 and Minister for the reconstruction of publi ...
's
Labour Party. However, later that year the party was outlawed by the new
Stalinist
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...
authorities of Soviet-controlled Poland. Almost all other non-communist organisations soon also became a target of state-sponsored repressions.
One of the exceptions was the
PAX Association
The PAX Association () was a pro-communist Catholic organization created in 1947 in the People's Republic of Poland at the onset of the Stalinist period. The association published the ''Słowo Powszechne'' daily for almost fifty years between 19 ...
, the only large Catholic organisation supported by the Communist authorities – and supporting the authorities in their conflict with the Catholic clergy.
[Dudek, p. 181] Mazowiecki joined PAX in 1948, initially as one of the leaders of the youth circles. He openly criticised
Bolesław Piasecki
Bolesław Bogdan Piasecki, alias Leon Całka, Wojciech z Królewca, Sablewski (18 February 1915 – 1 January 1979) was a Polish politician and writer.
Biography
In the Second Polish Republic he was one of the more prominent Polish nationa ...
's vision of the association and his allegiance to the
Communists
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 so ...
.
He nevertheless rose through the ranks of various journals published by the association. Initially, a journalist in the ''
Dziś i Jutro'' weekly, in 1950 he became the deputy editor-in-chief of ''
Słowo Powszechne
The PAX Association () was a pro- communist Catholic organization created in 1947 in the People's Republic of Poland at the onset of the Stalinist period. The association published the ''Słowo Powszechne'' daily for almost fifty years between ...
'' daily newspaper. In 1952 the conflict between Piasecki and the opposition within the PAX (the so-called Fronda, composed mostly of young intellectuals) led to Mazowiecki being expelled from the daily and relegated to a less prominent role of an editor of newly created ' (''Wrocław Catholic Weekly'', WTK).
[Dudek, p. 218] Until 1955 he served as the editor-in-chief of that journal, he also remained one of the leaders of the opposition within the association, criticising Piasecki and his associates for their conflicts with the Catholic hierarchy, loyalty to the communist authorities, and lack of democratic procedures within PAX.
[Dudek, p. 219] For that he was eventually dismissed from the WTK and eventually in 1955 expelled from the association altogether.
[Dudek, pp. 219 & 222]
Involvement in Communist propaganda
Despite criticizing Piasecki, Mazowiecki offered his own support to the Communist authorities, expressed in press articles and other publications. In 1952, he published a
pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...
titled ''The enemy remains the same'' (', co-authored with
Zygmunt Przetakiewicz, then editor-in-chief of ''WTK'') imputing an alliance between
Polish anti-communist resistance movement and Nazi war criminals. In a press article published in ''WTK'' in 1953, Mazowiecki fiercely condemned
Czesław Kaczmarek, then Bishop of
Kielce
Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern Poland, and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the bank ...
. Kaczmarek, groundlessly accused by the Communists of being an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
and
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
spy, was later sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Katolicy przeciwko kościołowi Rzeczpospolita 3 12 2007
/ref>
Club of Catholic Intelligence and 'Więź'
Having left PAX, together with a group of his former colleagues Tadeusz Mazowiecki started cooperation with the ''Tygodnik Powszechny
''Tygodnik Powszechny'' (, ''The Common Weekly'') is a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, published in Kraków, which focuses on social, cultural and political issues. It was established in 1945 under the auspices of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sap ...
'' weekly, ''Po prostu Simple speech ( uk, проста мова, prosta mova, pl, mowa prosta, po prostu, be, про́стая мова; па простаму, prostaya mova; "(to speak) in a simple way"), also translated as "simple language" or "simple talk", is an in ...
'' journal and the Crooked Circle Club
The Crooked Circle Club ( pl, Klub Krzywego Koła) was a discussion club for young intelligentsia in Poland. It was founded in 1955, the first meeting taking place in an apartment on Crooked Circle Street in Warsaw. It had connections with the ''Po ...
.[Friszke, "Opozycja polityczna...", p. 186] While these journals were formally dependent on PAX, they were increasingly liberal and independent. Eventually, during the Polish October
Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...
of 1956 Tadeusz Mazowiecki became one of the founders of the All-Polish Club of Progressive Catholic Intelligentsia, the predecessor of Club of Catholic Intelligentsia (KIK), the first all-national Catholic organisation independent of the Communist authorities in post-war Poland.[Friszke, "Oaza na Kopernika...", p. 39] Until 1963 he served as a board member of KIK.[Friszke, "Oaza na Kopernika...", pp. 297-298] He was also a founding member of the '' Więź'' Catholic monthly in 1958 and served as its first editor-in-chief.[Friszke, "Oaza na Kopernika...", p. 51][Szporer, p. 259] While relatively independent from the Communist authorities, the monthly was also independent from the Catholic hierarchy, which often led to conflicts with both.[Friszke, "Oaza na Kopernika...", p. 89][Friszke, "Koło posłów Znak...", p. 100] In his texts published in ''Więź'' Mazowiecki, inspired by Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier (; ; 1 April 1905 – 22 March 1950) was a French philosopher, theologian, teacher and essayist.
Biography
Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French personalist movement, and founder and director of '' Esprit'', the magazine ...
's personalist
Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleierm ...
ideas, sought intellectual dialogue with members of left-leaning lay intelligentsia.[Friszke, "Oaza na Kopernika...", p. 70][Friszke, "Oaza na Kopernika...", p. 86]
Mazowiecki was a friend and confidant of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
.
Politician and dissident
One of the lasting effects of Władysław Gomułka
Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948. Following the Polish October he became leader again from 1956 to 1970. Go ...
's rise to power during the Polish October
Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...
1956 was the dissolution of PAX. A group of former PAX dissenters, the "Fronda", along with some of the professors of the Catholic University of Lublin
John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin ( pl, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, la, Universitas Catholica Lublinensis Ioannis Pauli II, abbreviation KUL), established in 1918. It is the only private college in Poland with the s ...
approached Gomułka in 1956. In exchange for their support, Gomułka accepted the creation of Znak Association along with its publishing house, the only such venture independent from the communist government in contemporary Poland. Moreover, a small group of 12 Catholics associated with the Znak were allowed to run in the Polish legislative election of 1957, among them Tadeusz Mazowiecki. While the 12 members of parliament elected that year were formally independent, they formed the first form of opposition to the rule 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 ...
within the Polish 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 ...
, dubbed the "MP circle of Znak" ( pl, koło poselskie Znak). Mazowiecki remained a member of the Sejm until 1971, serving his second
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
, third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
and fourth terms as a member of the Catholic "party".[Ost, p. 219]
During his parliamentary career, he was an active member of the Commission on Education and the Commission on Work and Social Matters.[Friszke, "Koło posłów...", p. 44] As Poland was effectively a one-party state
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
, the role of the token opposition was mostly symbolic. However, some of Mazowiecki's speeches and interpellations made a large impact on Polish society. Such was the case of his critique of the official curriculum of Polish schools underlining the crucial role of Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
's historical materialism
Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...
,[Friszke, "Koło posłów...", pp. 46-47] or his isolated protest against the new Assemblies Act, effectively putting an end even to a theoretical freedom of assembly
Freedom of peaceful assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ide ...
in Poland.[Friszke, "Koło posłów...", p. 50] In 1968 he was the only member of parliament to raise the issue of the brutal suppression of the students' demonstrations during the 1968 Polish political crisis
The Polish 1968 political crisis, also known in Poland as March 1968, Students' March, or March events ( pl, Marzec 1968; studencki Marzec; wydarzenia marcowe), was a series of major student, intellectual and other protests against the ruling Poli ...
.[Friszke, "Koło posłów...", p. 83] In the aftermath of the bloody quelling of the 1970 protests, in which 42 people were killed by the army and the Citizens' Militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
, Tadeusz Mazowiecki unsuccessfully demanded that the matter be investigated in order to find those responsible for the bloodshed.[Friszke, "Oaza na Kopernika...", p. 116] This and similar acts of questioning the actions of the Communist authorities made Mazowiecki one of the unwanted members of parliament and consequently in 1972 the party did not allow him to run for his fifth term.[Friszke, "Oaza na Kopernika...", pp. 128-129]
Having left the Sejm, Mazowiecki became the head of Warsaw chapter of the Club of Catholic Intelligentsia and one of the best-known Polish dissidents. In early 1976, soon after the publication of the Letter of 59 The Letter of 59 (also known as the ''Memorial'' or ''Memorandum of 59'') was an open letter signed by 66 (or 59 at first, hence the name) Polish intellectuals who protested against the changes of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland ...
, Mazowiecki initiated a similar letter to the PUWP signed by most members of the former Znak circle.[Friszke, "Oaza na Kopernika...", pp. 157-159] Although not a member of the Workers' Defence Committee
The Workers' Defense Committee ( pl, Komitet Obrony Robotników , KOR) was a Polish civil society group that was established to give aid to prisoners and their families after the June 1976 protests and ensuing government crackdown. KOR was an examp ...
, he supported it on numerous occasions, notably in the aftermath of the June 1976 protests
The June 1976 protests were a series of protests and demonstrations in the Polish People's Republic that took place after Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz revealed the plan for a sudden increase in the price of many basic commodities, 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 ...
and Ursus
Ursus is Latin for bear. It may also refer to:
Animals
* ''Ursus'' (mammal), a genus of bears
People
* Ursus of Aosta, 6th-century evangelist
* Ursus of Auxerre, 6th-century bishop
* Ursus of Solothurn, 3rd-century martyr
* Ursus (''praefectus ...
.[Friszke, "Oaza na Kopernika...", p. 179][Friszke, "Opozycja polityczna...", p. 398] An heir to a long tradition of organic work Organic work ( pl, praca organiczna) was a phrase adopted from Herbert Spencer by 19th-century Polish Positivists to denote the concept that the nation's vital powers should be devoted to labour ("work from the foundations"), rather than to fruitle ...
, on 22 January 1978 Tadeusz Mazowiecki, together with other Polish dissidents, including Stefan Amsterdamski, Andrzej Celiński
Andrzej Bohdan Celiński (; born 26 February 1950 in Warsaw) is a Polish politician. Until 1989 activist of the democratic opposition in Poland. Former Member of Senate and Sejm. Minister of Culture in the government of Prime Minister Leszek Mi ...
and Andrzej Kijowski ::''Not to be mistaken for Andrzej Tadeusz Kijowski, his son.''
Andrzej Kijowski (29 November 1928, Krakow, Poland – 29 June 1985, Warsaw, Poland) was a Polish literary critic, essayist, prose and screenwriter. His son is poet and critic A ...
, became one of the founding members of the Society of Scientific Courses, the predecessor of the Flying University.[Friszke, "Opozycja polityczna...", pp. 501-502]
Solidarity and the fall of Communism
In August 1980, he headed the Board of Experts, which supported the workers from Gdańsk who were negotiating with the authorities. From 1981, he was the editor-in-chief of the ''Tygodnik Solidarność
''Tygodnik Solidarność'' (, "Solidarity Weekly") is a Polish weekly magazine. Started and published by the Solidarity movement on 3 April 1981, it was banned by the People's Republic of Poland following the martial law declaration from 13 Decem ...
'' weekly magazine.[Tagliabue, "Solidarity seems on verge...", p. 1] After martial law was declared in December 1981 he was arrested and imprisoned in Strzebielnik, then in Jaworz and finally in Darłówek.
He was one of the last prisoners to be released on 23 December 1982. In 1987, he spent a year abroad, during which he talked to politicians and trade union representatives. Starting in 1988, he held talks in Magdalenka. He firmly believed in the process of taking power from the ruling Polish United Workers' Party through negotiation and thus he played an active role in the Polish Round Table Talks
The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, Poland from 6 February to 5 April 1989. The government initiated talks with the banned trade union Solidarność and other opposition groups in an attempt to defuse growing social unrest.
Histo ...
, becoming one of the most important architects of the agreement by which partially free elections were held on 4 June 1989. While the Communists and their satellites were guaranteed a majority in the legislature, Solidarity won all of the contested seats in a historic landslide.
The Communists had originally planned for Solidarity to be a junior partner in the ensuing government. However, Solidarity turned the tables on the Communists by persuading the Communists' two satellite parties to switch their support to Solidarity. This would all but force Communist President 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 ...
to appoint a Solidarity member as prime minister, heading the first government in 45 years that was not dominated by Communists. At a meeting on 17 August 1989, Jaruzelski finally agreed to Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democratica ...
's demand to pick a Solidarity member as the next prime minister. Walesa chose Mazowiecki as a Solidarity candidate to lead the coming administration. On 21 August 1989 General Jaruzelski formally appointed Mazowiecki as Prime Minister-designate. On 24 August 1989, he won a vote of confidence in the Sejm. He thus became the first Polish prime minister in 43 years who was not either a Communist or a fellow traveler
The term ''fellow traveller'' (also ''fellow traveler'') identifies a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member of that o ...
, as well as the first non-communist Prime Minister of an Eastern European country in over 40 years.[Baczyńska & Słowikowska, p. 1]
Prime Minister
On 13 September 1989 during his parliamentary speech introducing his new cabinet and government program for parliamentary approval, Mazowiecki had a dizzy spell that necessitated a one-hour break in proceedings. However, the government was approved by a vote 402–0, with 13 abstentions. Mazowiecki's government managed to carry out many fundamental reforms in a short period. The political system was thoroughly changed; a full range of civil freedoms as well as a multi-party system were introduced and the country's emblem and name were changed (from the People's Republic of Poland
The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...
to the Republic of Poland). On 29 December 1989, the fundamental changes in the Polish Constitution
The current Constitution of Poland was founded on 2 April 1997. Formally known as the Constitution of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), it replaced the Small Constitution of 1992, the last amended version of ...
were made. By virtue of these changes, the preamble was deleted, the chapters concerning political and economic forms of government were changed, the chapters concerning trade unions were rewritten and a uniform notion of possession was introduced.[Tagliabue, "Poles Approve Solidarity-Led Cabinet", p. 1]
Mazowiecki used enormous popularity and credibility of the Solidarity movement to transform the Polish economy by a set of deep political and economic reforms.[Sachs, pp. 44-46] Better known under the name of Balcerowicz Plan
The Balcerowicz Plan ( pl, plan Balcerowicza), also termed "Shock Therapy", was a method for rapidly transitioning from an economy based on state ownership and central planning, to a capitalist market economy.
A group of experts, which they form ...
after Mazowiecki's minister of finance, Leszek Balcerowicz
Leszek Henryk Balcerowicz (pronounced ; born 19 January 1947) is a Polish economist, statesman, and Professor at Warsaw School of Economics. He served as Chairman of the National Bank of Poland (2001–2007) and twice as Deputy Prime Minister of ...
, the reforms enabled the transformation of the Polish economy from a centrally-planned economy
A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, part ...
to a market economy
A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...
. The reforms have prepared the ground for measures stopping the hyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...
, introducing free-market mechanisms and privatisation of state-owned companies, houses and land. The plan resulted in reduced inflation and budget deficit, while simultaneously increasing Unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
and worsening the financial situation of the poorest members of society. In 1989, in his first parliamentary speech in 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 ...
, Mazowiecki talked about a "thick line The thick line policy (Polish: gruba kreska, ''thick stroke'', or gruba linia, ''thick line'') was the term used by prime minister of Poland, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, in his first parliamentary speech in Sejm
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officia ...
" ('): "We draw a thick line on what has happened in the past. We will answer for only what we have done to help Poland to rescue her from this crisis from now on". Originally, as Mazowiecki explains, it meant non-liability of his government for damages done to the national economy by previous governments.[Leszkowicz, p. 1]
Later years
In 1991 Mazowiecki was appointed the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the ''Situation of Human Rights in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia''. In 1993 he issued a report on human rights violations in the Former Yugoslavia but two years later Mazowiecki stepped down in protest at what he regarded as the international community's insufficient response to atrocities committed during the Bosnian war, particularly the Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Masakr u Srebrenici, Масакр у Сребреници), also known as the Srebrenica genocide ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Genocid u Srebrenici, Геноцид у Сребрен ...
committed by the Serb army that year.[WŻ, p. 22]
A conflict with Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democratica ...
resulted in the disintegration of Citizens' Parliamentary Club that represented Solidarity camp. The Citizens' Parliamentary Club was divided into Centre Agreement
Porozumienie Centrum (PC; en, Centre Agreement) was a Polish Christian democratic political party. The party rose in 1990. Its chairman was Jarosław Kaczyński. In its programme, the PC opposed socialism and was anti-communist. In 1997 PC join ...
, which supported Wałęsa, and ROAD, which took sides with Mazowiecki. That conflict lead both politicians to compete in presidential election at the end of 1990. Mazowiecki, who during Solidarity times was an advisor to Lech Wałęsa and strike committee in Gdańsk's shipyard, stood against Wałęsa in the election and lost to him. He did not even join the second round (he gained the support of 18.08% of people – 2,973,364 votes) and was defeated by Stanisław Tymiński, a maverick candidate from Canada.
In 1991, Mazowiecki became a chairman of the Democratic Union (later Freedom Union), and from 1995 he was its honorary president. Together with Jan Maria Rokita
Jan Władysław Rokita (, born 18 June 1959, in Kraków) is a Polish liberal politician, a member of the Sejm, the lower chamber of the Polish parliament. He was chairman of the parliamentary club of the Civic Platform party from 2003 to 2005.
H ...
, Aleksander Hall
Aleksander Jan Hall (born 20 May 1953 in Gdańsk) is a Polish conservative political thinker, scholar and retired politician. Activist of Movement for Defense of Human and Civic Rights, later a politician and member of Solidarity Electoral Action ...
and Hanna Suchocka
Hanna Stanisława Suchocka (; born 3 April 1946) is a Polish political figure, lawyer, professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and Chair of the Constitutional Law Department, former First Vice-President and Honorary President of the ...
he represented the Christian Democratic wing of the party. Between 1989 and 2001 Mazowiecki was a representative to the Polish Parliament (first from Poznań, later from Kraków).
Mazowiecki was a member of parliament in the first, second, and third term (a member of the Democratic Union), later the Freedom Union.
During the National Assembly (1997) he introduced compromise preamble of Polish constitution (previously written by founders of ''Tygodnik Powszechny
''Tygodnik Powszechny'' (, ''The Common Weekly'') is a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, published in Kraków, which focuses on social, cultural and political issues. It was established in 1945 under the auspices of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sap ...
'' weekly), which was accepted by the National Assembly. In November 2002, he left the Freedom Union, .
In 2005, he became one of the founders of the Democratic Party – demokraci.pl
The Democratic Party ( pl, Partia Demokratyczna – demokraci.pl), abbreviated to PD, was a minor social-liberal political party in Poland. It had no members of the Sejm, Senate, or European Parliament.
Its foundation was publicly announced on ...
– created through expanding the former Freedom Union by new members, especially young people, and few left-wing politicians. He was a leader on the parliamentary list in parliamentary elections in Warsaw constituency in 2005 with 30143 votes. The highest number of votes he gained in Żoliborz
Żoliborz () is one of the northern districts of the city of Warsaw. It is located directly to the north of the City Centre, on the left bank of the Vistula river. It has approximately 50,000 inhabitants and is one of the smallest boroughs of W ...
district, and the lowest in Rembertów
Rembertów () is a district of the city of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Between 1939 and 1957 Rembertów was a separate town, after which it was incorporated as part of the borough of Praga-Południe. Between 1994 and 2002 it formed a separate ...
. Until 2006 he was the leader of its Political Council.
Mazowiecki received numerous awards including an honorary degree from the universities in: Leuven, Genoa, Giessen, Poitiers, Exeter, Warsaw and the Katowice
Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
University of Economics. He also received the Order of White Eagle (1995), Golden Order of Bosnia (1996), Légion d'honneur (1997), Srebrnica Award (2005), the Giant award (1995) awarded by ' (''Election Gazette'') in Poznań and Jan Nowak-Jezioranski Award (2004). In 2003, he was elected to the board of directors of the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...
's Trust Fund for Victims.[Amnesty International (corporate author), p. 1] Mazowiecki was a member of the Club of Madrid
Club de Madrid is an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. Composed of 121 regular members from 72 countries, including 7 Nobel Peace Prize laureates and 20 first female heads ...
.[Club de Madrid (corporate author), p. 1] He was a supporter of a more united Europe
European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and its ...
.[Dzieduszycka, p. 1]
Mazowiecki died in Warsaw on 28 October 2013,[Kospa et al., p. 1] having been taken to hospital the previous week with a fever.[Ścisłowska, p. 1] Foreign Minister 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 ...
stated that he was "one of the fathers of Polish liberty and independence". He was survived by three sons from his second marriage.
See also
*History of Poland (1945-1989)
The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, ...
*History of Poland (1989-present)
The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from Lechites, medieval tribes, Christianization of Poland, Christianization and Kingdom of Poland, monarchy; through Polish Golden Age, Poland's Golden Age, Polonization, expansionism and becomi ...
References
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External links
Periodic Reports on the situation in Bosnia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazowiecki, Tadeusz
1927 births
2013 deaths
Politicians from Płock
People from Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Polish Roman Catholics
PAX Association members
Znak (association) members
Democratic Union (Poland) politicians
Freedom Union (Poland) politicians
Democratic Party – demokraci.pl politicians
Prime Ministers of the Polish People's Republic
Prime Ministers of Poland
Members of the Polish Sejm 1961–1965
Members of the Polish Sejm 1965–1969
Members of the Polish Sejm 1969–1972
Members of the Polish Sejm 1991–1993
Members of the Polish Sejm 1993–1997
Members of the Polish Sejm 1997–2001
Candidates in the 1990 Polish presidential election
Polish Round Table Talks participants
University of Warsaw alumni
Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis
Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
Knights of St. Gregory the Great
Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)