Sławomir Stanisław Skrzypek (10 May 1963 – 10 April 2010) was the President of the

National Bank of Poland The Narodowy Bank Polski (; the National Bank of Poland), often abbreviated to NBP, is the central bank of Poland, founded in 1945. It controls the issuing of Poland's currency, the Polish złoty. The bank is headquartered in Warsaw, and has bra ...

(NBP) from 2007 until his death in 2010. He died in the

2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft operating Polish Air Force Flight 101 crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing List of casualties of the Smolensk air disaster, all 96 people on board. Among the victims were the president ...

, when a plane transporting a number of Polish notables, including the President of Poland

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 in an air crash. The aircraft carrying ...

, crashed en route to a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the

Katyń massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by the Soviet Union, specifically the NKVD (the Soviet secret police), at ...

Life and career

Born in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

, Skrzypek graduated from the

Silesian University of Technology The Silesian University of Technology (Polish language, Polish name: Politechnika Śląska; ) is a university located in the Polish province of Silesia, with most of its facilities in the city of Gliwice. It was founded in 1945 by Polish profes ...

before taking an MBA from the

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, further post-graduate degrees at Cracow University of Economics, the

University of Silesia The University of Silesia in Katowice () is an autonomous state-run university in Katowice, Silesia Province, Poland. The university offers higher education and research facilities. It offers undergraduate, masters, and PhD degree programs, ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

and at

IESE Business School IESE Business School is the Catholic Church, Catholic graduate business school of the University of Navarra. It was established in Barcelona in 1958 by Opus Dei. From 1963, in collaboration with Harvard Business School, it offers a two-year Maste ...

at the

University of Navarra The University of Navarra is a private Catholic research university located on the southeast border of Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. It was founded in 1952 by Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, the founder of '' Opus Dei'', as a corporat ...

. It was on 10 January 2007 that Skrzypek was appointed to the role of President of the NBP, with a vote of 239 Sejm deputies in favor, 202 against and one abstaining. He replaced

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 ...

. His choice by President Kaczynski was controversial; opposition parties and others criticised his comparative lack of experience. Prior to this position, he had been acting President of the managing board of PKO BP, Poland's largest bank. He had also held positions in the Supreme Chamber of Control (NIK), serving as Deputy President of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and working at

Polish State Railways The Polish State Railways ( , abbr.: PKP S.A.) is a Polish state-owned holding company (legally a sole-shareholder company of the State Treasury) comprising the rail transport holdings of the country's formerly dominant namesake railway oper ...

(PKP). He acted as a deputy to the

Mayor of Warsaw The Mayor of Warsaw (officially in ) is the head of the executive of the capital of Poland elected directly during local elections for a term of five years. Overview The first city mayor of Warsaw was Jan Andrzej Menich (1695–1696). Th ...

between 2002 and 2005, responsible, '' inter alia'', for "financial policy, investment projects and corporate governance". From May 2000 to June 2001, he was a member of a group of advisors at one division of PZU, a Polish insurance company. Piotr Wiesiolek was named as Skrzypek's acting successor, though Skrzypek's sudden death on the 10 April 2010 may still cause short term problems for the bank; permanent Presidents of the Bank are usually nominated by Presidents of Poland, but Lech Kaczynski also died in the crash. After Skrzypek's death, the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' reported how the management committee of the central bank had recently "come into open conflict with six members of the Council f Ministersafter a council majority voted to change the rules dictating how the bank's net profit was calculated".

Awards

On 16 April 2010, Skrzypek was

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

awarded the Commander's Cross with Star of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skrzypek, Slawomir 1963 births 2010 deaths Polish bankers Governors of the National Bank of Poland Victims of the Smolensk air disaster Politicians from Katowice Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta University of Wisconsin–La Crosse alumni Georgetown University alumni University of Silesia in Katowice alumni University of Navarra alumni

Life and career

Awards

See also

References