Wojciech Szczęsny Kaczmarek (24 March 1942 – 26 May 2009) was a physicist and politician. From 1990 to 1998, he was the mayor of Poznań, Poland.

Biography

Wojciech Szczęsny Kaczmarek was born on 24 March 1942 in Luboń, Reich District of Wartheland, Nazi Germany (now part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland). His father, Telesfor Kaczmarek was of Polish descent, and his mother Zyta Kaczmarek (née ''Omaszt'') of Hungarian. At the age of two he got sick from polio. In 1966 Kaczmarek graduated from the Faculty of Physics of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. He worked as a physicist until 1990, including at the

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

, the Sorbonne Paris North University, and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. In the 1980s Kaczmarek was an activist in 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 ...

trade union. In 1990, he was elected by the city council as the mayor of Poznań, with a difference of one vote. He took office on 6 June 1990, and being reelected in 1994, he remained in it until 14 December 1998. He was a co-founder and a chairperson of the Association of Polish Cities. From 1990 to 2002 he was a member of the Poznań City Council. At the time he belonged to the Freedom Union. In 2002 Kaczmarek unsuccessfully run for office of the mayor of Poznań in a

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

. From 2000 to 2003, he was the counsul-general of Poland in Paris. In 2004, Kaczmarek unsuccessfully run of office of the member of the European Parliament, as a candidate of the

Initiative for Poland The Initiative for Poland ( pl, Inicjatywa dla Polski) or IdP, was a short-lived centre-right Christian democratic Polish political party. History The party was created in Poznań on the 14 June 2003 on the initiative of the former finance min ...

, and in 2005, he unsuccessfully run of office of the member of the

Sejm of Poland 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 ...

, as a candidate of the Democratic Party. Kaczmarek died on 26 May 2009 in Poznań, and was buried at the Junikowo Cemetery in that city. In 2011, at the Great Poland Citizens Memorial Cemetery in Poznań was unveiled a monument dedicated to him.

Awards and decorations

* National Order of the Legion of Honour (France, 1997) * Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland, 1999) * Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland, 2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaczmarek, Wojciech Szczesny 1942 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Polish politicians 21st-century Polish politicians People from Poznań Politicians from Poznań Scientists from Poznań People from Luboń Politicians from Paris Scientists from Paris People from Paris Mayors of Poznań Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań alumni Solidarity (Polish trade union) activists Consuls-General of Poland Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Knights of the Legion of Honour Democratic Party – demokraci.pl politicians Freedom Union (Poland) politicians 20th-century Polish physicists Polish city councillors Academic staff of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań Academic staff of ETH Zurich Academic staff of Sorbonne Paris North University Polio survivors Polish people of Hungarian descent