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 Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń or NCU (, UMK) is located in Toruń, Poland. It is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born in Toruń in 1473. History The beginnings of higher education in Toruń The first institution of higher ...

in 1971, and followed that up with an internship at the University of Rome. In 1990, she became a professor at the

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (, , abbreviation KUL) is a university established in 1918. History :pl:Idzi Radziszewski, Father Idzi Benedykt Radziszewski founded the university in 1918. Vladimir Lenin, Lenin allowed the priest ...

. The following year she returned to Nicolaus Copernicus University as a professor, and also stayed on at the Catholic University, teaching in their law department until 2010. Grześkowiak joined

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

in 1980 and focused on representing students and workers who were repressed under the communist regime; she received the Cross of Freedom and Solidarity in 2017 for her efforts. She was elected to the

Senate of Poland The Senate () is the upper house of the Parliament of Poland, Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent ...

as a member of the

Solidarity Citizens' Committee The Solidarity Citizens' Committee (''Komitet Obywatelski "Solidarność"'', KO "S"), also known as Citizens' Electoral Committee (''Obywatelski Komitet Wyborczy'') and previously named the Citizens' Committee with Lech Wałęsa (''Komitet Obywatel ...

in 1989. She served as a delegate for Poland to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, and served as Vice President of the Group of Christian Democrats in the council. She was re-elected to the Senate in 1991 and 1993. During her first three terms she served on the Constitutional Committee and the Committee on Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and was Deputy Marshal of the Senate in her second term. In 1997, Grześkowiak was re-elected to a fourth term in the Senate, and was named Marshal of the Senate. After her term ended in 2001, she chose not to run for office again, focusing on her advisory and academic roles. She also served as advisor for the

Pontifical Academy for Life The Pontifical Academy for Life or Pontificia Accademia per la Vita is a Pontifical Academy of the Catholic Church dedicated to promoting the Church's consistent life ethic. It also does related research on bioethics and Catholic moral theology. ...

and the

Pontifical Council for the Family The Pontifical Council for the Family was a pontifical council of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church from 1981 to 2016. It was established by Pope John Paul II on 9 May 1981 with his motu proprio ''Familia a Deo Instituta'', replacing the Com ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grześkowiak, Alicja 1941 births Living people Senat Marshals Solidarity Electoral Action politicians Women members of the Senate of Poland Members of the Senate of Poland 1989–1991 Members of the Senate of Poland 1991–1993 Members of the Senate of Poland 1993–1997 Members of the Senate of Poland 1997–2001 Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń alumni