Hanna Stanisława Suchocka (; born 3 April 1946) is a Polish

political figure A politician is a person who participates in policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles or duties tha ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań The Adam Mickiewicz University (; Latin: ''Universitas Studiorum Mickiewicziana Posnaniensis'') is a research university in Poznań, Poland. Due to its history, the university is traditionally considered among Poland's most reputable institution ...

and Chair of the Constitutional Law Department, former First Vice-President and Honorary President of the

Venice Commission The Venice Commission, officially European Commission for Democracy through Law, is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law. It was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin ...

. She served as the

Prime Minister of Poland A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only wa ...

between 8 July 1992 and 26 October 1993 under the presidency of

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 Polish presidential election, 1990 election, Wałę ...

. She is the first woman to hold this post in Poland (preceding

Ewa Kopacz Ewa Bożena Kopacz (; née Lis; born 3 December 1956) is a Polish politician who has served as a Vice-President of the European Parliament since 2019. She previously was Marshal of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014, the first woman to hold the office, as ...

and

Beata Szydło Beata Maria Szydło (, née Kusińska ; born 15 April 1963) is a Polish politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. A member of Law and Justice (PiS), she previously served as the prime minister of Poland f ...

who both held the post in the 2010s) and was the 14th woman to be appointed and serve as Prime Minister in the world.

Early life

Suchocka was born in

Pleszew Pleszew () is a town in central Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, about 90 km southeast of Poznań. It is the capital of Pleszew County. The town's population is 16,811 (2022). The town is claimed to be a 15-minute city. History The ol ...

, Poland, in a Catholic family of chemists. Her grandfather was a university teacher and her grandmother Anna became a member of the first Polish parliament for

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

after independence in 1918 when women got the right to vote. Suchocka went to law school and became a researcher at the University of Poznań (UAM), gaining a PhD in

Constitutional Law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

. Later she worked as a reader in law at Lublin university and for most of her professional life at a facility of the Polish academy of sciences in Poznań until 2013. She gained a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

at UAM in 2015.

Political career

In 1969, she joined a small non-Marxist '

satellite party Satellite Party was an alternative rock band formed by Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell following the break-up of Jane's Addiction in 2004. Other members included Carl Restivo (bass) and Farrell's wife, Etty Lau Farrell (backing singer a ...

', the Democratic Party (SD), and was a member of parliament the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

in 1980–1985. At the same time, she was a member and a legal advisor to ''

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 ...

''. She was one of only a few MPs who did not to vote in favour of

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

in 1981 and the criminalisation of ''Solidarity'' in 1984. The party suspended her (or she resigned), but with the support of ''Solidarity'', she was re-elected to parliament in 1989. When Solidarity supporters split up into several political parties, Suchocka joined the centre-liberal Democratic Union (DU) and was re-elected to parliament in 1991.

Prime Minister of Poland (1992-1993)

She became Prime Minister in 1992. Governments at the time were based on various coalitions and changed constantly. Suchocka was chosen to the amazement of many male politicians but she was known for her low profile and willingness to make compromises and promote reconciliation. She could be accepted by people who had an antipathy towards more prominent leaders of DU. In addition, as a liberal, while being opposed to abortion as a Catholic, she could be accepted by both sides of the political spectrum and satisfy the interests of a majority in a parliament consisting of seven parties, including a Christian and a liberal party. Hanna Suchocka declared that her government was for social reconciliation and would lead the country forward in the transformation from communism to capitalism. She was approved by 233 against 61 votes and 113 abstentions She quickly formed a cabinet, but it didn't include any other female ministers, although she wanted them. None of the coalition partners was willing to accept another woman and she got two male deputy prime ministers. She stayed longer as prime minister than any of her four predecessors, but she did not stay long. There was a wave of strikes and Suchocka was a warm supporter of market reforms and followed a hard line against the strikers. When she wouldn't give salary increases to teachers and health workers, parliament passed a vote of no-confidence by a majority of one vote. Wałęsa dissolved parliament and held new elections. Before the early 1993 parliamentary elections, Suchocka's government signed a concordat with the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, which was the object of charges of the successful

Democratic Left Alliance Democratic Left Alliance may refer to: * Democratic Left Alliance (Poland) The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social democracy, social-democratic list of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. It was formed on 9 July 1991 as ...

, which criticized the fact that the concordat had signed a cabinet without a parliamentary mandate. Suchocka resigned as soon as the new parliament was in place.

Later career

In 1994, Hanna Suchocka was one of the founders of a liberal and social-democratic Liberty Union party, which became the country's third-largest political force. From 1997 to 2000 she was the minister of justice in a coalition government. Suchocka's candidacy stirred controversy amongst some of the activists who co-founded the

Solidarity Electoral Action Solidarity Electoral Action (, AWS) was a coalition of political parties in Poland, active from 1996 to 2001. AWS was the political arm of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity trade union, whose leader Lech Wałęsa (also an AWS member ...

(AWS) and

Centre Agreement The Centre Agreement (, PC) was a Christian-democratic political party in Poland. It was established in 1990 and had its roots in the Solidarity trade union and its political arm, the Solidarity Citizens' Committee. Its main leader was Jarosła ...

(PC). In August 1997, former Interior Minister

Zbigniew Siemiątkowski Zbigniew Siemiątkowski (born 8 October 1957 in Ciechanów, Poland) is a Polish politician and political scientist. He was Minister of Internal Affairs, 1996–97, and head of the Intelligence Agency (''Agencja Wywiadu'', or ''AW''), 2002 – ...

accused Suchocka's government of allowing alleged surveillance of opposition political parties. On 8 June 2000, the entire Freedom Union (UW) left the coalition after weeks of negotiations failed to find an acceptable replacement for Jerzy Buzek (whom the Freedom Union accused of failing to push through economic reforms). She is also a member of the

Club of Madrid Club de Madrid is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. It is composed of 127 regular members from 74 countries, including 5 Nobel Peace Prize laureates and 2 ...

. Hanna Suchocka is a member of the

Council of Women World Leaders The Council of Women World Leaders, created in 1996, is a network of 92 current and former presidents and prime ministers. It is the only organization in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government. The council's Ministerial Initiati ...

, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development. She served as Poland's Ambassador to the

from 2002 to 2013. She was also a member of the

Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (, or PASS) is a pontifical academy established on 1 January 1994 by Pope John Paul II and is headquartered in the Casina Pio IV in Vatican City. It operates much like other learned societies worldwid ...

in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

(appointed by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on 19 January 1994). In April 2014 Suchocka was among the 8 initial appointees of

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

to the

Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is a pontifical commission within the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church instituted by Pope Francis on 22 March 2014 as an advisory agency serving the pope. Since 5 June 2022, the Commission ...

.''Wall Street Journal'' March 22, 2014
/ref>

References

External links

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Suchocka, Hanna 1946 births 20th-century Polish women politicians 21st-century Polish women politicians Alliance of Democrats (Poland) politicians Ambassadors of Poland to the Holy See Democratic Union (Poland) politicians Female heads of government in Poland Freedom Union (Poland) politicians Justice ministers of Poland Living people Members of the Polish Sejm 1980–1985 Members of the Polish Sejm 1991–1993 Members of the Polish Sejm 1993–1997 Members of the Polish Sejm 1997–2001 Members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors People from Pleszew Polish Roman Catholics Prime ministers of Poland Women government ministers of Poland Women members of the Sejm of the Polish People's Republic Women members of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland Women prime ministers in Europe Female justice ministers Polish women ambassadors 20th-century women prime ministers Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań alumni First women prime ministers