Jan Klawiter (born 10 November 1950) is a Polish politician. Since 2015 he has been a member of the

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 ...

from the parliamentary constituency of

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...

. He was also mayor of his hometown of

Rumia Rumia (; Kashubian: ''Rëmiô''; German until 1945: ''Rahmel'') is a town in northern Poland, in the Wejherowo County in Pomeranian Voivodeship, with some 45,000 inhabitants. It is a part of the Kashubian Tricity (Rumia, Reda, Wejherowo) and ...

for ten years.

Personal life

Klawiter is of Kashubian descent. In 1973 he graduated from

Gdańsk University of Technology The Gdańsk University of Technology (Gdańsk Tech, former ''GUT''; pl, Politechnika Gdańska) is a technical university in the Wrzeszcz borough of Gdańsk, and one of the oldest universities in Poland. It has eight faculties and with 41 fi ...

and received his PhD when he defended his doctoral dissertation in 1982 on the implementation of liquid chromatographs. In 1977 he married Urszula Wruk. In 1979 the couple had twins, although both died during birth. In 1983 their daughter Małgorzata was born. Klawiter is a devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and a member of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. In his youth he was the president of the local chapter of

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Ita ...

Political career

Klawiter served as mayor of his home town of Rumia from 1992 to 2002. In 2006 he became a councilor of the Pomeranian Seym from the PiS list, and in 2010 a councilor of the Wejherowo poviat. On 15 December 2012, he was elected the chairman of the board of the Right of the Republic of Poland in the

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province (Polish: ''Województwo pomorskie'' ; ( Kashubian: ''Pòmòrsczé wòjewództwò'' ), is a voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The ...

. In 2014 he ran as a candidate from the PiS list for the European Parliament, and later for the regional council. In 2015 he was elected to the Sejm. Klawiter is heavily against ''In vitro'' fertilisation and abortion due to his Catholic faith. While he esposes many views held by the far-right in Poland, other politicians have said that Klawiter is always polite in expressing his views. Nonetheless, Dorota Wójcik, president of the Polish chapter of the

Freedom From Religion Foundation The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization, which advocates for atheists, agnostics, and nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and challenges the legitimacy of many ...

expressed discomfort of Klawiter's close connection to the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and their leader

Edwin Frederick O'Brien Edwin Frederick O'Brien (born April 8, 1939) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been a cardinal since 2012 and headed the Order of the Holy Sepulchre from 2011 to 2019. O'Brien served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klawiter, Jan 1950 births Living people People from Rumia Polish people of Kashubian descent Polish Roman Catholics Law and Justice politicians Poland Together politicians Right Wing of the Republic politicians Members of the Polish Sejm 2015–2019 Mayors of places in Poland Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre