Mirosław Sawicki (February 10, 1946, Warsaw — January 31, 2016) was a

physics teacher Physics education or physics teaching refers to the education methods currently used to teach physics. The occupation is called physics educator or physics teacher. Physics education research refers to an area of pedagogical research that seeks ...

, activist and civil servant. The former director of the central examination commission was also the Minister of National Education and Sports in 2004–2005, and Minister of National Education in 2005.

Biography

Beginning in 1954, he was active in the

scouting movement Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, includin ...

as part of

Jacek Kuroń Jacek Jan Kuroń (; 3 March 1934 – 17 June 2004) was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. He was widely known as the "godfather of the Polish opposition," not unlike Václav Havel in Czechoslovakia. Kur ...

's Walter Hufz. He attended the Tadeusz Reytan High School VI in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. In 1963, he began studying at the Faculty of Physics at

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. In 1968, as part of the

March events The March Days or March Events () was a period of inter-ethnic strife and clashes which took place between 30 March – 2 April 1918 in the city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Governorate of the Transcaucasian Commissariat. Facilitat ...

, he took part in a rally at the University of Warsaw in defence of the play ''

Dziady Dziady ( "grandfathers, eldfathers", sometimes translated as Forefathers' Eve) is a term in Slavic folklore for the spirits of the ancestors and a collection of pre-Christian rites, rituals and customs that were dedicated to them. The essence o ...

'' and

Adam Michnik Adam Michnik (; born 17 October 1946) is a Polish historian, essayist, former Anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1989), dissident, Intellectual#Public intellectual, public intellectual, as well as co-founder and editor-in-chief of the P ...

and

Henryk Szlajfer Henryk Szlajfer (born 7 November 1947, Wrocław) – Polish economist and Political science, political scientist of Jews, Jewish origin, professor at the University of Warsaw, in the years 1993–2008, director of the Department of Strategy and P ...

, who had been expelled from the university. During this time he was associated with the so-called

banana youth Banana youth () was a term coined in the Polish People's Republic during the 1960s to denigrate the children of the ''nomenklatura'', particularly those who participated in the March 1968 protests. The name referenced the banana as a consumer-s ...

. At that time he was suspended as a student, which was reinstated in 1970. In 1971 he received his bachelor's degree, and received his master's degree from the Bialystok branch of the University of Warsaw in 1982. From 1971 to 1990, he was employed as a teacher of physics in Warsaw high schools, including XLI Joachim Lelewel High School. In the second half of the 1970s, he collaborated with the Committee for Social Self-Defense KOR. In 1980, he joined the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union

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 ...

, where he headed teams dealing with education. In 1989, he headed 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 ...

Śródmieście, Warsaw Śródmieście (), also anglicised as Downtown, is the central Districts and neighbourhoods of Warsaw, district of Warsaw, the capital city of Poland. It encompasses the Old Town, Warsaw, Old Town, the city's historic core, and is the centre of c ...

. From 1990 to 1997 he was an official at the Ministry of National Education, serving as director of the Department of General Education (until 1996), then as undersecretary of state at the ministry. From 1998 to 2002 he held the position of Minister Counselor at the Polish Embassy in Washington. In 2002, he opened his doctoral dissertation at the Department of Sociology at

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

. In the same year he won a competition for the post of director of the Central Examination Commission (CKE). On May 2, 2004, he became Minister of National Education and Sports in Marek Belka's first government, a position he retained in the next cabinet. After the separation of the sports ministry, he was Minister of National Education from September 1, 2005, to October 31, 2005. He then returned to heading the CKE, a position he was dismissed from in March 2006. In 2008 he became a member of the National Education Council, an advisory body to Minister Katarzyna Hall. In the same year, he again headed the CKE (as acting director), serving in this position until January 2009, later becoming deputy director of the institution. He was also a member of the Association of Employees, Collaborators and Friends of the Polish Radio Free Europe Broadcasting Station named after Jan Nowak-Jezioranski. The son of Ludwik and Czesława ( Żochowska). He was the husband of Paula Sawicka. He was buried in the

Powązki Military Cemetery Powązki Military Cemetery (; ) is an old military cemetery located in the Żoliborz district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquially as "Old Powązki". The Old Pową ...

(cemetery section B32-20-5).

Bibliography

The government of Prime Minister Mark Belka. "Government Review." No. 5 (155), May 2004 ccessed 2016-06-09No page number.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawicki, Mirosław 1946 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Polish physicists People from Warsaw