Stanisław Kania (; 8 March 1927 – 3 March 2020) was a Polish

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician who served as the '' de facto'' leader of the

Polish People's Republic 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. ...

as First Secretary of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) between September 1980 and October 1981.

Early life and career

Stanisław Kania was born on 8 March 1927 in Wrocanka, Jasło County in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

into a

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

family. Kania joined the Peasant Battalions in 1944 at 17 years-old and the Polish Workers' Party (PPR) in April 1945, when the Germans were driven out of Poland by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and Polish

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

began to take control of the country. He partook in campaigns organised by the PPR, such as the Volunteer Reserve of the Citizens' Militia and the

1946 Polish people's referendum 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

. Kania became deputy representative of the constituency for Jasło County and in February 1947 he was elected chairman of the Union of Youth Struggle (ZWM) board in Jasło. In December he was appointed head of the Rural Youth Department in

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

. In 1948, the 21-year-old Kania was elected as delegate to the unification congress of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). He attended courses at the PZPR's party school from 1950 to 1952 and was appointed head of the Rural Youth Department and to the main board of the ZWM. Kania was active in the

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 ...

Provincial Committee from 1957 and became its Secretary in September 1960, a position he would hold until November 1968. Kania was elected a deputy member of the Central Committee of the PZPR in June 1964 before being elected a full member in November 1968. He was appointed head of the Central Committee's Administrative Department until becoming Secretary of the Central Committee in April 1971. Kania was elected to the Politburo of the PZPR in December 1975, effectively making him one of the most powerful men in Poland.

First Secretary

On 6 September 1980, Kania was elected First Secretary when Edward Gierek was forced to resign for signing the Gdańsk Agreement with the

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 ...

amidst much social and economic unrest in Poland. Gierek's actions were seen by some within the PZPR leadership as an attempt to renounce communism, and he was subsequently removed from power. Kania, having been the Central Committee's Secretary for most of Gierek's rule and a critic of his economic policies, was chosen to replace him. He admitted that the party had made many economic mistakes, advocated working with

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist opposition groups, and met with Solidarity leader

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 ...

and other critics of the PZPR. Kania's attempts at reconciliation with opposition groups in Poland were largely unsuccessful, losing the confidence of both the party and the public. Kania resigned as First Secretary in October 1981, when a bug planted by the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

caught him criticizing the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

leadership, and was succeeded by General

Wojciech Jaruzelski Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski ( ; ; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military general, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party ...

, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) and Minister of National Defence.

Later life and death

In 2012, Kania was tried for his role in Jaruzelski's imposition of

martial law in Poland Martial law in Poland () existed between 13 December 1981 and 22 July 1983. The Polish United Workers' Party, government of the Polish People's Republic drastically restricted everyday life by introducing martial law and a military junta in an a ...

in December 1981, but he was

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...

. Kania died on 3 March 2020 of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

, five days before his 93rd birthday. At the time of his death, he was one of the last surviving leaders of a former

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

country.

Awards and decorations

* Order of the Builders of People's Poland (1977) * POL Order Sztandaru Pracy 1 klasy BAR

Order of the Banner of Labour, 1st Class * POL Order Sztandaru Pracy 2 klasy BAR

Order of the Banner of Labour, 2nd Class (1969) * POL Polonia Restituta Oficerski BAR

Officer's Cross of

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

Knight's Cross of

(1954) * Partisan Cross * Medal of the 30th Anniversary of People's Poland (1974) * POL Medal 10-lecia Polski Ludowej BAR

Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland (1955) * Golden Medal of Merit for National Defence * Silver Medal of Merit for National Defence * Bronze Medal of Merit for National Defence * Medal of Ludwik Waryński (1988) * 30 years of victory rib

Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (USSR, 1975) * OrderOfBraveryRibbon

Medal of 90th Anniversary of the Birth of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria, 1972) Medale Georgi Dymitrowa dla członków kierownictwa PZPR, „Trybuna Robotnicza”, nr 266, 8 listopada 1972, s. 1.

References

Stanisław Kania
in Encyklopedia WIEM 1927 births 2020 deaths People from Jasło County People from Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) Polish Workers' Party politicians Members of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party Members of the Polish Sejm 1972–1976 Members of the Polish Sejm 1976–1980 Members of the Polish Sejm 1980–1985 Recipients of the Order of the Builders of People's Poland Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Deaths from pneumonia in Poland Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland {{Poland-Sejm-politician-stub