Wiktor Andrzej Moszczyński (born 6 September 1946) is a British-Polish journalist, political activist, and author. He is the recipient of Polish Golden Order of Merit (1992),

Bene Merito honorary badge Bene may refer to: * Bene AG, a European office furniture product and services company * Bene Israel ("Sons of Israel") are a historic community of Jews in India * Bene (Crete), a town of ancient Crete, Greece * a prefix denoting a society in th ...

(2010), and Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit (2014). He was the chairman of

Polish Solidarity Campaign Britain's Polish Solidarity Campaign (PSC) was a UK-based campaign in solidarity with Solidarity (the Solidarność trade union) and other democratic forces in Poland. It was founded in August 1980 by Robin Blick, Karen Blick, and Adam Westoby ...

in 1982–83. He served as a councillor in

Ealing Borough Council Ealing London Borough Council, which styles itself Ealing Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Ealing in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majorit ...

from 1986 to 1990. and previously in 1979–80 in Ipswich Borough Council. Married in 1972 to Albina Drabik; one son, Sandro Marcus Moszczynski, born in 1990. He was the vice chairman of the

Federation of Poles in Great Britain The Federation of Poles in Great Britain () is a voluntary umbrella organisation established to promote the interests of Poles in the United Kingdom and to promote the history and culture of Poland among British people. As a charity the Federation ...

and in 1992 campaigned to abolish visas for Poles in the UK. From 1994-to 2001, Moszczyński was the editor-in-chief of a Polish emigre journal,

Orzeł Biały The coat of arms of Poland is the Coat of arms, heraldic symbol representing Poland. The current version was adopted in 1990. It is a white, crowned Eagle (heraldry), eagle with a golden beak and talons, on a red background. In Poland, the coat ...

Early life and education

Moszczyński was born and brought up in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to Polish refugees Henryk Moszczyński and Anna Barbara (née Madejewska). In 1965, Moszczyński graduated from the

Gunnersbury Boys' School Gunnersbury Catholic School is a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys with specialist Science College status. It is situated in Brentford, London. The school was founded in 1932 by Fr William Roche. History In 1919, it opened as a Secondary ...

at Brentford. In 1968, he graduated from the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

in Brighton with honours in the School of Social Studies, majoring in International Relations.

Career

From 1980 to 1986, he was active in the executive committee of the Polish Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and became its chairman in 1982. In the 1983 parliamentary elections, he was the Labour party candidate in Bury St Edmunds, in the 1984 elections to the European Assembly he was the Labour Party candidate for Suffolk and South East Cambridgeshire, and in the 2006 and 2010 Ealing London Borough Council election. From 1991 to 1993 he served as vice-president to the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, and from 1997 to 2009 as their Press Spokesman and member of the Executive; he was responsible for promoting Polish issues with the UK government and the UK press. In 2016, Wiktor Moszczynski, on behalf of FPGB filed a complaint to the European Court relating specifically to The Times Columnist Giles Coren's use of the word "Polack," which he claims has a pejorative meaning, and he ran a successful complaint to the Press Complaints Commission about the consistent negative coverage of the Polish community in the UK by the Daily Mail.

Books

* Hello, I'm Your Polish Neighbour: All about Poles in West London (2010) * Polak Londynczyk (A Polish Londoner) (2011) * Ogłaszam alarm dla polskiego Londynu (2019) * In the Shadow of the Cross, translation from Polish book by Jozef Mackiewicz (1973) * Chasing Phileas Fogg: 80 Days on the Borealis (2023) (9)

References

9. ref https://www.authorhouse.com/en-gb/bookstore/bookdetails/850502-chasing-phileas-fogg {{DEFAULTSORT:Moszczynski, Wiktor Andrzej 1946 births 20th-century Polish journalists 21st-century Polish journalists Alumni of the University of Sussex British activists English people of Polish descent Living people Polish activists Polish reporters and correspondents Polish writers in English Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland

Early life and education

Career

Books

See also

References