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Lech Kaczyński
Official portrait, 2006
4th President of Poland
In office
23 December 2005 – 10 April 2010
Prime MinisterKazimierz Marcinkiewicz
Jarosław Kaczyński
Donald Tusk
Preceded byAleksander Kwaśniewski
Succeeded byBronisław Komorowski (acting)
President of the Supreme Audit Office
In office
14 February 1992 – 8 June 1995
PresidentLech Wałęsa
Prime MinisterJan Olszewski
Waldemar Pawlak
Hanna Suchocka
Waldemar Pawlak
Józef Oleksy
Preceded byWalerian Pańko
Succeeded byJanusz Wojciechowski
Mayor of Warsaw
In office
18 November 2002 – 22 December 2005
DeputyMirosław Kochalski
Dorota Safjan
Sławomir Skrzypek
Władysław Stasiak
Andrzej Urbański
Preceded byWojciech Kozak
Succeeded byMirosław Kochalski (Acting)
Leader of Law and Justice
In office
13 June 2001 – 18 January 2003
Parliamentary
Leader		Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
Jarosław Kaczyński
Ludwik Dorn
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byJarosław Kaczyński
Minister of Justice
Public Prosecutor General
In office
12 June 2000 – 4 July 2001
Prime MinisterJerzy Buzek
Preceded byHanna Suchocka
Succeeded byStanisław Iwanicki
Personal details
Born
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński

(1949-06-18)18 June 1949
Warsaw, Polish People's Republic
Died10 April 2010(2010-04-10) (aged 60)
Smolensk, Russia
Cause of deathAirplane crash
Political partyIndependent (2005–2010)
Other political
affiliations		Solidarity (before 1991)
Centre Agreement (1991–1997)
Solidarity Electoral Action (1997–2001)
Law and Justice (2001–2005)
Spouse
​
(m. 1978)​
Children1
RelativesJarosław Kaczyński (twin brother)
Alma mater
AwardsOrder of the White Eagle Order of the Polonia Restituta Chain of the Order of King Abdulaziz (Saudi Arabia) Order of Malta Order of the White Lion Grand Order of King Tomisław National Hero of Georgia Order of Victory Saint George (Georgia) Order of Vytautas the Great - Grand Cross National Order of Merit Order of Malta Order of Prince Henry - Grand Collar Order of the Star of Romania - Grand Cross Order of the Double White Cross Order of Prince Jarosław the Wise Order of Merit of Hungary - Grand Cross
Signature
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Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (Polish: [ˈlɛx alɛkˈsandɛr kaˈt͡ʂɨj̃skʲi] ⓘ; 18 June 1949 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he previously served as President of the Supreme Audit Office from 1992 to 1995 and later Minister of Justice and Public Prosecutor General in Jerzy Buzek's cabinet from 2000 until his dismissal in July 2001.

Born in Warsaw, he starred in a 1962 Polish film, The Two Who Stole the Moon, with his identical twin brother Jarosław. Kaczyński was a graduate of law and administration of Warsaw University. In 1980, he was awarded his Ph.D. by Gdańsk University. In 1990, he completed his habilitation in labour and employment law. He later assumed professorial positions at Gdańsk University and Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.

During the communist period, Kaczyński was an activist in the pro-democratic anti-communist movement in Poland, the Workers' Defence Committee, as well as the Independent Trade Union movement. In August 1980, he became an adviser to the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee in the Gdańsk Shipyard and the Solidarity movement. After the communists imposed martial law in December 1981, he was interned as an "anti-socialist element". After his release, he returned to trade union activities, becoming a member of the underground Solidarity. When Solidarity was legalized again in the late 1980s, Kaczyński was an active adviser to Lech Wałęsa and his Solidarity Citizens' Committee in 1988.

From February to April 1989, he participated in the Polish Round Table Talks along with his brother. After Solidarity's victory in the 1989 Polish legislative election, Kaczyński became a senator and vice-chairman of the movement. Then in the 1991 Polish parliamentary election, he was elected into the Sejm as a non-party member. He was also the main adviser and supporter of Lech Wałęsa when the latter was elected President of Poland in December 1990. Wałęsa nominated Kaczyński to be the Security Minister in the Presidential Chancellery but fired him in 1992 due to a conflict concerning Jan Olszewski's government. In 2001, Kaczyński co-founded the Law and Justice party, after splitting from the Solidarity Electoral Action and the Christian National Union, along with his brother.[1][2] Kaczyński was the party's presidential candidate, during the 2005 Polish presidential election. In the first round of voting, Kaczyński received 33.1% of the valid votes. In the second round of voting, Kaczyński received 54.04% of the vote, defeating Donald Tusk, who received 45.96% of the vote. He was sworn in as president on 23 December 2005.

On 10 July 2006, Kaczyński appointed his brother as Prime Minister of Poland upon the resignation of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, the brothers then became the first pair of brothers in the world to serve as president and Prime Minister of a country and the only twin brothers to do so, until 2007, when his brother lost the parliamentary election on 21 October 2007, finishing a distant second behind the conservative-liberal party Civic Platform. His brother was succeeded as prime minister by his former presidential rival Donald Tusk.[3]

On 10 April 2010, Lech Kaczyński died, along with his wife, in the crash of a Polish Air Force jet that occurred on a landing attempt at Smolensk North Airport in Russia.[4][5] He was the first Polish president to die in office since the assassination of Gabriel Narutowicz.

Early life

[edit]

Kaczyński was born in Warsaw, the son of Rajmund[6] (an engineer who served as a soldier of the Armia Krajowa in World War II and a veteran of the Warsaw Uprising),[7] and Jadwiga (a philologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences).[8] As a child, he starred in a 1962 Polish film, The Two Who Stole the Moon (Polish title O dwóch takich, co ukradli księżyc), with his identical twin brother Jarosław.

Kaczyński was a graduate of law and administration of Warsaw University. In 1980 he was awarded his PhD by Gdańsk University. In 1990 he completed his habilitation in labour and employment law. He later assumed professorial positions at Gdańsk University and Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.

Opposition to communism

[edit]

In the 1970s Kaczyński was an activist in the pro-democratic anti-communist movement in Poland, the Workers' Defence Committee, as well as the Independent Trade Union movement. In August 1980, he became an adviser to the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee in the Gdańsk Shipyard and the Solidarity movement. After the communists imposed martial law in December 1981, he was interned as an anti-socialist element. After his release, he returned to trade union activities, becoming a member of the underground Solidarity.

When Solidarity was legalized again in the late 1980s, Kaczyński was an active adviser to Lech Wałęsa and his Komitet Obywatelski Solidarność in 1988. From February to April 1989, he participated in the Round Table talks.

Political activity from 1989 to 2005

[edit]

Kaczyński was elected senator in the elections of June 1989 and became the vice-chairman of the Solidarity trade union.[9] In the 1991 parliamentary election, he was elected to the parliament as a non-party member. He was, however, supported by the electoral committee Center Civic Alliance, closely related but not identical to the political party Centre Agreement (Porozumienie Centrum) led by his brother. He was also the main adviser and supporter of Lech Wałęsa when the latter was elected President of Poland in December 1990. Wałęsa nominated Kaczyński to be the Security Minister in the Presidential Chancellery but fired him in 1992 due to a conflict concerning Jan Olszewski's government.[10]

Kaczyński was the President of the Supreme Chamber of Control (Najwyższa Izba Kontroli, NIK) from February 1992 to May 1995[11] and later Minister of Justice and Attorney General in Jerzy Buzek's government from June 2000 until his dismissal in July 2001. During this time he was very popular because of his strong stance against corruption.[12]

Law and Justice

[edit]

In 2001 he founded the political party Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość – PiS), usually labelled 'conservative' by media, with his brother Jarosław. Lech Kaczyński was the president of the party between 2001 and 2003.[13]

Mayor of Warsaw

[edit]

In 2002, Kaczyński was elected mayor of Warsaw in a landslide victory.[14] He started his term in office by declaring war on corruption. He strongly supported the construction of the Warsaw Uprising Museum and in 2004 appointed a historical panel to estimate material losses that were inflicted upon the city by the Germans in the Second World War (an estimated 85% of the city was destroyed in the Warsaw Uprising) as a direct response to heightened claims coming from German expellees from Poland. The panel estimated the losses to be at least 45.3 billion euros ($54 billion) in current value. He also supported the construction of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw and was one of the signatories of the agreement to finance the project using the city funds.[15]

Interference with LGBT events

[edit]

Kaczyński banned the Warsaw gay pride parade twice in 2004 and again in 2005, locally known as the Parada Równości (the Equality Parade), telling protesters that "I respect your right to demonstrate as citizens, but not as homosexuals."[16] Additionally, he feared the parade would promote a "homosexual lifestyle" and complained that police did not use enough force in breaking it up by stating "Why was force not used to break up an illegal demonstration?".[17][18] Kaczyński referred to the organizers of the gay pride parades as "perverts".[19]

In 2005, Kaczyński allowed a counter-demonstration, the "Parade of Normality",[20] organized by the All-Polish Youth, a Catholic nationalist organization opposed to "liberalism, tolerance, and relativism."

In 2007, Poland was found guilty by the European Court of Human Rights of violating the principle of freedom of assembly by banning the 2005 Parada Równości under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.[21][22][23]

Presidency 2005–2010

[edit]

Presidential election

[edit]
Main article: 2005 Polish presidential election

On 19 March 2005, he formally declared his intention to run for president in the October 2005 election.

In the first round of the elections he polled 33% of the vote, taking second place behind Donald Tusk. By the second round, however, he had gained the support of Radio Maryja, as well as of two other political parties besides his own: Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland, and the Polish People's Party.

Elected President of the Republic of Poland (he defeated the runner-up Donald Tusk by polling 8,257,468 votes, constituting 54.04 percent of the vote), Kaczyński assumed office on 23 December 2005, taking an oath before the National Assembly.

Domestic policy

[edit]
Lech Kaczyński with U.S. President George W. Bush in 2007

In his first public speech as president-elect, Kaczyński said that his presidency would pursue the task of ameliorating the Republic, a process which he said would consist of "purging various pathologies from our life, most prominently crime [...], particularly criminal corruption – that entire, great rush to obtain unjust enrichment, a rush that is poisoning society, [and preventing the state from ensuring] elementary social security, health security, basic conditions for the development of the family [and] the security of commerce and the basic conditions for economic development."[24]

During his inauguration he stated several goals he would pursue during his presidency. Among those concerning internal affairs were: increasing social solidarity in Poland, bringing justice to those who were responsible for, or were affected by communist crimes in the People's Republic of Poland, fighting corruption, providing security in economy, and safety for development of family. Kaczyński also stated that he would seek to abolish economic inequalities between various regions of Poland. In his speech he also emphasized combining modernization with tradition and remembering the teachings of Pope John Paul II.

On 21 December 2008, Kaczyński became the first Polish head of state to visit a Polish synagogue and to attend religious services held there. His attendance coincided with the first night of Hanukkah.[25]

Kaczyński supported the reintroducing the death penalty in Poland, clashing with the European Union over the issue in 2006.[26][27][28]

Presidential pardons

[edit]

From 2005 to 2007, in accordance with article 133 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Kaczyński pardoned 77 people and declined to pardon 550.

Foreign affairs

[edit]
Meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart, Dalia Grybauskaitė, in Vilnius at the Presidential Palace, 8 April 2010. This was to be Kaczyński's last meeting with a fellow head of state.

In foreign policy, Kaczyński noted that many of Poland's problems were related to the lack of energy security and this issue would have to be resolved to protect Polish interests. Strengthening ties with the United States while continuing to develop relations within the European Union are two main goals of Polish foreign affairs, as well as improving relations with France and Germany despite several problems in relations with the latter. Aside from those issues, his immediate goals were to develop a tangible strategic partnership with Ukraine and greater co-operation with the Baltic states, Azerbaijan and Georgia. He was greatly admired in Israel because he promoted educating Polish youth about the Holocaust. There was widespread grief in Israel over his death.[29]

Defense Minister Radosław Sikorski compared the planned Russia to Germany gas pipeline to the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga stated that the pipeline was a threat to Poland's energy security.[30]

In November 2006 in Helsinki, at a European Union-Russia meeting, Poland vetoed the launch of EU-Russia partnership talks due to a Russian ban on Polish meat and plant products imports.[31]

Lech Kaczyński and president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, 2008

As a reaction to claims by a German exile group Preussische Treuhand, which represents post-1945 German expellees from Eastern Europe, the Polish Foreign Minister Fotyga mistakenly threatened to reopen a 1990 Treaty fixing the Oder and Neisse rivers as the border between the two countries instead of the Neighborhood Treaty signed in the same year.[32][33]

Kaczyński with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, 8 October 2007

Following the military conflict between Russia and Georgia in 2008, Kaczyński provided the website of the President of Poland for dissemination of information for blocked by the Russian Federation Georgian internet portals. In a speech during the Russian aggression against Georgia, Kaczyński predicted: "Today Georgia, tomorrow Ukraine, the Baltic States the day after tomorrow, and then perhaps the time will come for my country, Poland!"[34]

During a state visit to Serbia in 2009, Kaczyński said that the Polish government, on the basis of its constitutional competences, decided to recognize Kosovo and emphasized that he, as the President of the state, did not agree with that.[35]

Marriage and family

[edit]

Kaczyński married economist Maria Kaczyńska in 1978.[36] They had one daughter, Marta Kaczyńska-Dubieniecka. His brother is Jarosław Kaczyński, the former Prime Minister of Poland.[37]

Death

[edit]
Main article: Smolensk air disaster
The wreckage of the Tu-154 at the scene of the crash

On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154M plane was carrying Lech Kaczyński, his wife Maria Kaczyńska, and other members of a Polish delegation (top public and military figures) from Warsaw to commemorate the Katyn massacre. The plane crashed while approaching Smolensk Air Base in Russia. The governor of Smolensk Oblast confirmed to the Russia 24 news channel that there were no survivors.[38] 96 people were killed in the crash, including many of Poland's highest military and civilian leaders.[39][40]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a government commission to investigate the crash. Russia's Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, was placed in charge of the investigation.[41]

Russian politician Valeriya Novodvorskaya later claimed the Russian government had murdered Kaczyński.[42]

State funeral

[edit]
Main article: Death and state funeral of Lech and Maria Kaczyński
Sarcophagus of Lech and Maria in the Crypt Under the Tower of Silver Bells, Kraków

On 11 April 2010, President Kaczyński's body was returned to Poland,[43] where he and his wife lay in state at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.[44] The state funeral was held in Kraków on 18 April 2010. After a Roman Catholic Mass at St. Mary's Basilica,[45] the presidential couple were laid to rest in a coffin, which was placed in the antechamber of the Crypt Under the Tower of Silver Bells beneath the Wawel Cathedral.[46][47][48] A significant number of foreign dignitaries were unable to attend the funeral as a result of air travel disruption in Europe following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.[49]

Exhumation and post-mortem

[edit]
Main article: Death and state funeral of Lech and Maria Kaczyński

In June 2016, the Polish government announced it would re-open the investigation into the Smolensk jet crash with plans to exhume and autopsy all 96 of the victims.[50] On 14 November 2016, the first of ten bodies, including Kaczyński's, were exhumed.[51] Kaczyński and his wife were reburied on 18 November 2016 after autopsies.[52]

By 1 June 2017, exhumations of 27 coffins had been completed and DNA tests confirmed that 24 of those coffins, Kaczyński's among them, showed evidence of mix-ups, including switched bodies, partial sets of remains and multiple remains in one grave.[53]

Honours and awards

[edit]
The statue of Lech Kaczyński in Piłsudski Square, Warsaw

National honours

[edit]

Foreign honours

[edit]

Other achievements

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Kaczynski Often a Source of Tension Within E.U." Obituary New York Times, 11 April 2010; page A12.
  2. ^ "Polish leader known as a feisty battler" Obituary Los Angeles Times, 11 April 2010; page A13.
  3. ^ "Twin Kaczynski brothers become President and Prime Minister of Poland". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Polish President Lech Kaczynski dies in plane crash". BBC News. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  5. ^ "Polish President Lech Kaczynski Killed When Plane Crashed on Approach To Smolensk Airport in Russia". Sky News. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  6. ^ Lech Kaczyński, president of Poland, at Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  7. ^ "Rajmund Kaczyñski h. Pomian: genealogia (Potomkowie Sejmu Wielkiego)" (in Polish). Sejm-wielki.pl. 14 December 2004. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  8. ^ "Jadwiga Jasiewicz h. Rawicz: genealogia (Potomkowie Sejmu Wielkiego)" (in Polish). Sejm-wielki.pl. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  9. ^ "Lech Kaczynski: Polish President and co-founder of the Law and Justice Party". independent.co.uk. 13 April 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  10. ^ Marcin Koziestański (3 June 2022). ""Nocna zmiana". 30 lat temu odwołano rząd Jana Olszewskiego". i.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  11. ^ "M.P. 1992 nr 7 poz. 45". isap.sejm.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Biography of Poland's Lech Kaczynski". cnn.com. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Historia PiS". e-sochaczew.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  14. ^ Jaroslaw Adamowski (11 April 2010). "Lech Kaczynski obituary". theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  15. ^ "O muzeum". jewishmuseum.org.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  16. ^ Taylor, Jerome (1 December 2006). "Poles apart: how gay people suffer under the new regime". The Independent. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  17. ^ Boyes, Roger (23 December 2005). "New leader finds demons lurking at home and abroad". The Times. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  18. ^ "BBC News: Gay marchers ignore ban in Warsaw". 11 June 2005. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  19. ^ "Two for the price of one, in the shape of Tweedledum and Tweedledee | April 2007 | New Internationalist". Newint.org. April 2007. Archived from the original on 11 September 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  20. ^ "Pinknews: Anti-gay Warsaw Mayor, Lech Kaczynski, wins Polish Presidential election". 26 October 2005.
  21. ^ "Polish gay activists win human rights case". Poland.pl. 4 May 2007. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  22. ^ ""CASE OF BĄCZKOWSKI AND OTHERS v. POLAND, Verdict". Page 31". Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  23. ^ "whole text of the judgement (en)". Retrieved 24 July 2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  24. ^ "Speech of the president-elect on his official webpage". Archived from the original on 3 April 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
  25. ^ Associated Press. Polish president visits synagogue for Hanukkah. accessed and written 21 December 2008.
  26. ^ "Polish leader backs death penalty". 28 July 2006.
  27. ^ "Polish leader angers EU with call to restore death penalty". TheGuardian.com. 3 August 2006.
  28. ^ "Anger over new death penalty call". 5 August 2006.
  29. ^ [1] Archived 15 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ "ENERGY DELIVERIES – Gas Diplomacy". The Warsaw Voice. 7 June 2006. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2006.
  31. ^ "EU Divided After Poland's Veto Hosts Russia's Putin at Summit". MosNews. 24 November 2006. Archived from the original on 17 January 2004. Retrieved 16 January 2006.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  32. ^ "Poles Angered by German WWII Compensation Claims". Der Spiegel. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2006.
  33. ^ "Furious Poland Threatens to Re-Open German Border Treaty". Der Spiegel. 19 December 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2006.
  34. ^ "Message from the President of the Republic of Poland". 24 February 2022.
  35. ^ "Talks Tadic – Kacinsky". Glassrbije.org. 14 May 2009. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  36. ^ "Biography". Notablebiographies.com. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  37. ^ Dempsey, Judy (10 April 2010). "Kaczynski often a source of tension with E.U". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  38. ^ "Polish president feared dead in Russian plane crash". Reuters. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  39. ^ "Senior Polish figures killed in plane crash". BBC News. 11 April 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  40. ^ "Poles to pay tribute to lost President Lech Kaczynski". BBC News. 12 April 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  41. ^ "President of Poland Died (Погиб президент Польши)". Vesti.ru. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  42. ^ Novodvorskaya, Valeria (11 April 2010). Жестокая посадка (in Russian). Grani.ru. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  43. ^ "President Lech Kaczynski's body returns to Poland". BBC News. 11 April 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  44. ^ "Polish President, Wife Lie in State". CBS News. 13 April 2010. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  45. ^ "Kaczynski to rest among Poland's kings, heroes". CBC News. 18 April 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  46. ^ "Presidential resting place". Polskie Radio. 16 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  47. ^ "Poland's President Will Be Buried in State Funeral on Sunday". Fox News. 13 April 2010. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  48. ^ "State funeral for Polish president Lech Kaczynski and wife". The Guardian. UK. 13 April 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  49. ^ "Poland holds state funeral for President Lech Kaczynski". BBC News. 18 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  50. ^ "Poland to dig up bodies of victims of 2010 Smolensk presidential jet crash". The Guardian. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  51. ^ "Poland exhumes president Lech Kaczyński's remains". The Guardian. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  52. ^ "Poland president Lech Kaczyński reburied after postmortem". The Guardian. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  53. ^ "Parts of two bodies found in late Polish president's coffin: official". Radio Poland. IAR. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  54. ^ "Saakashvili: 'Kaczynski Played Amazing Role in Fight for Georgia's freedom'". Civil Georgia. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  55. ^ Slovak republic website, State honours Archived 13 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine : 1st Class in 2009 (click on "Holders of the Order of the 1st Class White Double Cross" to see the holders' table)
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