Adam Michnik (Polish pronunciation:[ˈadam ˈmixɲik]; born 17 October 1946) is a Polish historian, essayist, former dissident, public intellectual, and the editor-in-chief of Poland's largest newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. Brought up in a family of committed communists, Michnik became an opponent of the communist regime at the time of the anti-Jewish purges in the party. He was imprisoned, first, after the 1968 March Events, then, after the imposition of the Martial Law in 1981. Michnik also played a crucial role during the Polish Round Table Talks, as a result of which the communists conceded to call elections, which were subsequently won by Solidarity. Even though he has withdrawn from active politics he has "maintained an influential voice through journalism". He is a laureate of many awards and honors, including a Knight of the Legion of Honour and European of the Year.
Family
Adam Michnik was born in Warsaw, Poland, to a family of Jewish communists. His father Ozjasz Szechter was First Secretary of the Communist Party of Western Ukraine, and his mother Helena Michnik was a historian, communist activist, and children's-book author. His step-brother on his mother's side, Stefan Michnik, was a judge in the 1950s, during the Stalinist period, and passed death sentences on Polish resistance-movement soldiers. His step-brother on his father's side, Jerzy Michnik (born 1929), settled in Israel after 1957 and then moved to New York.
The personal name Adam derives from the Hebrew noun ha adamah meaning "the ground" or "earth". It is still a Hebrew given name, and its Quranic and Biblical usage has ensured that it is also a common name in all countries which draw on these traditions. It is particularly common in Christian- and Muslim-majority countries. In most languages its spelling is the same, although the pronunciation varies somewhat. Adán is the Spanish form of this name.
Adam is also a surname in many countries, although it is not as common in English as its derivative Adams (sometimes spelled Addams). In other languages there are similar surnames derived from Adam, such as Adamo, Adamov, Adamowicz, Adamski etc.
In Arabic, Adam (آدم) means "made from the earth/mud/clay".
Roger Adam was a French aircraft designer and manufacturer who produced light aircraft in kit from 1948 to 1955. He established the firm Etablissements Aeronautiques R. Adam.
Adam was a major character in the 1994 novel, Mordenheim, written by Chet Williamson.
Fictional character biography
Adam is the darklord of Lamordia. Known as Mordenheim's Monster or the Creature, he is an extremely intelligent and nimble dread flesh golem, based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Adam is the most successful creation of Dr. Victor Mordenheim in his research into the creation of life, albeit the one that causes him grief unmeasured. Adam reduced the doctor's wife Elise to a vegetative state and apparently murdered their adopted daughter Eva.
The two are inextricably bound together: Dr. Mordenheim has Adam's immortality, and in return Adam shares the doctor's anguish.
Usually hidden from sight, Adam is believed to spend most of his time on the Isle of Agony, part of the archipelago known as the Finger.
References
Sources
Cermak, Andrew, John W. Mangrum, and Andrew Wyatt. Secrets of the Dread Realms (White Wolf Publishing, 2001).
Among them also are opposition journalists Petr Pospíchal and Petr Uhl, who founded the East EuropeanInformationAgency and Adam Michnik, perhaps Poland’s most celebrated journalist, who became the ...
Yet in an extended conversation with the Polish historian, newspaper owner, and former anti-communist activist Adam Michnik in 2015, Navalny pointedly spoke about nationalists as if he was not one of them.
No one has seen or heard from the journalist since ...Prime suspect ... Zietara's diary says he tried to contact Adam Michnik, the then editor-in-chief of the national, Warsaw-based newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza ... Michnik denied having any contact with Ziętara ... .
As Poland’s exit polls rolled in on Sunday 15 October, Adam Michnik, the founder of liberal daily paper Gazeta Wyborcza, made a prediction to his newsroom ... When Michnik spoke of “Poles” setting an example, he subverted two common tropes ... .
READ MORE ...Insight by LaunchDarkly ... The communication and humanities award was won last year by Adam Michnik, the former Polish dissident and human rights activist who is editor-in-chief of one of Eastern Europe’s most popular newspapers ... .
But others – and not just right-wing conservatives – remain to be convinced.Influential liberal opposition activist Adam Michnik has warned against reducing John Paul’s life and work to the difficult issue of clerical sexual abuse.
“In chanting the slogan, ‘freedom without censorship,” wrote Polish dissident movement leader Adam Michnik, “I felt an almost physical fire beneath me that interior flame of Polish freedom, which was ...
He is accused of "calling for actions aimed at harming national security" as well as inciting hatred ...Adam Michnik, editor-in-chief of the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper for which Poczobut reported, published a letter in his support ... She now lives in exile.
