The Solidarity strategist who planned the 1980 Gdańsk strike, shaped the 21 Demands, and co-founded the MKS
In the Lenin Shipyard, in the course of implementing Lenin's theory, we folded up Marxism-Leninism.
He was the principal organiser of the August 1980 strike at the Gdańsk Lenin Shipyard: he drew up the strike plan, grouped and ranked the Twenty-One Demands, and co-founded the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee (MKS), making him the architect of the event that gave birth to Solidarity. When martial law was declared in December 1981, he evaded internment and spent more than four years underground rebuilding Solidarity's clandestine networks, once attending his daughter's baptism disguised as a woman. Arrested in 1986 and released under amnesty, he later served as a member of parliament, Deputy Interior Minister, and Marshal of the Senate; in July 2010 he made Polish history as the shortest-serving acting president, holding the office for only a few hours.
Career Timeline
- 1968Arrested for distributing protest fliers, sentenced to 3 years, amnestied 1969
- 1977–1978Co-organiser, Free Trade Unions of the Coast (WZZ)
- 1980.08Plans Gdańsk shipyard strike, co-founds MKS
- 1981–1986Underground Solidarity organiser, Provisional Coordination Committee member
- 1991–2001Member of Sejm (three terms)
- 1997–2000Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs (police)
- 2005–2015Marshal of the Senate (three terms)
- 2010.07.08Acting President of Poland (for a few hours)