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Lech Walesa

Lech Wałęsa
Lech Walesa - 2009.jpg
Wałęsa in 2009
2nd President of Poland
In office
22 December 1990 – 22 December 1995
Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Jan Krzysztof Bielecki
Jan Olszewski
Waldemar Pawlak
Hanna Suchocka
Waldemar Pawlak
Józef Oleksy
Preceded by Wojciech Jaruzelski (PRL)
Ryszard Kaczorowski (in exile)
Succeeded by Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Chairperson of Solidarity
In office
14 August 1980 – 12 December 1990
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Marian Krzaklewski
Personal details
Born (1943-09-29) 29 September 1943 (age 73)
Popowo, Poland
Political party Solidarity (1980–1988)
Solidarity Citizens' Committee (1988–1993)
Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms (1993–1997)
Solidarity Electoral Action (1997–2001)
Christian Democracy of the 3rd Polish Republic (1997–2001)
Civic Platform (2001–present)
Spouse(s) Mirosława Danuta Gołoś (1969–present)
Children Bogdan (1970)
Sławomir (1972)
Przemysław (1974-2017)
Jarosław (1976)
Magdalena (1979)
Anna (1980)
Maria Wiktoria (1982)
Brygida (1985)
Parents Bolesław Wałęsa
Feliksa Kamieńska
Occupation Electrician
Religion Roman Catholicism
Signature

Lech Wałęsa (/ˌlɛx vəˈwɛnsə/); Polish: [ˈlɛx vaˈwɛ̃sa]; born 29 September 1943) is a retired Polish politician and labor activist. He co-founded and headed Solidarity (Solidarność), the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995.

Wałęsa's alleged collaboration with the communist secret police has been a disputed issue since the fall of Communism in Poland. Eventually, following a long investigation, in 2017 the Institute of National Remembrance concluded that a handwriting study proves the authenticity of documents suggesting that Wałęsa had collaborated with the communist secret police.

Wałęsa was an electrician by trade. When working at Lenin Shipyard (now Gdańsk Shipyard), he became a trade union activist, for which he was persecuted by the Communist authorities, placed under surveillance, fired in 1976, and arrested several times. In August 1980 he was instrumental in political negotiations that led to the ground-breaking Gdańsk Agreement between striking workers and the government. He became a co-founder of the Solidarity trade union movement. After martial law was imposed in Poland and Solidarity was outlawed, Wałęsa was arrested again. Upon his release from custody he continued his activism and was prominent in the establishment of the 1989 Round Table Agreement that led to semi-free parliamentary elections in June 1989, and to a Solidarity-led government.


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