Roman Giertych

Roman Giertych
Roman Giertych in Sejm (right)
Minister of Education of Poland
In office 5 May 2006 – 13 August 2007
Preceded by	Michał Seweryński
Succeeded by	Ryszard Legutko
Personal details
Born	(1971-02-27) 27 February 1971 (age 45) Śrem, Poland
Nationality	Polish
Political party	League of Polish Families
Spouse(s)	Barbara Giertych
Children	four (Maria, Karolina, Leon, Alicja)
Alma mater	Adam Mickiewicz University
Occupation	Politician, lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Roman Jacek Giertych (Polish pronunciation: [ˈrɔman ˈɡʲɛrtɨx]; born 27 February 1971 in Śrem, Poland) is a Polish politician; he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education until August 2007. He was a member of the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament) from 2001 until October 2007 and the chairman of the League of Polish Families party.

Roman Giertych comes from a family of Polish politicians, a son of Maciej Giertych and a grandson of Jędrzej Giertych. His uncle on his father's side is Wojciech Giertych, O.P., Theologian of the Pontifical Household and professor of theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome. Two of his aunts also entered religious life.

He excelled in history throughout his school years while his grades in other subjects remained average. His teacher of biology recalls him questioning the validity of the theory of evolution; a stance that he carried away from his family home, especially his father (a Ph.D. in forest genetics), a notable creationist.

He graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań with master's degrees in both law and history. In 1989, he reactivated the far-right All-Polish Youth organization, becoming its chairman; he remains honorary chairman to this day. For several years he was a member of the National-Democratic Party and the National Party, which merged with several other organizations to form the League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin, LPR) in 2001.