Bronislaw Maria Komorowski - 10 Apr 2010 06 Aug 2015
Bronislaw Komorowski, born on June 4th, 1952 in Oborniki Slaskie near Wroclaw, into an educated family of gentry with a tradition in independence. He graduated from the Cyprian Norwid Secondary School of General Education No. 24 in Warsaw and the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw. A former anti-communist opposition activist, member of Parliament, Minister of National Defence, and Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland.
He graduated from the Cyprian Norwid Secondary School of General Education No. 24 in Warsaw. As a secondary school student he was involved in opposition activities and took part in some demonstrations, for example, during the March Protests in 1968. He was arrested for the first time in December 1971. He took part in relief actions for injured workers of Radom and Ursus in 1976. He worked with the Worker Protection Committee and the Movement for Defence of Human and Civil Rights. and organised patriotic demonstrations.
He worked as a printer, journalist, distributor and publisher of the underground press. In the years of opposition activities he was frequently arrested and victimised. During martial law he was interned. During martial law and after, until 1989, he taught history at the secondary theological school in Niepokalanów.
He defended his MA thesis at the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw. In 1977 he worked in Zespól Prasy Pax, and in 1980-1981 at the Social Research Centre NSZZ Solidarnosc (Independent and Self-governing Trade Union Solidarnosc) of the Mazovian Region. From September 1982 he worked as an editor of the independent, underground magazine “ABC” (Adriatic – Baltic – Black Sea).
From 1991 to 2010 he was Member of Parliament for consecutive terms in the Sejm. He worked in the Commission for Poles Overseas and in the Commission for National Defence, and then in the Commission for Foreign Affairs. From 1997 to 2000 he presided over the Sejm Commission for National Defence. From 2001 he was deputy chairman of the Sejm Commission for National Defence and a member of the Sejm Commission for Foreign Affairs. In October 2005 he was appointed Deputy Marshal of the 5th Sejm. In November 2007 he was appointed Marshal of the 6th Sejm. He resigned from his mandate on July 8th, 2010 after being elected President of the Republic of Poland.
In 1989-1990 he was director of the Aleksander Hall office in the Office of the Council of Ministers. In 1990-1993 – in the governments of Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Jan Krzysztof Bielecki and Hanna Suchocka – he was Deputy Minister of National Defence for Social and Educational Affairs. In 2000-2001 he was Minister of National Defence in the government of Jerzy Buzek.
He was a member of the Freedom Union, in which he served as general secretary. Then he joined the Conservative People’s Party, where he was deputy chairman. In 2001 he became a member of Civic Platform, in which he served as chairman for the Mazovian Region. In June 2006 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the party.
As a result of the tragic death of President Lech Kaczynski in the Smolensk catastrophe on April 10th, 2010, Bronislaw Komorowski, as Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, became Acting President of the Republic of Poland under the regulations of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. He held this function until July 8th, 2010 when he resigned as Marshal of the Sejm. He won the presidential election on July 4th, 2010. He took office by taking an oath in front of the National Assembly on August 6th, 2010.
The president since 2010 and a former defense minister, Komorowski, had the support from Polish-born former US national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, as well as celebrities. Komorowski is a nationally-known figure with an aristocratic pedigree -- still a plus for most Poles. He was a Solidarity activist who went underground during Martial Law. He is also a founding member of PO with a reputation for rising above politics.
Komorowski was frequently mentioned as a possible successor to PM Tusk, either as party chair or as interim prime minister, in the event Tusk is elected president in 2010. Should Tusk decide not to run, Komorowski is PO's most likely "backup" candidate for president. Polish public opinion foreshadows the upcoming presidential campaign in which the Civic Platform will spar with its rivals over which government's policy toward Washington has best succeeded in strengthening Polish security.
Media speculation focused on Sejm Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. Komorowski, who was forced underground during the period of martial law and is now considered a potential successor to PM Tusk, agreed that recent developments in U.S-Polish relations were addressing concerns among Poland's political class that the United States had not placed enough emphasis on Central Europe. He said that Polish public opinion lagged behind elite opinion and that many Poles believe Poland has done more for the United States than the other way around. Komorowski said Poland "paid a high political price" by supporting the Bush Administration's Missile Defense program and, subsequently, by signing on to the Obama Administration's new approach.
Komorowski discussed NATO contingency planning, noting that Poland had long been one of only four Allies with a NATO contingency plan. He said that developing contingency plans for the Baltic states and other NATO allies is ultimately in Poland's interest, but echoed the concern of other officials that expanding contingency planning should not delay planning efforts underway for Poland. Komorowski also agreed it would be unwise to prejudge the work of the "Wise Person's Group" led by former Secretary Albright, which includes former Polish FM Adam Rotfeld. Komorowski expressed his "personal confidence" that trends in NATO were heading in the right direction, while referring to the subject of public opinion.
He is married to Anna Dembowska. They have five grown-up children: Zofia, Tadeusz, Maria, Piotr and Elzbieta.
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