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Janusz Onyszkiewicz

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Janusz Onyszkiewicz
Minister of National Defence
In office
31 October 1997 – 16 June 2000
Prime MinisterJerzy Buzek
Preceded byStanisław Dobrzański
Succeeded byBronisław Komorowski
In office
11 July 1992 – 26 October 1993
Prime MinisterHanna Suchocka
Preceded byRomuald Szeremietiew
Succeeded byPiotr Kołodziejczyk
Personal details
Born (1937-12-18) 18 December 1937 (age 87)
Lwów, Poland
Political partyDemocratic Party – demokraci.pl
SpouseAlison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz 1971–1978 (her death)

Janusz Adam Onyszkiewicz (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjanuʂ ɔnɨʂˈkʲɛvʲitʂ], born 18 December 1937) is a Polish mathematician, alpinist and politician,[1] who served as Minister of Defence twice, in the cabinets of Hanna Suchocka (1992–1993) and Jerzy Buzek (1997–2000).[2]

Later in his career, Onyszkiewicz was a Member of the European Parliament.[3]

Early life and education

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Onyszkiewicz was born in Lwów (then Poland, now Lviv, Ukraine).[4] He graduated in mathematics from Warsaw University. He became a mathematician, and was also known as an alpinist in the 1970s along with his wife Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz.[5] After Alison's death on Annapurna in 1978, Onyszkiewicz gave up altitude climbing and turned to politics.[6][7][8]

Political career

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In the 1980s, Onyszkiewicz became the spokesman for the anti-communist Solidarity movement.[1] He became popular among foreign journalists because of his fluent English. After the introduction of martial law in Poland on 13 December 1981, he was arrested and interned.[9] In 1986, he was again detained by the police, preventing him from holding a news conference on behalf of political prisoners that was scheduled to coincide with the start of a conference of intellectuals.[10]

Member of the Polish Parliament

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After the fall of communism in 1989, Onyszkiewicz became a member of the Polish Sejm. He served all subsequent terms from May 1989 until 2001. In the spring of 1990, Onyszkiewicz and Bronisław Komorowski became the first civilian vice-ministers of defence in the communist-dominated Ministry of Defence.[9] Later, Onyszkiewicz was Minister of Defence twice, in the cabinets of Hanna Suchocka (1992–1993) and Jerzy Buzek (1997–2000).[2]

Initially, Onyszkiewicz was a member of the Obywatelski Klub Parlamentarny, then the Democratic Union and the Freedom Union. Today, he is a member of the Democratic Party, the continuation of Democratic Union.[4]

In 1999, Onyszkiewicz was awarded the Manfred Wörner Medal by the German Minister of Defence.[1]

Member of the European Parliament

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On 13 June 2004, Onyszkiewicz was elected to the European Parliament as a candidate of Democratic Union in the 10th constituency (Lesser Poland+Swietokrzyskie Voivodeships) receiving 50 155 votes (6,37%). On 20 July 2004 he was elected a vice-president of the European Parliament.

Other activities

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Onyszkiewicz is Chairman of the ICDT's International Board of Directors.[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Europa Publications, "The International Who's Who 2004", Routledge, 2003, pg. 1258
  2. ^ a b Jeffrey Simon, "Poland and NATO: a study in civil-military relations", Rowman & Littlefield, 2004, pg. 19
  3. ^ "A 5-member delegation representing the European Parliament pays a 4-day visit to Taiwan.", "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ a b Dziennik Polski, "Ankieta Eurokandyta – Janusz Onyszkiewicz", 20 May 2009, [1]
  5. ^ "AAC Publications - Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz, 1942-4978". publications.americanalpineclub.org. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Alison Chadwick, druga żona Onyszkiewicza, która zginęła w górach. Poznali się w Tatrach, razem zdobywali Himalaje". naTemat.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Janusz Onyszkiewicz: To był twardy człowiek, komandos. Ale ludzie się zmieniają". naTemat.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  8. ^ YT (24 March 2002). "Janusz Onyszkiewicz". Newsweek (in Polish). Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  9. ^ a b Krzysztof Ciesielski and Zdzislaw Pogoda, "Janusz Onyszkiewicz", The Mathematical Intelligencer, Volume 12, Number 4 / December, 1990, [2]
  10. ^ 2 Solidarity Activists Detained in Poland New York Times, 17 January 1986.
  11. ^ "An Open Letter to the Obama Administration from Central and Eastern Europe", International Center for Democratic Transition, "The International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT)". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  • Onuszkiewicz's page for elections to the European Parliament [3]

See also

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