Janusz Onyszkiewicz
Polish politician and climber (born 1937
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Janusz Onyszkiewicz | |
|---|---|
| |
| Minister of National Defence | |
| In office 31 October 1997 – 16 June 2000 | |
| Prime Minister | Jerzy Buzek |
| Preceded by | Stanisław Dobrzański |
| Succeeded by | Bronisław Komorowski |
| In office 11 July 1992 – 26 October 1993 | |
| Prime Minister | Hanna Suchocka |
| Preceded by | Romuald Szeremietiew |
| Succeeded by | Piotr Kołodziejczyk |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 December 1937 |
| Party | Democratic Party – demokraci.pl |
| Spouse | Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz 1971–1978 (her death) |
Later in his career, Onyszkiewicz was a Member of the European Parliament.[3]
Early life and education
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
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
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
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.