Bronisław Komorowski

Bronisław Komorowsk was born on June 4, 1952 in Oborniki Śląskie near Wrocław. He graduated from the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw and before assuming the presidency, served as: an anticommunist opposition activist, a Member of Polish Parliament, a Minister of National Defense, and a Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Speaker of the Parliament).

As a secondary school student he was involved in opposition activities. He was arrested for the first time in December 1971 while working with the Workers Defense Committee (KOR) and the Movement for Defense of Human and Civil Rights (ROPCiO), organizing patriotic demonstrations. He also worked as a printer, journalist, distributor and publisher of the underground press, including “Głos” and “ABC” (Adriatic – Baltic – Black Sea). During his years of involvement in the anti-communist opposition he was frequently arrested and was imprisoned during martial law. Until 1989 he taught history at the theological seminary in Niepokalanów.

From 1991 to 2010 he was a Member of Polish Parliament (the Sejm) for consecutive terms. During this time he was a member of the Committee for Poles Abroad, the National Defense Committee and the Committee for Foreign Affairs. From 1997 to 2000 he presided over the Sejm National Defense Committee and in November 2007 was appointed Marshal of the Sejm (Speaker of the Parliament). He served from 1990 to 1993 as Deputy Minister of National Defense and from 2000-2001 as Minister of National Defense in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek.

First a member of the Freedom Union, he then joined the Conservative People’s Party where he was deputy chairman. In 2001 he became a member of the Civic Platform, and was appointed deputy chairman in 2006. As a result of the tragic death of President Lech Kaczyński in the Smoleńsk catastrophe on April 10, 2010, Bronisław Komorowski, as Marshal of the Sejm became, under the regulations of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, became Acting President of the Republic of Poland. He subsequently won the 2/4 presidential election on July 4, 2010 and took office on August 6, 2010.

He is married to Anna Dembowska and they have five children: Zofia, Tadeusz, Maria, Piotr and Elżbieta.

Source: Polish Delegation, September 2014