Jerzy Szmajdziński
Jerzy Andrzej Szmajdziński KBE (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjɛʐɨ ʂmajˈdʑiɲskʲi], 9 April 1952 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish politician who was a Deputy Marshal of Polish Sejm and previously served as Minister of Defence. He was a candidate for President of Poland in the 2010 election.
Jerzy Andrzej Szmajdziński KBE | |
|---|---|
| Minister of National Defence | |
| In office 19 October 2001 – 31 October 2005 | |
| Prime Minister | Leszek Miller Marek Belka |
| Preceded by | Bronisław Komorowski |
| Succeeded by | Radosław Sikorski |
| Minister of the Interior and Administration | |
| Acting 21 April 2004 – 2 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Leszek Miller |
| Preceded by | Józef Oleksy |
| Succeeded by | Ryszard Kalisz |
| Deputy Marshal of the Sejm | |
| In office 6 November 2007 – 10 April 2010 Serving alongside: Jarosław Kalinowski Stefan Niesiołowski Krzysztof Putra | |
| Preceded by | Janusz Dobrosz, Jarosław Kalinowski, Bronisław Komorowski, Wojciech Olejniczak, Genowefa Wiśniowska |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 April 1952 Wrocław, Poland |
| Died | 10 April 2010 (aged 58) Smolensk, Russia |
| Political party | Polish United Worker's Party (1973–1990) Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (1990–1999) Democratic Left Alliance (1999–) Left and Democrats (caucus, 2007–) |
| Spouse | Małgorzata Sekuła-Szmajdzińska |
| Profession | Economist |
Szmajdziński graduated from the Wrocław University of Economics. In the 1970s and 1980s he was an activist for the Federation of Socialist Unions of Polish Youth and the Socialist Union of Polish Youth, serving as its chairman from 1986–1989. He remained a member of Polish United Workers' Party from 1973 until its end in 1990. Later, he entered the leadership position of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland party. In December 1999, he became the deputy chairman of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).
He became a member of the Sejm in 1990, and in his second term Szmajdziński was chairman of the National Defense Committee and in the third term a deputy chairman of that commission. He was Minister of National Defence from 19 October 2001 to 2005. He was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, gaining 20,741 votes in 1 Legnica district as a candidate from the SLD list.
On a national SLD convention in December 2009 he was chosen as the party's candidate in the 2010 presidential elections in Poland. His candidacy received 11% of the votes in March's pre-election poll.
Szmajdziński died on the day after his 58th birthday, in the plane crash that also involved President Lech Kaczyński and 94 others.