Stefan Olszowski
Stefan Olszowski | |
---|---|
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 21 July 1982 – 12 November 1985 | |
Prime Minister | Mieczyslaw Rakowski |
Preceded by | Józef Czyrek |
Succeeded by | Marian Orzechowski |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 22 December 1971 – 2 December 1976 | |
Preceded by | Stefan Jędrychowski |
Succeeded by | Emil Wojtaszek |
Personal details | |
Born | Toruń,Pomeranian Voivodeship,Poland | 28 August 1931
Died | 19 December 2023 | (aged 92)
Political party | Polish United Workers' Party |
Stefan Michał Olszowski(28 August 1931 – 19 December 2023) was a Polish politician, who was a member ofPolish United Workers' Party.He served as the foreign minister of thePeople's Republic of Polandfor two terms.
Biography
[edit]Olszowski was born inTorunon 28 August 1931.[1]He was a member of thePolitburo of the Polish United Workers' Partyfrom December 1970 to his resignation on 12 November 1985.[2][3]He served as the propaganda chief of the party in the late 1960s and at the beginning of the 1970s.[4][5]
Olszowski was appointed foreign minister on 22 December 1971, replacingStefan Jędrychowskiin the post.[6]He was in office until 2 December 1976 whenEmil Wojtaszekreplaced him in the post.[6]In 1980, he was appointed ambassador toEast Germanyand left the politburo for this post that he held just six months.[3]Then he continued to serve at the politburo.[3]He acted as the party's central committee secretary for ideology and media from August 1980 to July 1982.[7][8]Then he was secondly appointed foreign minister in July 1982, replacingJózef Czyrekin the post.[8]Before his appointment as foreign minister he run for the presidency of the party, but he was not elected.[9]His term as foreign minister ended on 12 November 1985.[10]He was also dismissed from the party leadership in 1985, partly due to his relationship with a Polish journalist whom he married after divorcing his first spouse.[11]Then he and his girlfriend settled inNew Yorkin 1986.[12][13]
Views and activities
[edit]Under theEdward Gierek's rule in the party, Olszowski was a reformist.[14]However, later he became a hard-liner politician and a supporter ofthe Soviet Unionwhile he was in office.[12]In March 1968, he was the leading orchestrator of theanti-Semiticcampaign began inPoland.[4]In November 1973, he paid an official visit toRomethat was the first official visit to theVaticanby a Polish government minister sinceWorld War II.[15][16]However, during the visit of Pope to Poland from 16 to 23 June 1983 he and Prime MinisterMieczyslaw Rakowskidirectly attacked on some of the Pope's pronouncements.[17]
Olszowski together with other hard-liners strived for an armed confrontation withthe Solidarity movement.[18]He was instrumental in cracking down the movement at its initial phase.[12]
Personal life and death
[edit]Olszowski married twice. Following his divorce, he married a younger Polish journalist woman.[13]They live in New York.[13]
Stefan Olszowski died on 19 December 2023, at the age of 92.[19]
References
[edit]- ^Current world leaders: Almanac.1972. p. 20.
- ^"Poland's Foreign Minister Loses Power Struggle, Quits Politburo".Orlando Sentinel.12 November 1985.Retrieved13 June2013.
- ^abc"Poland's foreign minister off politburo".Toledo Blade.Warsaw. AP. 12 November 1985.Retrieved13 June2013.
- ^abFeliks Tych (2011)."A Historical Miracle: Jewish Life in Poland afterCommunism"(PDF).Deep Roots, New Branches:31.
- ^"Red Poles put blame for economic failure".Star News.Warsaw. UPI. 7 February 1971.Retrieved16 June2013.
- ^ab"Polish Ministries".Rulers.Retrieved14 July2013.
- ^Karl Molin (30 June 2011)."The CPSU Politburo and the Polish crisis 1980—1981".Baltic Worlds.Retrieved13 June2013.
- ^abAnna Snutt (22 July 1982)."Veteran Polish politician is named foreign minister".The CS Monitor.Warsaw.Retrieved14 July2013.
- ^"New leadership team shifts focus to economy"(PDF).CIA.10 December 1985.Retrieved13 June2013.
- ^Gillette, Robert (13 November 1985)."Poland Completes Leadership Reshuffle".Los Angeles Times.Warsaw.Retrieved13 June2013.
- ^"Don't Mess with Cupid: A Remembrance".Hoover Archivists' Musings.Blog of the Hoover Institution Library and Archives.7 September 2010.Retrieved14 July2013.
- ^abcDouglas Martin (20 May 1988)."Love Moves Ex-Polish Leader From Warsaw to Rego Park".The New York Times.Retrieved13 June2013.
- ^abc"More of Polish Foreign Minister's Papers Received by Hoover Archives".Hoover Institution.3 December 2015.Retrieved15 September2016.
- ^Werner G. Hahn (1987).Democracy in a Communist Party: Poland's Experience since 1980.New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN023106540X.
- ^George Schopflin."Poland: Troubled Relations Between Church and State"(PDF).Biblical Studies.
- ^"Warsaw minister calls on the Pope".Calgary Herald.Rome. 13 November 1973.Retrieved16 June2013.
- ^J. B. de Weydenthal (1984). "The Pope's Pilgrimage to Poland".Religion in Communist Lands.12(1): 69–76.doi:10.1080/09637498408431112.
- ^Przemysław Gasztold-Seń (4 October 2011)."The Road to Martial Law: Polish Communist Authorities vs. Solidarity"(PDF).Polish Institute of National Remembrance.Retrieved13 June2013.
- ^"Wojskowe Powązki dla kolejnego dygnitarza z PRL"(in Polish). RP. 8 February 2024.Retrieved26 February2024.
External links
[edit]- Media related toStefan Olszowskiat Wikimedia Commons
- 20th-century Polish politicians
- 1931 births
- 2023 deaths
- Ambassadors of Poland to East Germany
- Members of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party
- Members of the Polish Sejm 1969–1972
- Members of the Polish Sejm 1972–1976
- Members of the Polish Sejm 1976–1980
- Ministers of foreign affairs of Poland
- People from Pomeranian Voivodeship (1919–1939)
- People from Toruń
- People of the Cold War