Jerzy Szmajdziński

Grave of Jerzy Szmajdziński in Wilanów

Jerzy Andrzej Szmajdziński
Minister of National Defense of Poland 9th Minister of National Defense of the Third Republic of Poland
In office October 19, 2001 – October 31, 2005
President	Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Prime Minister	Leszek Miller, Marek Belka
Preceded by	Bronisław Komorowski
Succeeded by	Radosław Sikorski
Acting Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of the Republic of Poland
In office April 21, 2004 – May 2, 2004
President	Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Prime Minister	Leszek Miller
Preceded by	Józef Oleksy
Succeeded by	Ryszard Kalisz
Vice-Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland
In office November 6, 2007 – April 10, 2010 Serving alongside: Jarosław Kalinowski Stefan Niesiołowski Krzysztof Putra
Preceded by	Janusz Dobrosz, Jarosław Kalinowski, Bronisław Komorowski, Wojciech Olejniczak, Genowefa Wiśniowska
Personal details
Born	(1952-04-09)April 9, 1952 Wrocław, Poland
Died	April 10, 2010(2010-04-10) (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 Szmajdzińska
Profession	Economist

Jerzy Andrzej Szmajdziński (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjɛʐɨ ʂmajˈdʑiɲskʲi], April 9, 1952 – April 10, 2010) was a Polish politician who was a Vice-Marshal of Polish Sejm and previously served as Minister of Defence. He was a candidate for President of Poland in the 2010 election.

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 October 19, 2001 to 2005. He was elected to Sejm on September 25, 2005 gaining 20,741 votes in 1 Legnica district, candidating from 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.

Honours and awards

In 2002, Szmajdziński was made an honorary citizen of Jelenia Gora and in 2004 an honorary citizen of Bolków.

On April 16, 2010, he was posthumously decorated with the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta. On the same day, the Parliament of the Province of Lower Silesia posthumously awarded him the title of Honorary Citizen of Lower Silesia. On May 20, 2010, Wrocław city council granted him the title of Honorary Citizen of Wrocław and on March 28, 2011 Legnica City Council gave him the title of Honorary Citizen of Legnica.

See also

• Members of Polish Sejm 2005–2007

External links

• Jerzy Szmajdziński – parliamentary page – includes declarations of interest, voting record, and transcripts of speeches.