Bogdan Jerzy Lis (born 1952 in Gdańsk) worked in

Port of Gdańsk The Port of Gdańsk is a seaport located on the southern coast of Gdańsk Bay in the city of Gdańsk, extending along the Vistula estuary Martwa Wisła (Dead Vistula), Port Channel and Kashubia Canal. It is one of the largest seaports on the ...

and Elmor company. Between 1971 and 1972 he was imprisoned for his participation in the anti-governmental coastal cities protests. Although in 1975 he joined the Polish United Workers Party, in 1978 he was one of the founders of the anti-government Free Trade Unions of the Coast (''Wolne Związki Zawodowe Wybrzeża''). In mid-1980 he organized the

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

in Elmor, and took part in the creation of the

Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee (or ''Inter-Factory Strike Committee'', pl, Międzyzakładowy Komitet Strajkowy, MKS) was an action strike committee formed in Gdańsk Shipyard, People's Republic of Poland on 16 August 1980. It was led by Lech ...

(''Międzyzakładowy Komitet Strajkowy'') and soon afterwards, together with

Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democrati ...

and others, of the NSZZ Solidarity itself (he was the vice chair of the Founding Committee of Solidarity). After martial law in Poland in December 1981 led to the arrests of many Solidarity members, including Wałęsa, Lis went into hiding and in underground became one of the leaders of the Temporary Coordinating Committee (Tymczasowa Komisja Koordynacyjna), which served as an underground leadership of Solidarity. In that organization Lis was responsible for cooperation between Solidarity and its foreign supporters. He was arrested in June 1984, accused of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

but released half a year later after

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

was given to many imprisoned Solidarity activists. He was arrested again in 1985 and released in September 1986 after another amnesty. In 1986, he became a member of now legal Temporary Council of NSZZ Solidarność (''Tymczasowa Ra da NSZZ Solidarność''), and in 1987 of Country Executive Committee of NSZZ Solidarność (''Krajowa Komisja Wykonawcza NSZZ Solidarność''). In 1988, he was a participant of the Polish Round Table Agreement, and was elected to the

Senate of Poland The Senate ( pl, Senat) is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the Sejm. The history of the Polish Senate stretches back over 500 years; it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe ...

in the

1989 Polish legislative elections Parliamentary elections were held in Poland in 1989 to elect members of the Sejm and the recreated Senate. The first round took place on 4 June, with a second round on 18 June. They were the first elections in the country since the Communist Pol ...

. After the

1991 Polish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 27 October 1991 to elect deputies to both houses of the National Assembly.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1491 The 1991 election was notable on severa ...

, he distanced himself from national politics and started business career, although he was still active in local political arena in Gdańsk. He joined the Polish Freedom Union Party (''Unia Wolności'') in 1997. As of 2007, he is a member of the UW successor

Democratic Party – demokraci.pl The Democratic Party ( pl, Partia Demokratyczna – demokraci.pl), abbreviated to PD, was a minor social-liberal political party in Poland. It had no members of the Sejm, Senate, or European Parliament. Its foundation was publicly announced o ...

. He is currently CEO of a private firm, member of the Advisory Council of Freedom Union Party, and President of the Solidarity Centre Foundation. After the 2007 elections, he became member of the Polish

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

External links

Interview with Bogdan Lis
Offline as of 15 April 2006, try

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1952 births Living people Solidarity (Polish trade union) activists Members of the Senate of Poland 1989–1991 Democratic Party – demokraci.pl politicians Politicians from Gdańsk Polish dissidents Polish Round Table Talks participants Members of the Polish Sejm 2007–2011 {{Poland-politician-stub