Józef Czyrek (20 July 1928 – 3 June 2013) was a Polish politician who served as the minister of foreign affairs of the People's Republic of Poland from 1980 to 1982.

Early life and education

Czyrek was born in

Białobrzegi Białobrzegi is a town in Poland, in Masovian Voivodeship, about south of Warsaw. It is the capital of the Białobrzegi County and Gmina Białobrzegi (commune). The town is located on the border of the ''Białobrzegi Valley'' and ''Radom Plai ...

, in the

Lwów Voivodeship Lwów Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo lwowskie) was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918–1939). Because of the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland in accordance with the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, it became occupied by both the Weh ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, in 1928. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from Jagiellonian University in 1950.

Career

Czyrek began his career as a researcher at Jagiellonian University and Cracow University of Economics. In 1952 he joined the ministry of foreign affairs. He was a member of the Politburo of the

Polish United Workers' party The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...

to which he joined in 1955. He served as the counsel in Belgrade (1962–1968) and deputy director as well as director of studies and programming department at the ministry of foreign affairs (1969–1971). He was the deputy minister of foreign affairs until August 1980. He was appointed minister of foreign affairs in August 1980, replacing

Emil Wojtaszek Emil Wojtaszek (22 August 1927 – 17 June 2017) was a Polish politician who served as the minister of foreign affairs of the People's Republic of Poland from 1976 to 1980. Biography Wojtaszek was born in Kraków on 22 August 1927. He was centr ...

in the post. In 1981 he was named as the member of the party's secretariat. Czyrek's tenure as minister of foreign affairs ended in 1982. In December 1982, he was appointed vice-president of the

Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth Patriotyczny Ruch Odrodzenia Narodowego (PRON, en, Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth or National Renaissance Patriotic Movement) was a Polish popular front that ruled the Polish People's Republic. It was created in the aftermath of the ma ...

(PRON). Czyrek also acted as top aide to the Polish president and general secretary of the communist party

Wojciech Jaruzelski Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military officer, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party b ...

. Czyrek participated in round table talks between the ruling party and opposition figures that lasted from 6 February to 4 April 1989. His term as top aide ended on 30 July 1989 when Jaruzelski resigned from the leadership of the communist party. Czyrek also resigned from the communist party's central committee on that date.

Death

Czyrek died on 3 June 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Czyrek, Jozef 1928 births 2013 deaths Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery People from Łańcut County People from Lwów Voivodeship Polish People's Party (1945–1949) politicians United People's Party (Poland) politicians Members of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland Members of the Polish Sejm 1985–1989 Polish Round Table Talks participants 20th-century Polish economists Jagiellonian University alumni Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland)