Stanisław Kania (; 8 March 1927 – 3 March 2020) was a Polish communist politician.

Life and career

Kania joined the

Polish Workers' Party The Polish Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Partia Robotnicza, PPR) was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) and merged with the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) in 194 ...

in April 1945 when the Germans were driven out by the Red Army and

Polish Communists Communism in Poland can trace its origins to the late 19th century: the Marxist First Proletariat party was founded in 1882. Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (''Socjaldemokracja Królest ...

began to take control of the country. He partook in campaigns organised by the party, such as the Volunteer Reserve of the Citizens' Militia and the national referendum in 1946. He became deputy representative of the constituency for Jasielski. In February 1947 he was elected chairman of the ZWM board in Jaslo. Then in December he was appointed head of the Rural Youth Department in Rzeszow. In 1948, at the age of 21 he was elected as delegate to the unification congress of the Polish United Workers Party. After

Edward Gierek Edward Gierek (; 6 January 1913 – 29 July 2001) was a Polish Communist politician and ''de facto'' leader of Poland between 1970 and 1980. Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as First Secretary of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (P ...

was forced to resign as General Secretary amidst much social and economic unrest, Kania was elected his successor on 6 September 1980. He admitted that the party had made many economic mistakes, and advocated working with

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and trade unionist opposition groups. He met with

Solidarity Union Solidarity Union was a short lived trade union in New Zealand and was founded by activists and delegates, including Joe Carolan of Socialist Aotearoa in August 2006. By 2008 the union had ceased meaningful activity. Grant Morgan was a Trustee ...

leader

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 other critics of the party. After a

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

bug caught Kania criticizing the Kremlin, the Soviets forced him to step down in 1981. He was succeeded by Prime Minister Gen.

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 ...

. In 2012, he was trialed for his role in the martial law crackdown in 1981, but acquitted. Kania died on 3 March 2020 of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

and heart failure, five days before his 93rd birthday.

References

Stanisław Kania
in

Encyklopedia WIEM WIEM Encyklopedia (full name in pl, Wielka Interaktywna Encyklopedia Multimedialna - "Great Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia"; in Polish, ''wiem'' also means 'I know') is a Polish Internet encyclopedia. The first printed edition was released i ...

1927 births 2020 deaths People from Jasło County People from Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) Polish Workers' Party politicians Members of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party Members of the Polish Sejm 1972–1976 Members of the Polish Sejm 1976–1980 Members of the Polish Sejm 1980–1985 Recipients of the Order of the Builders of People's Poland Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Deaths from pneumonia in Poland {{Poland-politician-stub