Zofia Kuratowska (20 July 1931 – 8 June 1999) was a Polish doctor, politician, and diplomat of Jewish descent. Her father,

Kazimierz Kuratowski Kazimierz Kuratowski (; 2 February 1896 – 18 June 1980) was a Polish mathematician and logician. He was one of the leading representatives of the Warsaw School of Mathematics. Biography and studies Kazimierz Kuratowski was born in Warsaw, (t ...

, was a mathematician who worked at the

Warsaw School of Mathematics Warsaw School of Mathematics is the name given to a group of mathematicians who worked at Warsaw, Poland, in the two decades between the World Wars, especially in the fields of logic, set theory, point-set topology and real analysis. They pu ...

. Kuratowska took part in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

during World War II. After the war ended, she graduated from the

Medical University of Warsaw The Medical University of Warsaw ( Polish name: '' Warszawski Uniwersytet Medyczny'', Latin name: ''Universitas Medica Varsoviensis'') is one of the oldest and the largest medical school in Poland. The first academic department of medicine was crea ...

with a specialty in hematology, and became a doctor. In the 1980s she joined the

Solidarity movement Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...

and became one of their healthcare workers. During her time in Solidarity, she took care of over 1,000 political prisoners, and published underground magazines emphasizing their lack of care and inadequate living conditions. During the

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

epidemic throughout the 1980s, the government turned to Kuratowska, working with her to prevent the spread of the virus despite having blacklisted her earlier in the decade due to her Solidarity activism. In 1989, she took part in the Polish Round Table Agreement, and from there ran for the Senate in the first democratic elections. She won with 82.5 percent of the vote, the largest margin of any candidate, which she accomplished by saying that she "could not promise anything." In her first term, she was chosen to be Deputy Marshal of the Senate. During this time, she also ran the Hematology Clinic at the Warsaw School of Medicine. Kuratowska was re-elected to the Senate in 1991 in 1993, serving as Deputy Marshal again during her third term. She served on the Committee on Social Affairs and Health and the Foreign Affairs Committee. After her term ended in 1997, she was nominated to be the ambassador to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, where she spent the rest of her life, dying in 1999.

Honours

* Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

(1987) * Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1990) * Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuratowska, Zofia 1931 births 1999 deaths People from Piaseczno County People from Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) 20th-century Polish Jews Democratic Union (Poland) politicians Freedom Union (Poland) politicians Members of the Senate of Poland 1989–1991 Members of the Senate of Poland 1991–1993 Members of the Senate of Poland 1993–1997 Women members of the Senate of Poland Ambassadors of Poland to South Africa Polish women ambassadors Polish Round Table Talks participants Polish hematologists 20th-century Polish physicians Medical University of Warsaw alumni Academic staff of the Medical University of Warsaw Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery 20th-century Polish women