Tomasz Paweł Grodzki (; born 13 May 1958) is a Polish politician, doctor and surgeon. He has served as Marshal of the Senate from 2019 to 2023 defeating Stanisław Karczewski with a majority of 51 votes from the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Biography

Education and scientific activity

Grodzki is a graduate of the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin (1983), at which obtained a doctoral degree in 1991, a postdoctoral degree in 2003, as well as the title of Medical Science Professor in 2010. He was associated with the Pomeranian Medical University's Medical Faculty and then the Pomeranian Medical University in his scientific work.

Political career

In the Polish local elections in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, he was elected a councilor of the City Council of

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

from the

Civic Platform The Civic Platform (, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a Centre-right politics, centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since ...

's lists without formally entering the party. In 2014, his candidacy was put up for the European Parliament. Grodzki obtained 26 863 votes and did not assume a seat. In the 2015 election, he stood as a candidate for the

in the 97th single-member

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. He obtained a senatorial seat by acquiring 69 887 votes. In September 2019, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska announced him to be the Civic Coalition's candidate for the office of Minister of Health upon the committee's potential victory in the election due in the same year, in which he renewed his senatorial seat, obtaining 149 245 votes in total. On 8 November 2019 his candidacy for Marshal of the Senate of the 10th term was put up by the Civic Coalition, the

Polish People's Party The Polish People's Party (, PSL) is a conservative political party in Poland. It is currently led by Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Its history traces back to 1895, when it held the name People's Party, although its name was changed to the pre ...

, and the Left. On 12 November he was voted Marshal at the majority of 51 votes.

Corruption allegations

In March 2021, representatives of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in

requested the Senate to waive the Marshal's immunity, and then intended to bring charges against him in connection with the alleged acceptance of financial benefits four times in 2006, 2009 and 2012. Accusations of corruption began to be formulated against Tomasz Grodzki as early as 2019, shortly after assuming the office of marshal; then Agnieszka Popiela posted an entry on social media in which she stated that he was to accept a bribe of $500 for the operation. The politician denied these claims and filed a private indictment against the author of the entry, who in March 2021 was found guilty of defamation by the Szczecin district court, conditionally discontinuing the proceedings and obliging him to apologize to the marshal. The judgment was quashed in September of the same year by the regional court, and the case was remitted. Tomasz Grodzki also filed private indictments of defamation against Tomasz Sakiewicz, who called him "an ordinary bribe", Samuel Pereira and a journalist from Radio Szczecin and "Gazeta Polska". On 18 May 2022 the Senate did not consent to holding Tomasz Grodzki criminally responsible for the charges raised by prosecutors.

Private life

Grodzki is married to Joanna, an eye specialist, with two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grodzki, Tomasz 1958 births Members of the Senate of Poland 2015–2019 Members of the Senate of Poland 2019–2023 Polish surgeons Physicians from Szczecin Civic Platform politicians Living people Senat Marshals People from Szczecin Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin alumni 21st-century Polish physicians Members of the Senate of Poland 2023–2027