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Polish politician (1931–2020) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marian Odon Orzechowski (24 October 1931 – 29 June 2020) was a Polish politician and a former member of the Polish Communist Party. He served as foreign minister of the People's Republic of Poland from 1985 to 1988.
Marian Orzechowski | |
---|---|
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 12 November 1985 – 17 June 1988 | |
Prime Minister | Zbigniew Messner |
Preceded by | Stefan Olszowski |
Succeeded by | Tadeusz Olechowski |
Personal details | |
Born | Radom, Poland | October 24, 1931
Died | 29 June 2020 88) Wroclaw, Poland | (aged
Resting place | Wroclaw |
Political party | Polish United Workers' Party |
Alma mater | Leningrad University University of Wrocław |
Orzechowski was born in Radom on 24 October 1931.[1][2] He received a degree in history from the University of Leningrad in Soviet Union.[3][4] In 1960, he received PhD from the University of Wrocław.[4]
Orzechowski was a senior politician of the Polish United Workers' Party.[5] He became a member of the central committee of the party in 1966.[3] He served in a variety of party posts and was appointed a central committee secretary.[3] He also headed the party's academy of social sciences.[6] In addition, he became a lecturer of history and political science at the University of Wrocław in 1966.[4] From 1971 to 1975 he served as the rector of the university.[4] He was the chief ideologist of the party, being ideology secretary to which he was elected at the fifth plenum on 27–28 October 1981.[7][8] From 1984 to 1986 he was the rector of the Academy of Social Sciences.[9]
He was appointed foreign minister on 12 November 1985 to the cabinet led by the then prime minister Zbigniew Messner.[2][6][10][11] He succeeded Stefan Olszowski in the post.[12] In addition, Orzechowski headed the PRON's national council, that was formed by the Polish authorities to develop a close interaction with the church, during that time.[13] He became a member of the politburo in June 1988 while retaining his post as foreign minister.[3] His term as foreign minister ended on 17 June 1988 and he was replaced by Tadeusz Olechowski in the post.[2] From 1988 to 1989 he served as the head of the Communist parliament delegation.[14][15] In July 1989 Orzechowski lost his position as executive ideology secretary of the party's central committee when Wojciech Jaruzelski resigned from the leadership of the party.[16][17] However, his membership at the central committee of the party continued for a while.[17]
During his term as foreign minister, Orzechowski stated "historians who were members of the party were particularly inspected by the censors since they were to represent it."[18] In 1986 he was able to persuade the Soviet authorities to appoint Wlodzimierz Natorf, a controversial figure, as the Polish ambassador to Moscow.[19] Orzechowski participated in round table talks between the ruling party and opposition figures that lasted from 6 February to 4 April 1989.[9]
Orzechowski is the author of a book about political conditions in Poland and Polish foreign relations from 1989 to 1994.[15]
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