- Adam Michnik
Adam Michnik (born October 17, 1946,
Warsaw ,Poland ) is the editor-in-chief ofGazeta Wyborcza , where he sometimes writes under the pen-names of Andrzej Zagozda or Andrzej Jagodziński. In 1968-1989 he was one of the leading organizers of the illegal, democratic opposition in Poland. Historian, essayist, political publicist. The laureate of many awards, including a Knight of the Legion of Honour and European of the Year.Family
Adam Michnik was born to Ozjasz (Uzziah) Szechter, the first secretary of the
Communist Party of Western Ukraine and his wife Helena (née Michnik), a children books writer and ferventFact|date=February 2008 gentile communist. Michnik describes himself as a Pole of Jewish origins. [pl icon [http://www.dialog.org/dialog_pl/michn01.html] Polish memories - Jewish memories, article by A. Michnik, "Tygodnik Powszechny" No. 29, 16 July 1995.] [http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=7922] His brother, Stefan Michnik, who was a judge in the 1950s, during the period of Stalinism and currently resides in Sweden, has sentenced to death many members of anti-Communist resistance, including majorZefiryn Machalla as well asAndrzej Czajkowski , murdered by the communists on October 10, 1953. Czajkowski was a member of theCichociemni andWarsaw Uprising fighter.Education
While attending primary school, he was an active member of Walter’s Troop in
Polish Scouting Association (ZHP), which was led byJacek Kuroń . During secondary school, the Walter’s Troop was banned, and he began to participate at meetings of Klub Krzywego Koła (Club of the Crooked Circle). After its closing in 1962, with the encouragement fromJan Józef Lipski and under Adam Schaff’s protection, he founded a discussion club Hunters of Contradiction Club (Klub Poszukiwaczy Sprzeczności). Disappointed with life in the People's Republic of Poland, young people were discussing ways to change it. They read and analyzed the classical texts ofleftist thinkers. In 1964 he began studying history atWarsaw University . A year later he was suspended because he disseminated an open letter to the members ofPolish United Workers' Party (PZPR) among his school mates. Its authors,Jacek Kuroń andKarol Modzelewski appealed to begin repairing the political system in Poland. In 1966 he was suspended for the second time for organizing a discussion meeting withLeszek Kołakowski , who was expelled from the PZPR several weeks earlier, for criticizing its leaders.In 1965, thePZPR forbade his texts to be printed. Since that time he was writing under a pseudonym to several newspapers, for example: “Życie Gospodarcze”, Więzi”, “Literatura”. In March 1968 he was expelled from the University for his activities during1968 Polish political crisis , that began after censors forbade an adaptation ofMickiewicz ’s “Dziady ” to be performed in theNational Theater . He was arrested, and sentenced to three years imprisonment for his “acts of hooliganism”, chiefly for his participation in the March Events.In 1969, he was released from prison under an amnesty, but he was forbidden to continue his studies. Not until the middle of the 1970s was he allowed to continue his studies of history, which he finished at theAdam Mickiewicz University inPoznań .Opposition
After he was released from prison, he worked for two years as a welder at the Róża Luxemburg (
Rosa Luxemburg ) Industrial Plant and then, on the recommendation ofJacek Kuroń , he became private secretary toAntoni Słonimski .In 1976-1977 he lived in
Paris . After he returned to Poland, he got involved in the activity ofWorkers' Defense Committee (KOR), which had already existed for a couple of months. It was one of the best known opposition organizations of the 70’s. He became one of the most active opposition activists and also one of the supporters of the Society forEducational Courses (Towarzystwo Kursów Naukowych).Between 1977 and 1989, he was the editor or co-editor of underground newspapers published illegally,
samizdat : „Biuletyn Informacyjny ”, „Zapis”, „Krytyka”. He was also a member of the management of one of the biggest underground publishers: NOWa.In years 1980-1989 he was an adviser to both the Independent Self-governing
Trade Union "Solidarity " (NSZZ „Solidarność”) in the Mazovia Region and to Foundry Workers Committee of “Solidarity”.When
martial law was declared, in December 1981, he was at first an internee, but when he refused to sign, a ”loyalty oath” and assent to voluntarily leave the country, he was jailed and accused of an “attempt to overthrow socialism”. He was in jail without a verdict until 1984, because the prosecutor’s office prolonged the trial on purpose.Adam Michnik demanded to end or dismiss his case and he wanted to be granted a status of a political prisoner, so he went on a hunger strike in jail. In 1984 he was released from jail, under an amnesty.
He took part in an attempt to organize a strike in Gdańsk Shipyard. As a result, he was again arrested in 1985 and this time sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. He was released in the next year again under the amnesty.
Activity since 1989
In 1988 he became an adviser of
Lech Wałęsa ’s informal Coordination Committee, and later he became a member of theSolidarity Citizens' Committee . He took an active part in planning and preliminary negotiations for the Round Table Talks in 1989, in which he also participated. After the Round Table Talks, Lech Wałęsa told him to organize a big Polish national daily, which was supposed to be an ‘organ’ of the Solidarity Citizens' Committee, before the upcoming elections. This newspaper, under the Round Table agreement, was „Gazeta Wyborcza ” ("Election Newspaper"), because it was supposed to appear till the end of the parliamentary election in 1989. After organizing this newspaper on the basis of journalists who worked in the „Biuletyn Informacyjny”, Adam Michnik became its editor-in-chief.In the elections to theContract Sejm on 4 June 1989 he became a Member of Parliament from Lech Wałęsa’s Solidarity Citizens' Committee electoral register, as a candidate for the city ofBytom .Between 12 April and 27 June 1990 Michnik together with
Bogdan Kroll , director of the central archiveArchiwum Akt Nowych , and historiansAndrzej Ajnenkiel andJerzy Holzer had access to the archives of the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs (MSW). This group was called “Michnik’s Committee” and was brought into being by an initiative of the historianHenryk Samsonowicz . The result of three months work was a short official report which stated that archives are incomplete.Both as a Member of Parliament and as editor of “
Gazeta Wyborcza ” he actively supported Prime MinisterTadeusz Mazowiecki ’s government and his candidature in the presidential election campaign against Lech Wałęsa in 1990. After the break up of the Citizens’ Committee andTadeusz Mazowiecki ’s failure, Michnik halted his direct involvement in politics and did not run for a seat in the next parliamentary election, instead focusing on editorial and journalistic activities. Under his leadership, “Gazeta Wyborcza” was converted into a widely read and influential daily newspaper in Poland. On the basis of “Gazeta Wyborcza” assetsAgora SA partnership came into existence. Currently (in May 2004) it is one of the biggest media concerns in Poland, administrating 11 titles monthly issued, portal gazeta.pl, outdoor advertising AMS, and shares in several radio stations. Adam Michnik does not have any shares in Agora and does not hold any office headship, excluding head editor, which is unusual in economic field in Poland. Michnik’s shares are kept by Agora.Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki in his expose in September 1989 used a term thick line which began new so-called
thick line politic. He is proponent and advocate of this term. In “Gazeta Wyborcza” he used his personal influences to protect GeneralWojciech Jaruzelski and GeneralCzesław Kiszczak against social- political- judicial clearing campaign that refers to different periods when they held party and civil functions inPeople’s Republic of Poland (PRL). He postulated for quick and efficient adjudication of brought penal actions and to stop press battle. Crucial role played a famous interview “Pożegnanie z bronią. Adam Michnik- Czesław Kiszczak. ” byAgnieszka Kublik andMonika Olejnik which was published in “Gazeta Wyborcza” on 3 February 2001.On 27 December 2002 Adam Michnik and
Paweł Smoleński made so-called “Rywin affair ” public and the inner history was supposed to be solved by specially called select committee.In autumn 2004 due to health problems (he fell for tuberculosis) he resigned from active participation in editing “Gazeta Wyborcza” and passed his duties to editorial colleague
Helena Łuczywo .On the anniversary of the introduction of martial law, on 13 December 2005, Michnik delivered exposition at University of Warsaw (article published in "Gazeta Wyborcza") in which he appealed to president
Lech Kaczyński for statutory abolition for those who were responsible for the martial law. The article was a response to information about instituting an inquiry byInstitute of National Remembrance (IPN) against General Jaruzelski. Michnik appealed about abolition even earlier- in 1991 (during the exposition on Faculty of Law at University of Maria Curie- Skłodowska in Lublin (UMCS), "Gazeta w Lublinie" 11-12-1991) and also in 2001 in the article "Stan wojenny 20 lat później" ("Gazeta Wyborcza" 12 December 2001). In October 2006 recordings of conversations (that took place in September 2006) between Michnik and a well known businessmanAleksander Gudzowaty have been revealed. The conversations have been recorded behind the back of both participants by Gudzowaty’s security. The businessman has accused journalists ofGazeta Wyborcza of being economical with the truth in their articles describing enterprises of Aleksander Gudzowaty and his company “Bartimpex” in the power industry (the criticism concerned mainly Andrzej Kublik and Witold Gadomski.)The case of revealed conversations arouse controversy among some journalists, mostly steaming form the vulgar language used by both interlocutors, from the announcements made by Michnik concerning punishing the two reporters pointed out by Gudzowaty and revealing that the information of Gazeta Wyborcza come for the secret service. Part of the journalistic milieu (including the columnists of Gazeta Wyborcza) defended Michnik, stating that they did not find the recorded conversations scandalous. Adam Michnik in his commentary in
Gazeta Wyborcza criticized the method used to reveal the tapes and compared it to the methods used by KGB. He also denied alleged work of Gazeta Wyborcza for the secret service and its participation in the conspiracy aimed atAleksander Gudzowaty . Both the columnists of Gazeta Wyborcza and some other journalists claim that the case of “Gudzowaty’s tapes” is exaggerated. According to others it was revealed on purpose, to cover another scandal, that is the revealing ofRenata Beger ’s recordings. He is a member of Association of Polish Writers andCouncil on Foreign Relations .Awards and distinctions
*
Polcul Foundation Award (1980)
*Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award (1986)
* Cena Pelikán 2007 (Czech Republic, Listy)
* Prize winner of Prix de la Liberte of the French PEN-Club (1988)
* Europe’s Man of the Year (1989) – prize awarded by the magazine La Vie
* Shofar Award (1991) – prize awarded by National Jewish Committee on Scouting
* The prize of the Association of European Journalists (1995)
*Imre Nagy ’s medal
*OSCE Prize for Democracy and Journalism (May 1996)
* Order of Bernardo O’Higgins (Chile , 1998)
* One of 50 people on the list of ”50 Press Freedom Heroes” by theInternational Press Institute
* Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2001)
*Erasmus Prize (The Netherlands , 2001)
* PhD Honoris Causa in New School for Social Research,University of Minnesota , Connecticut College,University of Michigan
* French Legion of Honor (France , 2003)
* Listed by “Financial Times ” as one of the 20 most influential journalists in the world.
* Professor of Kiev-Mohylan Academy; September 1, 2006.Publications
* "Letters from Freedom: Post-Cold War Realities and Perspectives", translated by Jane Cave, 1998. (ISBN 0-520-21759-4)
* "Church and the Left", (David Ost, editor), 1992. (ISBN 0-226-52424-8)
*"Letters from Prison and Other Essays", translated byMaya Latynski , 1986. (ISBN 0-520-05371-0)References
External links
* [http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/495/herbert.html "Mr. Cogito's Duels - Zbigniew Herbert's views on Adam Michnik"]
*Demenet, Philippe. [http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_09/uk/dires.htm "Adam Michnik: The Sisyphus of democracy"] , interview, "Unesco Courier", September 2001. Accessed February 4, 2006
*Cushman, Thomas. [http://www.dissentmagazine.org/menutest/articles/sp04/cushman.htm "Anti-totalitarianism as a Vocation: An Interview with Adam Michnik"] , "Dissent Magazine", Spring 2004. Accessed February 4, 2006
*Tennant, Agnieszka. [http://www.christianitytoday.com/books/web/2006/nov20a.html] "Why Adam Michnik is Afraid of Theocracy: Confessions of a Democrat-Skeptic", "Books and Culture" magazine, November 20, 2006. Accessed November 26, 2006
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvlgZ5i-w1M Zbigniew Herbert o Michniku - video]
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