Bronisław Komorowski

Komorowski thus became the second person to serve on two occasions as Polish head of state since 1918, after Maciej Rataj.

Born as a son of Zygmunt Leon Komorowski (1927–1992), professor of African Studies at the University of Warsaw and Jadwiga Komorowska (née Szalkowska) (b. 1921).

Bronisław Maria Komorowski (born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015.

From 1957 to 1959 he lived in Józefów near Otwock.

From 1959 to 1966 he also attended elementary school in Pruszków.

In 1966 he transferred to Warsaw and graduated from Cyprian Kamil Norwid High School no. 24.

For many years he was affiliated with the Scout Movement.

During his studies he was a Scout instructor in 208 WDHiZ "Parasol" Battalion in Mokotów.

He met his future wife through Scouting.

In 1977 he finished his studies in history at the University of Warsaw.

From 1977 to 1980 he was an editor at the journal Słowo Powszechne.

In the Polish People's Republic, Komorowski took part in the democratic movement as an underground publisher and co-operated with Antoni Macierewicz on the monthly Głos (1977–1981).

In 1980, he was sentenced along with activists of the Movement for Defense of Human and Civic Rights to one month in prison for organizing a demonstration on 11 November 1979 (the judge who presided the trial was Andrzej Kryże).

From 1980 to 1981, he worked in the Centre of Social Investigation of NSZZ "Solidarity".

On 27 September 1981, he was one of the signatories of the founding declaration of the Clubs in the Service of Independence.

He was interned while Poland was under martial law.

From 1981 to 1989, he taught at the Lower Seminary in Niepokalanów.

From 1989 to 1990, he was the manager minister Aleksander Hall's office, and from 1990 to 1993, the civil vice minister of national defence in the governments of Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Jan Krzysztof Bielecki and Hanna Suchocka.

In the early 1990s he was involved with the Democratic Union and Freedom Union.

As a candidate of the Democratic Union he was elected to parliament in 1991 and in 1993.

From 1993 to 1995, he was the general secretary of these parties.

In 1997, during the 2nd Sejm, together with a group of Warsaw University activists under the management of Jan Rokita he created Koło Konserwatywno-Ludowe.

In the same year Koło Konserwatywno-Ludowe joined the newly created Conservative People's Party (SKL), which joined Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS).

In September 1997 Komorowski was elected as a candidate of AWS.

From 1997 to 2000 he presided over the Parliamentary National Defence Committee, and from 2000 to 2001 served as the minister of national defence in the government of Jerzy Buzek.

Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001.

In 2001, while still a minister in the minority AWS government, Komorowski, along with some activists from SKL, became a member of Civic Platform (PO).

He stood for election to the 4th Sejm as a candidate of PO.

Again he was elected, this time for the Warsaw constituency.

After the inauguration of the new parliament he resigned from SKL.

Since 2001 he has been a member of the National Civic Platform Board.

In the 4th Sejm he was the deputy chairman of the Parliamentary National Defence Committee and a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.

He won election to the 5th Sejm in a district outside Warsaw.

On 26 October 2005, he was elected Vice Speaker of the Sejm.

398 MPs voted in favour of his candidacy.

As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercised the powers and duties of head of state following the death of President Lech Kaczyński in a plane crash on 10 April 2010.

Komorowski was then the governing Civic Platform party's candidate in the resulting presidential election, which he won in the second round of voting on 4 July 2010.

He was sworn in as president on 6 August 2010.

On 25 May 2015, Komorowski conceded the presidency of Poland to the rival candidate Andrzej Duda, after the latter won the second round of the 2015 presidential election.

Bronisław Maria Komorowski was born in Oborniki Śląskie.