Bronisław Geremek
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| Bronisław Geremek | |
 Bronisław Geremek in May 2006. |
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| In office October 31, 1997 – June 30, 2000 |
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| President | Aleksander Kwaśniewski |
| Prime Minister | Jerzy Buzek |
| Preceded by | Dariusz Rosati |
| Succeeded by | Władysław Bartoszewski |
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| In office December 18, 2000 – October 14, 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Leszek Balcerowicz |
| Succeeded by | Władysław Frasyniuk |
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| Born | March 6, 1932  Warsaw,  Second Polish Republic |
| Political party | Freedom Union, Partia Demokratyczna – demokraci.pl. |
| Spouse | Widower, Hanna Geremek |
| Profession | Historian |
Professor Bronisław Geremek aka Lewartow [1](pronounced [brɔˈɲiswaf gɛˈrɛmɛk], born on March 6, 1932 in Warsaw) is a Polish social historian and politician of Jewish origin[citation needed].
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[edit] Education
In 1954 Bronisław Geremek graduated from The Faculty of History at the [2]Warsaw University, in 1956-1958 he completed postgraduate studies in [3]Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. He completed his Ph.D. in 1960 and in 1972 he was granted a postdoctoral degree [4]in The Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). In 1989 Geremek was nominated an associate professor.
The chief domain of Geremek’s scientific work is research on history of culture and Middle Age society. His scholarly achievements include numerous articles, lectures, prelections and 10 books translated into 10 languages. Geremek’s 1960 doctoral thesis concerned the labour market in medieval Parisian craft and the issue of prostitution in this city; whereas his 1972 post-doctoral thesis concerned underworld groups in medieval Paris.
Almost all of the scholarly life of Bronisław Geremek was connected with The Institute of History of The Polish Academy of Sciences, where he worked in 1955-1985. In 1960-1965 he was a lecturer at the [5]Sorbonne in Paris and the manager of the Polish Culture Centre of that university. In recognition of his merits Prof. Geremek has been honored with honoris causa degrees many times by [6]The University of Bologna, [7]Utrecht University, Sorbonne, [8]Columbia University in the City of New York and by Jagiellonian University in Krakow. In 1992 he was designated visiting professor at the [9]College de France. Geremek is a member of Academia Europea, [10]Pen Club, Societe Europeenne de Culture, and numerous societies and associations.
[edit] Political activity
[edit] People’s Republic of Poland (PRL)
In 1950 Geremek joined [11]The Polish United Worker’s Party (PZPR). He was the second secretary of the Basic Party Organisation (POP) of the PZPR at Warsaw University. In 1968 he withdrew from the party in protest against [12] the Warsaw Pact armys' invasion in Czechoslovakia.
In the 70s Geremek was considered one of the leading figures in the Polish democratic opposition. In the years of 1978 – 1981 he co-founded the Society for Educational Courses where he gave lectures. In August 1980 he joined the social movement of the Gdańsk workers' protest and became one of the experts and counselors in the[13] Independent Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarność (Polish for "Solidarity") - NSZZ. In 1981 he chaired the Program Commission on the First National Convention of “Solidarity”. After announcing the martial law he was interned till December 1982 when he became a counselor of the then illegal “Solidarity”; he closely cooperated with Lech Wałęsa. In 1983 he was arrested by the Polish authorities.
[edit] The Third Polish Republic
[edit] The Round Table
Between 1987 – 1989 he was the leader of the Commission for Political Reforms of the Civic Committee, which prepared conceptions of peaceful democratic transformations in Poland.
In 1989 Bronisław Geremek played a crucial role during debates between [14]Solidarity and the PRL’s authorities. Consequently, it came to parliamentary elections in Poland and the establishment of the ‘Contract Sejm’.
This ended with Geremek as one of the founders of The Democratic Union (later merged into the The Freedom Union) and was president of the former party’s parliamentary club from 1990 to 1997. After the elections in 1991 president Lech Wałęsa entrusted him with forming a new government; Geremek failed and Jan Olszewski was appointed to the post of Poland’s Prime Minister.
Bronisław Geremek was chairman of the Political Council of the Freedom Union.
From 1989 to 2001 Professor Bronisław Geremek was a member of the Polish parliament, the Sejm. During that time he for instance presided over the Sejm Commission for Foreign Affairs (1989 – 1997) and the Constitutional Commission (1989 – 1991). From July, 2000 Geremek chaired the Sejm Commission for European Law.
After the coalition between the Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS) and Freeedom Union (UW) was formed in October 31, 1997, he acceded to the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek, which he held till 2000. In March 12, 1999 on behalf of the Polish government he signed the treaty to join NATO.
[edit] European Parliament Deputy.
In the election to the European Parliament on June 13, 2004 Geremek was selected the deputy of the committee of Freedom Union (UW) by gaining the greatest amount of votes in Warsaw. In the European Parliament he is a member of [15]Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
[edit] Decorations
Bronisław Geremek has been awarded many decorations and distinctions, such as the Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern - the Grand Cross with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Pour le Mérite, and in 1998 the Karlspreis (Charlemagne Award) of the city of Aachen . Moreover he is an officer of The Légion d’honneur. On November 11, 2002 the Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski honored him with the most important national decoration – The Order of the White Eagle. In 1999 Bronisław Geremek was conferred The Man of the Year by the Wprost weekly.
[edit] Recent events
He currently holds the Chair of European Civilisation at the College of Europe, Natolin (Warsaw). He obtained his doctorate from the University of Warsaw in 1960, and is also a graduate of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris, Sorbonne). He has since worked as Director of the Centre for Polish Culture at the Sorbonne and as Director of Research Department for Medieval History of the Polish Academy of Sciences and has taught at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Sorbonne, and Collège de France. In April 2007 he refused to declare that he had never collaborated with the communist secret service, which he was being asked to do under a new vetting law. Some claim that for that reason he automatically lost his seat as a Member of the European Parliament and it resulted in him losing his position as member of the Grand Chapter of Order of the White Eagle. During the debate in the European Parliament he received support of all the largest political groups (EPP, PES, ELDR, EGP). On May 11th, 2007, Poland's constitutional court (or Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland) rejected most of the new vetting law, including the clause which would have made it mandatory for nearly 700.000 Poles to sign declarations certifying that they had never collaborated with the secret services under the old regime.
Geremek is currently a Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to promote good governance around the world[2].
[edit] Publications
• Litość i szubienica: dzieje nędzy i miłosierdzia (Czytelnik 1989, ISBN 83-07-01490-5)
• Świat "opery żebraczej": obraz włóczęgów i nędzarzy w literaturach europejskich XV-XVII wieku (Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 1989, ISBN 83-06-00428-0)
• Rok 1989 - Bronisław Geremek opowiada, Jacek Żakowski pyta (red.: Maria Braunstein; Plejada, Dom Słowa Polskiego 1990) The Margins of Society in Late Medieval Paris (Past and Present Publications) by Jean-Claude Schmitt, Bronislaw Geremek, Lyndal Roper, Jean Birrell
• Wspólne pasje (wespół z Georgesem Duby; rozmowę przeprowadził Philippe Sainteny ; przeł. Elżbieta Teresa Sadowska; PWN 1995, ISBN 83-01-11855-5)
• Szansa i zagrożenie. Polityka i dyplomacja w rodzinnej Europie (Studio EMKA 2004, ISBN 83-88607-38-3)
• Fernand Braudel, Historia i trwanie (seria: "Nowy Sympozjon"; przedmową opatrzyli Bronisław Geremek i Witold Kula; Czytelnik 1971, 1999, ISBN 83-07-02712-8)
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