International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

One of the most influential thinkers and activists in Eastern Europe, Jacek Kuroń was a leader of the democratic opposition to the People's Republic of Poland from the mid-1950s until its demise in 1989. He co-founded the Worker's Defense Committee, was both organizer and intellectual advisor to Lech Walesa and Solid-arnosc (Solidarity), and played a pivotal role in the Round Table negotiations that paved the way for democratic governance in Poland. During the 1990s Kuroń was twice Poland's minister of labor and social policy. Through his official capacity and as a private citizen he worked to alleviate the economic impact of the transition to market capitalism on the poorest members of society. Kuroń began his social and political activism as a committed communist. Born into a family of socialist intellectuals in the now Ukrainian city of Lvov, Kuroń became a member of the Communist Youth League at 15 and of the Polish United Workers' Party as a young adult. He was active in the Polish Scouting Association, organizing “red” troops with the goal of teaching cooperative social values to the next generation – future Solidarnosc leader Adam Michnik was among his charges. During the mid-1950s Kuroń was one of the most prominent members of the Crooked Circle Club (Krzywe Kolo), a discussion group of dissident intellectuals. In 1964 he collaborated with a fellow lecturer at the University ... log in or subscribe to read full text