Jolanta Fedak
{{Short description|Polish politician (1960–2020)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Jolanta Fedak
| image = Jolanta Fedak.jpg
| office = Minister of Labour and Social Policy
| primeminister = Donald Tusk
| term_start = 16 November 2007
| term_end = 18 November 2011
| predecessor = Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska
| successor = Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz
| birth_name = Jolanta Beata Fedak
| birth_date = {{birth date|1960|9|21|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Żary, Poland
| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|12|31|1960|9|21|df=y}}
| death_place =
| party = Polish People’s Party
| alma_mater = University of Wrocław
| caption = Fedak in 2011
| alt = Fedak in 2011
| occupation = Politician
| children = 1
}}
Jolanta Beata Fedak (21 September 1960 – 31 December 2020) was a Polish politician who served as Minister of Labour and Social Policy from 2007 to 2011.{{Cite web|last=Opas|first=oprac Radosław|date=31 December 2020|title=Jolanta Fedak nie żyje. Miała 60 lat|url=https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/jolanta-fedak-nie-zyje-miala-60-lat-6592223678036800a|access-date=31 December 2020|website=wiadomosci.wp.pl|language=pl}}
Early life and education
Born in Żary, Fedak graduated with a degree in political science from the University of Wrocław in 1984. She later completed postgraduate studies in administration at the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań in 1999, and in education management at the University of Szczecin in 2003.{{Cite web|title=Jolanta Fedak|url=https://www.sejm.gov.pl/Sejm9.nsf/posel.xsp?id=081&type=A|access-date=1 January 2021|website=www.sejm.gov.pl}}
Career
Fedak joined the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL) in the 1990s, and led the party's office in Zielona Góra. She later became Deputy Marshal of the western province of Lubusz Voivodeship with a focus on social issues, and became one of the four vice-chairs of the party's executive committee.{{cite web|url=http://www.mpips.gov.pl/index.php?gid=867|title=Minister Jolanta Fedak|publisher=Ministry of Labour and Social Policy|date=3 January 2011|accessdate=5 November 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104072100/http://www.mpips.gov.pl/index.php?gid=867|archivedate=4 January 2011|url-status=dead}}
Fedak first ran for the Sejm in 2001, then ran for the Senate in 2005; both attempts were unsuccessful. She also ran for mayor of Zielona Góra in 2006 and the Polish Senate in 2007. In the latter race, she finished ninth out of 12 candidates with 45,719 votes.{{cite web|url=http://www.wybory2007.pkw.gov.pl/SNT/PL/WYN/W/8.htm|title=Zielona Góra, okr. 8|publisher=Wybory do Senatu|date=2007|accessdate=5 November 2017|language=pl}} Despite losing the election, she was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Policy under Donald Tusk as a result of a coalition between the PSL and Tusk's Civic Platform; she served in that position until 2011.{{cite web|url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114873,4644854.html|title=Minister pracy – Jolanta Fedak|first=Artur|last=Łukasiewicz|publisher=Gazeta.pl|date=5 November 2007|accessdate=5 November 2017|language=pl}}
After her term as Labour Minister ended, Fedak was an advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak until his term ended in 2012. Shortly afterward, Fedak was appointed as a councilor of Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych.{{cite web|url=https://www.wprost.pl/391609/ZUS-zatrudnil-byla-minister-pracy-Jolante-Fedak|title=Jolanta Fedak, była minister pracy i polityki społecznej została radcą prezesa ZUS – donosi "Fakt".|publisher=Wprost|date=12 March 2013|accessdate=5 November 2017|language=pl}} In 2014, she ran for a seat in the European parliament as a member of the PSL. While she finished first in her constituency out of 10 candidates with 6,906 votes, the party did not have enough votes as a whole; they received four seats for 13 constituencies. She was also unsuccessful in a bid for the Sejm during the 2015 parliamentary elections.{{cite web|url=http://pe2014.pkw.gov.pl/pl/wyniki/okreg/view/13/46|title=Komitet Wyborczy Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe|date=2014|publisher=Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza|accessdate=5 November 2017|language=pl}}
From 2015 to 2017 she managed the Provincial Fund for Water Management and Environmental Protection in Zielona Góra.
In the 2019 elections she won a seat in the Sejm and held the position until her death.{{Cite web |date=31 December 2020 |title=Nie żyje była minister pracy Jolanta Fedak |url=https://businessinsider.com.pl/wiadomosci/jolanta-fedak-nie-zyje-byla-minister-pracy-zmarla-w-wieku/wb1tmqp |access-date=31 December 2020 |website=Business Insider |language=pl}}
Personal life
Fedak was married and had one daughter. She died from cancer on 31 December 2020. Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the president of the PSL party who announced her death stated, "A year ago you won the coveted parliamentary seat, the next win was to be against cancer. You left too early. We will miss you."{{Cite web|date=2020-12-31|title=Nie żyje Jolanta Fedak. Była minister pracy zmarła po długiej walce z chorobą|url=https://dorzeczy.pl/kraj/167175/nie-zyje-jolanta-fedak-byla-minister-pracy-zmarla-po-dlugiej-walce-z-choroba.html|access-date=2021-01-04|website=Do Rzeczy|language=pl}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Donald Tusk Cabinet}}
{{Ministers of Labour and Social Policy of the Republic of Poland}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fedak, Jolanta}}
Category:Polish People's Party politicians
Category:Women government ministers of Poland
Category:Women members of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland
Category:Members of the Polish Sejm 2019–2023
Category:21st-century Polish women politicians
Category:University of Wrocław alumni