Marian Orzechowski

Orzechowski was born in Radom on 24 October 1931.{{cite book|title=Contemporary Poland|year=1986|publisher=Polska Agencja Interpress|page=101|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rx7VAAAAMAAJ&q=Marian+Orzechowski+1931}}{{cite web|title=Polish ministries|url=http://rulers.org/polgov.html|work=Rulers|access-date=13 June 2013}} He received a degree in history from the University of Leningrad in Soviet Union.{{cite news|author=John Tagliabue|title=Polish Communists Realign the Party Leadership|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/16/world/polish-communists-realign-the-party-leadership.html|access-date=13 June 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=16 June 1988}}{{cite web|title=Prof. Dr. Marian Orzechowski|url=http://deutsch-polnische.schulbuchkommission.de/en/mitglieder/ehemalige-mitglieder/prof-dr-marian-orzechowski.html|work=DPSK|access-date=16 June 2013}} In 1960, he received PhD from the University of Wrocław.

Orzechowski was a senior politician of the Polish United Workers' Party.{{cite web|last=Szayna|first=Thomas S.|title=Polish Foreign Policy under a Non-Communist Government: Prospects and Problems|url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA236980|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130714091305/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA236980|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 July 2013|work=Rand National Defense Research Institute|date=April 1990}} He became a member of the central committee of the party in 1966. He served in a variety of party posts and was appointed a central committee secretary. He also headed the party's academy of social sciences. In addition, he became a lecturer of history and political science at the University of Wrocław in 1966. From 1971 to 1975 he served as the rector of the university. He was the chief ideologist of the party, being ideology secretary to which he was elected at the fifth plenum on 27–28 October 1981.{{cite news|author=John Tagliabue|title=Poland's Communist Party Debates Its Future|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/29/world/poland-s-communist-party-debates-its-future.html|access-date=13 June 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=29 July 1989}}{{cite journal|author=Mark Kramer|title=Soviet deliberations during the Polish crisis, 1980 - 1981|journal=Cold War International History Project|series=Special Working Papers|issue=1|page=150|url=http://wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ACF56F.PDF|access-date=14 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805153214/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ACF56F.PDF|archive-date=5 August 2012|url-status=dead}} From 1984 to 1986 he was the rector of the Academy of Social Sciences.{{cite web|author=Michael D. Kennedy|title=Negotiating revolution in Poland|url=http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/2002-815-10g-Kennedy.pdf|work=NCEEER|year=2002|access-date=14 July 2013}}

He was appointed foreign minister on 12 November 1985 to the cabinet led by the then prime minister Zbigniew Messner.{{cite news|title=Poland's new premier names cabinet; foreign minister out|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19851113&id=hRtbAAAAIBAJ&pg=3108,4384500|access-date=13 June 2013|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|date=13 November 1985|agency=AP|location=Warsaw}}{{cite web|title=New leadership team shifts focus to economy|url=http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/89801/DOC_0000677924.pdf|work=CIA|access-date=13 June 2013|date=10 December 1985}}{{cite book|author=Gregory F. Domber|title=Supporting the Revolution: America, Democracy, and the End of the Cold War in Poland, 1981--1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Grtub61ScTgC&pg=PA272|access-date=13 June 2013|year=2008|isbn=978-0-549-38516-5|page=272}} Revised and incorporated in {{cite book|title=Empowering Revolution: America, Poland, and the End of the Cold War|series=The New Cold War History|author=Gregory F. Domber|publisher=University of North Carolina Press books|year=2014|isbn=978-1469618517|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hlk7BAAAQBAJ&q=Gershman%20OR%20Kemble%20OR%20Kahn%20OR%20Horowitz%20OR%20Chenoweth}} He succeeded Stefan Olszowski in the post.{{cite news|title=Poland Shuffles Posts as Power Struggle Starts|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1985/11/13/poland-shuffles-posts-as-power-struggle-starts/|access-date=13 June 2013|newspaper=Orlando Sentinel|date=13 November 1985|location=Warsaw}} In addition, Orzechowski headed the PRON's national council, that was formed by the Polish authorities to develop a close interaction with the church, during that time.{{cite book|author=Arthur R. Rachwald|title=In Search of Poland: The Superpowers' Response to Solidarity, 1980-1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v8SOQX-TlOAC&pg=PA114|access-date=13 June 2013|year=1990|publisher=Hoover Press|isbn=978-0-8179-8963-7|page=114}} He became a member of the politburo in June 1988 while retaining his post as foreign minister. His term as foreign minister ended on 17 June 1988 and he was replaced by Tadeusz Olechowski in the post. From 1988 to 1989 he served as the head of the Communist parliament delegation.{{cite news|title=Polish Parliament Approves New Cabinet|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1989/9/13/polish-parliament-approves-new-cabinet-pwarsaw/|access-date=13 June 2013|work=The Harvard Crimson|date=13 September 1989}} In July 1989 Orzechowski lost his position as executive ideology secretary of the party's central committee when Wojciech Jaruzelski resigned from the leadership of the party.{{cite news|last=Butturini|first=Paula|title=Solidarity Foe Is New Polish Party Chief|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/07/30/solidarity-foe-is-new-polish-party-chief/|access-date=14 July 2013|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=30 July 1989|location=Warsaw}}{{cite news|title=Polish communists pick hard-liner to lead party|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/57187/POLISH-COMMUNISTS-PICK-HARD-LINER-TO-LEAD-PARTY.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204050343/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/57187/POLISH-COMMUNISTS-PICK-HARD-LINER-TO-LEAD-PARTY.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 February 2014|access-date=14 July 2013|newspaper=Deseret News|date=30 July 1989}} However, his membership at the central committee of the party continued for a while.

Orzechowski worked at the University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw (then the University of Finance and Management in Warsaw), and supervised over 30 PhD students.

During his term as foreign minister, Orzechowski stated "historians who were members of the party were particularly inspected by the censors since they were to represent it."{{cite journal|last=Strządała|first=Gaweł|title=Censorship in the People's Republic of Poland|journal=Folklore|url=http://www.folklore.ee/pubte/eraamat/eestipoola/strzadala.pdf|access-date=13 June 2013}} In 1986 he was able to persuade the Soviet authorities to appoint Wlodzimierz Natorf, a controversial figure, as the Polish ambassador to Moscow.{{cite news|last=Gillette|first=Robert|title=Poland Names New Ambassador in a Move to Better Its Kremlin Ties|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-04-mn-24157-story.html|access-date=14 July 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=4 January 1986|location=Warsaw}} Orzechowski participated in round table talks between the ruling party and opposition figures that lasted from 6 February to 4 April 1989.

Orzechowski is the author of a book about political conditions in Poland and Polish foreign relations from 1989 to 1994.{{cite web|title=Overview of the Marian Orzechowski writings|url=http://cdn.calisphere.org/data/13030/8w/kt5t1nf18w/files/kt5t1nf18w.pdf|work=Hoover Institution Archives|access-date=14 July 2013}}

• 60px Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1984)
• 60px Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta
• 60px Medal of the National Education Commission{{Cite book|title=Who's Who in Poland. Biographical Information|publisher=Interpress|place=Warsaw|date=1989|page=951|language=Polish}}
• 60px Sash of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico, 1986){{Cite magazine|title=Mexico is interested in Polish shipbuilding|magazine=Dziennik Bałtycki|date=19 May 1986|page=1|language=Polish}}
• 60px Order of Friendship (North Korea, 1987){{Cite magazine|title=Minister Marian Orzechowski ends his visit to DPRK|magazine=Trybuna Robotnicza|date=20 November 1987|page=1|language=Polish}}
• 60px Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (USSR, 1985){{Cite magazine|magazine=Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny|date=October 1985|page=265|language=Polish}}

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Category:1931 births

Category:2020 deaths

Category:Rectors of universities in Poland

Category:Members of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party

Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Poland

Category:Members of the Contract Sejm

Category:People from Radom

Category:Polish Round Table Talks participants

Category:20th-century Polish historians

Category:Polish male non-fiction writers

Category:Saint Petersburg State University alumni

Category:University of Wrocław alumni

Category:Academic staff of the University of Wrocław

Category:Academic staff of the University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw