Krzysztof Kononowicz

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Krzysztof Kononowicz in a TV spot

Krzysztof Kononowicz (born January 21, 1963 in Kętrzyn) was a candidate for the office of mayor of Białystok the 2006 local elections in Poland. He attracted some notoriety for his purposedly unsophisticated political advertisement first aired on local television. These were enormously popular and featured heavily on YouTube, outrating videos of major celebrities, including one of Britney Spears breaking up with Kevin Federline.^[1]

In 2006, Krzysztof Kononowicz, a simple-minded 43 year-old unemployed driver-mechanic and pig farmer living with his widowed mother Leonarda in a wooden house, became a candidate of the electoral comitee "Podlachia of the XXIst Century" (Podlasie XXI Wieku). Several weeks before the elections, Adam Czeczetkowicz, activist of the fringe far-right Polish National Party (supported by the party leader Leszek Bubel),^[2] convinced him to run for mayor and make the advertisement. Within several days, over 3 million Internet users had seen the commercial on YouTube, distrubuted like the other Kononowicz materials by his electoral comitee. The video also made it to Polish national TV. Soon merchandise (including the characteristic sweater supposedly belonging to Kononowicz) were being sold on the Internet.^[1]

Kononowicz won 1,676 votes (1.9%), but he by far became the most famous person out of the 2006 elections, featured as a guest in several television shows and becoming a popular Internet meme in Poland in the late 2006 and early 2007, even being voted "personality of the year" in the poll by the Polish web portal Onet.pl. In several interviews, he stated that he wants to be a candidate for the President of Poland at the next election, while Czeczetkowicz's people said they wanted him to candidate for the post of mayor of Warsaw.^[2]

It is unclear if Kononowicz himself was aware at least in the beginning that his newly-established "popularity" meant he was really just a laughing stock of the country at the moment. The leading Polish politician Donald Tusk called him "an unfortunate man". Foreign commentators said he was "like Borat, except not acting but the real thing".^[1]^[3]

In March 2007, Kononowicz was accused by his neighbours of abusing his elderly mother (including possibly sexual abuse). Both mother and the son rejected the accusations but the police decided to investigate.^[2] The investigation was ceased two months later and Kononowicz was cleared from all charges.^[4]