Jerzy Andrzej Szmajdziński (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjɛʐɨ ʂmajˈdʑiɲskʲi], April 9, 1952 – April 10, 2010) was a Polish politician who was a Vice-Marshal of Polish Sejm and previously served as Minister of Defence. He was a candidate for President of Poland in the 2010 election.
Szmajdziński graduated from the Wrocław University of Economics. In the 1970s and 1980s he was an activist for the Federation of Socialist Unions of Polish Youth and the Socialist Union of Polish Youth, serving as its chairman from 1986–1989. He remained a member of PZPR from 1973 until its end in 1990. Later, he entered the leadership position of the SdRP leftist party. In December 1999, he became the deputy chairman of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).
He became a member of the Sejm in 1990, and in his second term Szmajdziński was chairman of the National Defense Committee and in the third term a deputy chairman of that commission. He was Minister of National Defence from October 19, 2001 to 2005. He was elected to Sejm on September 25, 2005 gaining 20,741 votes in 1 Legnica district, candidating from SLD list.
On a national SLD convention in December 2009 he was chosen as the party's candidate in the 2010 presidential elections in Poland. His candidacy received 11% of the votes in March's pre-election poll.
Szmajdziński died, on the day after his 58th birthday, in the plane crash that also involved President Lech Kaczyński and 94 others.
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In 2002, Szmajdziński was made an honorary citizen of Jelenia Gora and in 2004 an honorary citizen of Bolkow.
On April 16, 2010, he was posthumously decorated with the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta. On the same day, the Parliament of the Province of Lower Silesia posthumously awarded him the title of Honorary Citizen of Lower Silesia. On May 20, 2010, Wroclaw city council granted him the title of Honorary Citizen of Wroclaw and on March 28, 2011 Legnica City Council gave him the title of Honorary Citizen of Legnica.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bronisław Komorowski |
Minister of National Defense 2001–2005 |
Succeeded by Radosław Sikorski |
| Preceded by Józef Oleksy |
Acting Minister of Interior and Administration 2004 |
Succeeded by Ryszard Kalisz |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz |
Presidential Candidate for Democratic Left Alliance 2010 (deceased) |
Succeeded by Grzegorz Napieralski |
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