Biography

Tadeusz Mazowiecki was born on April 18, 1927 in Plock, Mazowieckie, Poland. He was married to Krystyna and Ewa. He died on October 28, 2013 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.

He was Poland's first prime minister after the fall of the communist government. In 1992, he was appointed as the UN's first Special Rapporteur to the former Yugoslavia, and reported on the atrocities there. In 2005, he became one of the founders of Poland's Democratic Party, and co-authored the 1997 constitution.

He was born into a Polish noble family, and studied law at Warsaw University.

He served as an MP for the small Roman Catholic party, Znak, under the communist regime. He was expelled from his seat for demanding an explanation for the deaths of dozens of shipyard workers in 1970 during protests over price hikes.

In 1980, he went to Gdansk to advise the striking shipyard workers in their talks with the communist authorities. The tense discussions led to the creation of the first independent trade union in communist eastern Europe, Solidarity.

He was awarded the French Legion d' Honneur and the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Germany.