Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska

Małgorzata Maria Kidawa-Błońska, née Grabska (born 5 May 1957) is a Polish politician, film producer, and sociologist. She was Marshal of the Sejm from 25 June 2015 to 11 November 2015 at the end of the Seventh term's composition of the lower house, after which being voted a Deputy Marshal of the Eighth and Ninth term, each time nominated by the opposition party Civic Platform, under the marshalcy of Marek Kuchciński and Elżbieta Witek, respectively.

In this Slavic name, the family name "Kidawa-Błońska" is sometimes transliterated as "Kidawa-Blonska".
Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska
Deputy Marshal of the Sejm
Assumed office
12 November 2015
Serving with See List
MarshalMarek Kuchciński
Elżbieta Witek
Marshal of the Sejm
In office
25 June 2015 – 11 November 2015
PresidentBronisław Komorowski
Andrzej Duda
Prime MinisterEwa Kopacz
DeputyCezary Grabarczyk (PO)
Elżbieta Radziszewska (PO)
Marek Kuchciński (PiS)
Wanda Nowicka (Non-Partisan)
Eugeniusz Grzeszczak (PSL)
Jerzy Wenderlich (SLD)
SeniorJózef Zych (PSL)
Preceded byRadosław Sikorski
Succeeded byMarek Kuchciński
Government Spokeswoman
In office
3 February 2015 – 25 June 2015
PresidentBronisław Komorowski
Prime MinisterEwa Kopacz
Preceded byIwona Sulik
Succeeded byCezary Tomczyk
In office
7 January 2014 – 22 September 2014
PresidentBronisław Komorowski
Prime MinisterDonald Tusk
Preceded byPaweł Graś
Succeeded byIwona Sulik
Member of the Sejm
Assumed office
19 October 2005
Constituency20 – Warsaw II
Personal details
Born
Małgorzata Maria Grabska

(1957-05-05) 5 May 1957
Ursus, Warsaw, Poland
Political partyCivic Platform (2001–present)
Other political
affiliations		Civic Coalition (2018–present)
Spouse(s)Jan Kidawa-Błoński (m. 1983)
Children1
ParentsMaciej Władysław Grabski
Helena Nowakowska
RelativesWładysław Grabski (great-grandfather)
Stanisław Wojciechowski (great-grandfather)
Maria Wojciechowska (great-grandmother)
Władysław Jan Grabski (paternal grandfather)
Zofia Wojciechowska-Grabska (paternal grandmother)
EducationUniversity of Warsaw
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website

Kidawa-Błońska served ministerial functions, such as Secretary of State in the Second Cabinet of Donald Tusk (2012–2014) and the Cabinet of Ewa Kopacz (2014–2015) and Press Spokeswoman for both cabinets in 2014 and 2015. She was the Civic Platform nominee for Prime Minister in the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, losing to Law and Justice incumbent Mateusz Morawiecki. In 2019, she was elected the Civic Platform's candidate for Presidency of Poland to stand in the 2020 Polish presidential election. Kidawa-Błońska resigned her candidacy on 15 May 2020.[1]

Before entering politics

Family
Photograph depicting four generations of Kidawa-Błońska's family: her paternal grandmother Zofia, and her paternal great-grandmother Maria (holding her great-granddaughter), and her mother Helena. (1958)

Małgorzata Maria Grabska was born in Ursus, Warsaw during the time of Communist Poland. Her father, Maciej Władysław Grabski, who came from a prominent Polish political family as a descendant of two notable politicians during the time of Interwar Poland, was a Professor of Technical Science for the Warsaw University of Technology and former President of the Foundation for Polish Science from 1992 to 2005, and her mother was Helena Nowakowska, was a former employee of the Press Workers' Cooperative and the winner in 1953 Fencing at the Kolejarz Sports Club where she met her future husband, who after the wedding devoted herself to running the house.

Maciej's father was Władysław Jan Grabski, a renowned writer who wrote historical novels on the History of Poland. He was the second son of Władysław Grabski, noted politician, independence activist and economist who served as Prime Minister of Poland for two non-consecutive terms plus was the author of the currency reform which contained hyperinflation and stabilized the zloty exchange rate until 1939, and his wife Katarzyna Lewandowska, a daughter of a wealthy landowner of szlachta descent. Kidawa-Błońska's paternal grandmother was painter Zofia Wojciechowska-Grabska, only surviving child of Stanisław Wojciechowski, who served as President of Poland from 1922 to 1926 after he was ousted by the May Coup d'État led by Marshal Józef Piłsudski, and his wife Maria Kiersnowska, who served as the First Lady during her husband's presidency. She was previously involved in the underground work and later became a courier for the Polish Socialist Party for the call for Polish Independence.

Youth

Kidawa-Błonska was born and remained in the same house where her paternal grandparents lived all her life. She assumed that her house was an exhalation of rich, multi-generational prescription furnished with antiques, paintings drawn by her paternal grandmother and photographs of her ancestors on the walls. In 1927, her paternal great-grandfather received the permission for the construction of a residential house for his son Władysław Jan and his espoused wife Zofia Wojciechowska, after recently being married. The park, orchard and vegetable garden of the house were designed by the landscape architect Franciszek Szanior. After the Warsaw Uprising, Zofia's parents, Stanisław and Maria, were taken to live in the Grabski house, after being rescued from the demolished city. Her parents survived the Second World War, though her brother Edmund, died in Auschwitz-Birkenau. They lived in the house for the last remaining years until their deaths. Since then, Kidawa-Błońska often says that her home is the centre of her world, with many memories. Among them and such as her greatest childhood privileges were covering her grandfather's legs with a blanket or choosing a pipe for him, which he could drink afternoon tea on the terrace.

Education, professional activity and marriage

She was taught and passed her high school diploma in the Klementyna Hoffmanowa High School IX in Warsaw, the oldest high school in Warsaw. In 1983, she graduated a Master's degree of Sociological Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Warsaw. Kidawa-Błonska blended her professional career with film and culture. She went to classes at the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw as a free witness out of interest, as she did not want to become an actress. In 1981, she met Jan Kidawa-Błoński at her 24th birthday party, when he accidentally came across her party in the Grabski residence. Jan recently graduated at the National Film School in Łódź and is the uncle of the deceased Ryszard Riedel, leader of Polish blues rock band Dżem. Jan & Malgorzata were married in 1983, during the time of the martial law.[2][3] Kidawa-Błoński was in the process of making his first film "Trzy stopy nad ziemią". However, he did not receive a cent for this creation and he even went straight to the hospital due to starvation. Jan and Małgorzata have a much strong marriage only having one son, Jan, who was born in 1983. From 1985 to 1987, she worked in the literary editorial office of the Film Studio named after Karol Irzykowski, and from 1994 to 2005, she worked with her husband at their company Gambit Production, in which she was responsible for the production of films, television programs and commercials. Their biggest undertaking was the award-winning film Destined for Blues, which tells the story of her nephew-in-marriage Ryszard Riedel.

Political career

Kidawa-Błońska became enrolled in politics as a non-party member from the Freedom Union. In 2001, she became a member of the new Civic Platform party and became a Councillor in Warsaw City Council.[4]

Kidawa-Błońska signing autographs for supporters in Warsaw, 2011

She was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 4,615 votes in 19 – Warsaw II district, as a candidate from the Civic Platform list. She was elected again following Donald Tusk's victory on 21 October 2007, after achieving 13,057 votes. In 2010, Kidawa-Błońska became the press spokeswoman for Bronisław Komorowski's presidential campaign. On 9 October 2011, she successfully applied for re-election with 2 positions on Warsaw's PO list, including 45,027 votes. She was appointed on 7 February 2014, as the Press Spokesperson of the Council of Ministers and Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland, until she resigned after Donald Tusk’s resignation on 22 September 2014. On 3 February 2015, She was appointed for the second time as the Press Spokesperson of the Council of Ministers for Ewa Kopacz's Cabinet.

On 23 June 2015, Radosław Sikorski decided to resign his office as Marshal of the Sejm, after 6 months in office. Two days later, she was nominated by Civic Platform as a candidate for Marshal, she was elected to the office, by receiving 244 votes from the Sejm. Her competitor Deputy Marshal, Jerzy Wenderlich from the Democratic Left Alliance, secured 43 votes. Seven days later, Bronisław Komorowski appointed her to the National Security Bureau. During her marshalcy, Kidawa-Błońska administered the oath of office for President Andrzej Duda on 6 August 2015.

In the 2015 Polish parliamentary election, she successfully applied for parliamentary re-election as the leader of Civic Platform electoral lists in the Warsaw district, she received 80,866 votes. At the inaugural meeting of the Sejm on 12 November 2015, she was named Deputy Marshal of the Sejm[5] under her successor Marek Kuchciński. In her new position as Deputy Marshal, she became a member of the Culture and Media Committee in the Sejm. On 9 August 2019, Marek Kuchciński stepped down upon the mass critique of his use of government aeroplanes for private purposes. She was chosen as a candidate for Marshal of the Sejm by Civic Coalition. She received 135 votes, losing to the Law and Justice nominee Elżbieta Witek, who was supported by 245 deputies.

2019 Parliamentary Campaign
Main article: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

On 3 September 2019, Grzegorz Schetyna announced that the Civic Coalition would nominate Kidawa-Błońska as its candidate for Prime Minister. A moment after unveiling this notice, she stated that Poland is now in a "very difficult moment" and that "People want Poland to be a country where everyone respects each other".[6][7] She received 416,030 votes, which was the best individual result in the country. The coalition still lost the parliamentary election by winning 134 seats in the Sejm, but gained the Senate by winning 43 seats and forming a coalition with other opposition parties. On 12 November 2019, she kept her position as Deputy Marshal.

2020 Presidential Election
Main article: 2020 Polish presidential election

Civic Platform primaries
The Civic Platform electoral presidential primary debate in Warsaw, 2019
See also: 2019 Civic Platform presidential primary

She announced her intention to take part in Civic Platform's presidential primaries to become party's candidate in the 2020 presidential elections in Poland.[8][9] The primary was organized by the party leader Grzegorz Schetyna following the decision by Donald Tusk not to run for president again as he lost in a runoff to Lech Kaczyński in 2005, and then served as Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 after which he resigned to become President of the European Council. Prior to his withdrawal, Tusk was thought to be the presumptive nominee.[10] The voting took place during a special conference on 14 December. It was announced that she won those primaries (by receiving 345 electorate votes, compared to Jacek Jaśkowiak's 125 votes) and therefore she became Civic Platform's candidate for president.[11]

Presidential campaign

After becoming the presumptive Civic Platform nominee, Kidawa-Błońska changed her focus to the presidential election. She began campaigning against Andrzej Duda. In reaction to recent changes of the electoral law, enacted without changing the date of presidential election, Kidawa-Błońska suspended her campaign and called for a boycott of the 10 May election.[12][13]

Coronavirus outbreak

On 10 March 2020, Kidawa-Błońska announced on her Twitter account that she would temporarily suspend large open conferences and introduce changes in the control of her campaign.

Resignation from candidacy

After the election date was moved from May 10, her presidential campaign ended. On 15 May, she resigned from candidacy,[1] most likely as a result of falling poll numbers.[1][14] That same day, she was replaced with Rafał Trzaskowski.[15]

gollark: So what other months is this month then?
gollark: Yes, I suppose month multiplexing *could* be done?
gollark: Not really. As I said, there are 12 months and unfathomably vast amounts of causes.
gollark: It also doesn't, in my opinion, encourage good problem solving methodology, due to verbosity and a poor type system.
gollark: Java is not a low-level language and does not reflect computer innards.

See also

References
  1. "Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska rezygnuje ze startu w wyborach prezydenckich". www.rmf24.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  2. Biography
  3. "Kidawa-Błońska to prawnuczka prezydenta RP. Kilka faktów z życia kandydatki opozycji na premiera". Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  4. "Informacje ogólne". Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  5. "Informacje ogólne". Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  6. Shotter, James (3 September 2019). "Poland's Schetyna will not run for prime minister". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  7. "Poland's Civic Coalition makes Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska PM candidate". Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  8. "Kidawa-Blonska announces candidature for presidential primaries | Polska Agencja Prasowa SA". www.pap.pl. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  9. "Civic Platform's Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska confirms her 2020 presidential bid". TVN24.pl. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  10. https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-tusk-elected-president-of-european-peoples-party/
  11. "Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska kandydatką PO na prezydenta RP". Onet Wiadomości (in Polish). 14 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  12. Ruszkiewicz, Sylwester (29 March 2020). "Małgorzata Kidawa - Błońska wzywa do bojkotu wyborów prezydenckich". wiadomosci.wp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  13. Oworuszko, Jakub (29 March 2020). "Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska zawiesza kampanię i wzywa do bojkotu wyborów. Prezydent Andrzej Duda nie wyklucza innego terminu". Polska Times (in Polish). Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  14. "Oficjalnie: Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska rezygnuje z udziału w wyborach prezydenckich | Tysol.pl". www.tysol.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  15. "Nieoficjalnie: decyzją zarządu PO Rafał Trzaskowski nowym kandydatem na prezydenta". www.msn.com. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
Political offices
Preceded by
Radosław Sikorski		 Marshal of the Sejm
2015		 Succeeded by
Marek Kuchciński
Party political offices
Preceded by
Bronisław Komorowski		 Civic Platform nominee for President
of Poland
2020 (Resigned)		 Succeeded by
Rafał Trzaskowski
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