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Lech Walesa
Wałęsa, Lech
Wałęsa, Lech (1943– ) Polish statesman, President (1990–95). A shipyard worker from Gdańsk, he founded the independent trade union movement
SOLIDARITY after a wave of strikes in 1980. Further political agitation led to a total industrial stoppage along the Baltic seaboard, and the government under General Jaruzelski was forced to concede the right to organize themselves independently. In 1981 Solidarity was outlawed and Wałęsa imprisoned. Released in 1982, he forged close links with Pope John Paul II. In 1989 Solidarity was legalized, and in 1990 he was re-elected its chairman. Increasingly on the right wing of the movement and with the full power of the Church behind him, he defeated Tadeusz Mazowiecki in the presidential election of November 1990. Throughout Wałęsa's term of office, his governments grappled with the economic challenge of moving towards a free-market economy. In December 1995, Wałęsa was defeated in presidential elections by the former communist Aleksander Kwaśniewski.
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Profile: Solidarity founder Lech Walesa is cleared of former Communist secret police collaboration charges in Poland
Transcript from: NPR All Things Considered; 8/11/2000; ; 700+ words
; ...0000 Profile: Solidarity founder Lech Walesa is cleared of former Communist...court cleared Solidarity founder Lech Walesa of charges that he collaborated...a relieved and broadly smiling Lech Walesa leaned back in his chair as the...
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Lech Walesa visits UVA to inaugurate Polish Studies chairman
News Wire article from: University Wire; 10/19/1998; ; 700+ words
; ...University Friday night as former Polish President Lech Walesa spoke to a packed Chemistry Building Auditorium...longer actively participates in Polish politics, Walesa heads the Lech Walesa Institute, which advocates democracy and free market...
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Lech Walesa's vision of global harmony
Newspaper article from: Jerusalem Post; 1/15/2008; ; 700+ words
; ...FAY CASHMAN Jerusalem Post 01-15-2008 Headline: Lech Walesa's vision of global harmony Byline: GREER FAY CASHMAN...Page: 18 Tuesday, January 15, 2008 -- "If not for Lech Walesa, I would not be here in Israel, not only for lack of...
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Lech Walesa Joins NuTech's Board of Directors; Charlotte-Based Technology Provider Taps Nobel Peace Prize Laureate to Advise on Company Growth and Development.
Business Wire; 5/7/2002; 700+ words
; ...and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lech Walesa has joined its board of directors...software applications," said Lech Walesa. "The company stands as a testimony...reality if given the chance." Lech Walesa's contribution to ending communism...
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Partners in freedom.(Polish labor leader Lech Walesa and Pope John Paul II, who is Polish)
Magazine article from: Faces: People, Places, and Cultures; 3/1/2003; ; 700+ words
; ...bearer representing Europe was Lech Walesa (vah-WEN-sah). In July 2002...resolve to fight for freedom. Lech Walesa, a shipyard worker in Gdansk...Soviet bloc countries. For 12 years Lech Walesa and Pope John Paul II, partners...
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Analysis: Special court in Poland examines allegations that former President Lech Walesa worked as an agent during the Communist era
Transcript from: NPR Morning Edition; 8/11/2000; ; 700+ words
; ...allegations that former President Lech Walesa worked as an agent during the Communist...that Poland' s former President Lech Walesa worked covertly as an agent for...McCarthy is in Warsaw. Julie, Lech Walesa was an anti-Communist hero...
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 "Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)")
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WALESA: NEW GLOBAL ERA SPEAKING AT MATC, NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER LECH WALESA SAYS WORLD MUST COME TOGETHER TO DEAL WITH GLOBAL ISSUES.(LOCAL/WISCONSIN)
Newspaper article from: Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI); 10/25/2001; ; 700+ words
; ...with global issues, Nobel laureate Lech Walesa said Wednesday. "We have a totally...but no proper framework for it," Walesa said at Madison Area Technical College...recipient and former president of Poland Lech Walesa answers questions during a news...
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Lech Walesa to Deliver Landon Lecture at Kansas State University
Newspaper article from: U.S. Newswire; 2/10/2006; 490 words
; ...Feb. 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Lech Walesa, the trade union activist who...of the Landon Lecture Series. "Lech Walesa captured international attention...Today, Walesa is head of the Lech Walesa Institute. Established in 1995...
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LECH WALESA TO DELIVER LANDON LECTURE AT K-STATE
News Wire article from: US Fed News Service, Including US State News; 2/10/2006; 507 words
; ...issued the following news release: Lech Walesa, the trade union activist who...of the Landon Lecture Series. "Lech Walesa captured international attention...Today, Walesa is head of the Lech Walesa Institute. Established in 1995...
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Lech Walesa comments to 'Philip Morris Magazine.'
PR Newswire; 5/21/1990; 700+ words
; LECH WALESA COMMENTS TO 'PHILIP MORRIS MAGAZINE' GDANSK, POLAND, May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Lech Walesa remains one of the world's most puzzling leaders - having overthrown...
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Lech Walesa
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography
Lech Walesa Lech Walesa (born 1943), charismatic leader of Solidarity, the independent trade union movement in Poland, was awarded the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize for his valiant struggle to secure workers' rights through negotiation and peaceful...
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Agora S.A. Group
Book article from: International Directory of Company Histories
...Shipyards called Solidarnosc , or Solidarity. Led by Lech Walesa, Solidarity became the center of a broad anticommunist...publish its own newspaper for the election campaign. Walesa offered the editorship of the newspaper to Adam Michnik...
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Poles
Encyclopedia entry from: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures
...After the war, a communist government was imposed by the Soviet Union. It lasted almost fifty years. In 1990 Lech Walesa (b.1943), a former labor leader and the hero of Polish independence, was elected president. Today Poland is a...
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Nobel Peace Prize
Book article from: A Dictionary of Contemporary World History
...for Refugees 1982 Alfonso Garcia Robles (b. 1911, d. 1991) Mexico Alva Myrdal (b. 1902, d. 1986) Sweden 1983 Lech Walesa (b. 1943) Poland 1984 Desmond Tutu (b. *1931) South Africa 1985 International Doctors for the Prevention of Nuclear...
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Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography
...hindsight, represented a curious mixture of dialogue and threats. He apparently sought agreement in talks held with Lech Walesa, Solidarity's leader, and the Polish Catholic primate, Jozef Glemp, in November 1981 while earlier, in March...
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