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Janusz Korwin-Mikke
Janusz Korwin-Mikke in 2016
Member of the Sejm
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 November 2019
Constituency	Warsaw I
In office 25 November 1991 – 31 May 1993
Constituency	Poznań 18
Member of the European Parliament
In office 1 July 2014 – 1 March 2018
Constituency	Katowice
Personal details
Born	Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke (1942-10-27) 27 October 1942 (age 82) Warsaw, General Governorate, German Reich
Political party	KORWiN Confederation
Other political affiliations	SD (1962–1982) Real Politics Union (1987–2009) WiP (2009–2011) KNP (2011–2015)
Spouse(s)	Ewa Mieczkowska (1966–73,div.) Małgorzata Szmit (1993–?,div.) Dominika Sibiga (2016–)
Children	8
Alma mater	University of Warsaw (Master of Philosophy in 1969)
Signature
Website	korwin-mikke.pl

Janusz Korwin-Mikke (Polish: [ˈjanuʂ ˈkɔrvʲin ˈmʲikkɛ]; born 27 October 1942) is a far-right Polish politician and publicist. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2014 until 2018. He was the leader of the Congress of the New Right (KNP), which was formed in 2011 from Liberty and Lawfulness, which he led from its formation in 2009, and the Real Politics Union (Unia Polityki Realnej), which he led from 1990 to 1997 and from 1999 to 2003. Currently, he is the chairman of the party Liberty, which changed its name from KORWiN, and since 2019 he is a member of the Sejm, elected from the electoral list of Confederation Liberty and Independence.

Biography

From 1962 to 1982 he was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1987 he founded a fringe national conservative, economically liberal political party called Ruch Polityki Realnej (Movement of Real Policy), later renamed - Unia Polityki Realnej (UPR, Union of Real Policy).

In 1990 he established a weekly paper Najwyższy Czas! (About Time!).

Korwin-Mikke was a member of Parliament during the first term of the Sejm of the Third Republic of Poland. He was the originator of the vetting resolution on 28 May 1992, which obliged the Minister of Internal Affairs to disclose the names of all politicians who according to communist files were cooperating with communists. He was his party's candidate in Polish presidential elections, obtaining 2.4% votes in 1995, 1.43% in 2000, 1,4% in 2005, 2.48% in 2010, 3.3% in 2015. In 2018 he co-founded a eurosceptic political party Konfederacja. In 2019 he was elected for deputy in the lower chamber of Polish Parliament (Sejm). He is a self-declared monarchist who claims that democracy is "the most stupid form of government ever conceived". He co-authored a book on bridge.

Controversies

At the plenary session of the European Parliament held after the assault at Charlie Hebdo, Korwin-Mikke expressed his dissatisfaction with the public reaction to those events by typing at his laptop 'I am not Charlie. I am for death penalty' and presenting it to the public instead of a sign 'Je suis Charlie' held by the other MEPs.

Sexism

In 2009 he published his guidebook for men, "Father's Vademecum", in which he wrote many pieces of advice that have been recognized as highly controversial and sexist, such as "If you cannot resolve conflict with your wife in any way, if you cannot convince her, then, unfortunately, you have to use physical force."

He believes that women are, on average, less intelligent than men, citing chess results to back up his claims. Also, he cites Margaret Thatcher as his political model. He also stated that the difference between rape and consensual sex is very subtle, even going as far as saying that "Were you to understand woman's nature, sir, you would know that there is an element of rape in every sexual intercourse". He further claimed that: "there is a hypothesis that the attitudes of men are passed to women they sleep with".

On 1 March 2017, Korwin-Mikke sparked controversy by stating that women were paid less than their male counterparts on average due to them being "smaller, weaker and less intelligent", during a debate in the EP regarding the gender pay gap. Two days later, Korwin-Mikke would make further comments stating that there was a stereotype that "women have the same intellectual potential as men” and it “must be destroyed because it is not true.” Later he was suspended for 10 days from the plenary sessions of the EP.

Racism

In 2014, Korwin-Mikke was fined by President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz for 'expressing himself in a racist manner'. The decision was taken after Korwin-Mikke's speech about EU employment policy on the plenary session on 16 July, during which he said: 'we have 20 million Europeans who are now negroes of Europe'. According to him the word 'negroes' was not meant as an offence, but rather referred to the song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono 'Woman is the Nigger of the world'.

Ableism

During the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Korwin-Mikke wrote that the general public should "not see the disabled on television". On the other hand, in 2007, he set up the "Individual Development Foundation" which helps disabled people develop their skills in chess.

Anti-semitism

Korwin-Mikke has a history of anti-semitic stunts and statements. He promoted a conspiracy theory on Jews in conjunction with reporting on the residents of Pruchnik beating up the effigy of an Orthodox Jew. In 2020 he stated that anti-Jewish pogroms made Jews powerful via natural selection and that rabbis may have engineered this. Korwin-Mikke denies being an anti-Semite.

Other conspiracy theories

Other provocative statements include his claim that there is no written proof that Adolf Hitler was aware of the Holocaust. On 15 April 2015, the Polish news outlet Wiadomości quoted Korwin-Mikke that the snipers that shot civilians and police officers during the Maidan protests were trained in Poland and that they acted on behalf of the CIA to provoke riots.

Criticism of the EU

He proposed that the European Commission's Berlaymont building would be better used as a brothel. In July 2015, Korwin-Mikke was suspended from the EP after giving a Nazi salute and saying "ein Reich, ein Volk, ein ticket" during a speech to protest against a uniform EU transport ticket.

Criticism of social welfare

In regard to welfare, he claimed that "if someone gives money to an unemployed person, he should have his hand cut off because he is destroying the morale of the people".

On 8 September 2015, Korwin-Mikke was giving a speech in EP about the European migrant crisis, during which he described immigrants unwilling to work and only interested in welfare as "human garbage". His opinion met with critical reaction of other MEPs. As a result of this, Korwin-Mikke was once more suspended from the EP for 10 days and fined €3062.

Publications

Selected works by JKM:

• Historia i zmiana (History and change), 1982 – On evolution of political systems and their economies.
• Liberum veto, 1986
• Brydż sportowy (Sport's bridge), 1986
• Ratujmy państwo (Let's Save the Country), 1990
• Nie tylko o Żydach (Not Only About Jews), 1991 – About inter-Polish politics.
• Vademecum ojca (Father's vademecum), 1991 – Aimed at the young fathers on how to raise one's children.
• Dekadencja (Decadence), 2002
• Naprawić Polskę, no problem (To fix Poland? No problem!), 2004
• Świat według Korwina (World according to Korwin), 2012 – Combined feuilletons.
• Europa według Korwina (Europe according to Korwin), 2016 – Combined feuilletons, strong criticism of European Union.

References

1. Gera, Vanessa (10 Oct 2019). "Tension over gay rights moves to fore in Polish election". The Associated Press. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
2. Rankin, Jennifer (14 Mar 2017). "Polish MEP punished for saying women are less intelligent than men". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
3. Soguel, Dominique (9 Oct 2019). "When the right wing is still 'too socialist': Poland's far-right unites". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
4. Melchior, Sigrid (8 May 2017). A Reporter's Guide to the EU. Taylor & Francis. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-138-67862-0. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
5. "Korwin-Mikke ousted as leader of New Right". thenews.pl. Polskie Radio. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
6. Informacyjna, Polska Agencja (1993). Kto jest kim w polityce polskiej (in Polish). Wydawnictwa Informacyjne PAI. p. 142. ISBN 978-83-223-2645-9.
7. Pankowski, Rafal; Kornak, Marcin (2005). Mudde, Cas (ed.). Poland. Routledge. p. 151. ISBN 9781134252527. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
8. "PiS sit top after election results". New Poland Express. 16 May 2015. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
9. "Janusz Korwin-Mikke". sejm.gov.pl. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
10. ^ "Meet the new faces ready to sweep into the European parliament". The Guardian. 26 May 2014.
11. Brydż, 1976 (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Watra) OCLC 751027874
12. "UKIP's Nigel Farage urges 'Judeo-Christian' defence after Paris attacks". 12 January 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2017 – via www.bbc.com.
13. "Podróż do jądra ciemności Janusza Korwin-Mikkego". 2019-11-05.
14. sihi (2016-07-26), Right-wing: political correctness, Le Pen, antisemitism, intelligence of women, socialism, retrieved 2016-12-29
15. ^ "Korwin-Mikke tłumaczy holenderskim mediom, że nie jest antysemitą... po angielsku, z "francuskim" akcentem".
16. "Światowe media piszą o Korwinie na pogrzebie Lady Thatcher".
17. "Korwin-Mikke w brytyjskiej prasie. O Tusku i Wałęsie ani słowa".
18. "Margaret Thatcher funeral: mourners from far and wide lined the route".
19. ^ Szczerbiak, Aleks (10 June 2014). "The Congress of the New Right is the latest anti-establishment party to have success in Poland, but it may struggle to secure long-term support". EUROPP — European Politics and Policy blog. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
20. Kowal, Pawel. "Awantura u Olejnik. Korwin-Mikke do Kowala: "Gwałt? Kobieta zawsze udaje, że stawia opór".
21. ^ Graham-Harrison, Emma (8 November 2014). "Nigel Farage's new friend in Europe: 'When women say no, they don't always mean it'". The Guardian/The Observer.
22. "Women 'weaker, less intelligent' - Polish MEP Korwin-Mikke". BBC. 3 March 2017.
23. "Polish EU lawmaker says women intellectually inferior to men". ap.org. Associated Press. 3 March 2017. Korwin-Mikke has a history of getting attention for outrageous comments...
24. "Lawmaker: Women "less intelligent" than men". Retrieved 15 March 2017.
25. Rankin, Jennifer (2017-03-14). "Polish MEP punished for saying women are less intelligent than men". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
26. "Schulz's decision on the inappropriate language of MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke".
27. Syal, Rajeev (20 October 2014). "Ukip does deal with far-right, racist Holocaust-denier to save EU funding". The Guardian.
28. Day, Matthew (17 July 2014). "Polish MEP says 'n-----' in EU parliament". The Telegraph.
29. "Polish far-right MEP blasted for use of 'racist' language - The Parliament Magazine". Retrieved 15 March 2017.
30. "Politician blasts Paralympics". News Poland Express. 7 September 2012. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014.
31. "Fundacja Indywidualnego Kształcenia – Foundation Site". Archived from the original on 2014-07-29.
32. "10 faktow o Januszu Korwinie Mikke których nie znacie".
33. ^ https://www.timesofisrael.com/far-right-polish-lawmaker-natural-selection-via-pogroms-made-jews-powerful/ Far-right Polish lawmaker: Natural selection via pogroms made Jews powerful
34. https://www.jpost.com/International/Polish-MP-says-Pogroms-were-good-for-Jews-assisted-natural-selection-619640 Polish MP says pogroms were good for Jews, assisted natural selection
35. "Korwin-Mikke: nie jestem antysemitą".
36. Stanisławska, Joanna (2015-04-15). "Korwin-Mikke: snajperzy z Majdanu byli szkoleni w Polsce" (in Polish). Wiadomości. Retrieved 2015-04-22.
37. Day, Matthew (16 May 2014). "EU elections 2014: the Polish party that wants to turn EC building in Brussels into brothel". The Telegraph.
38. "MEPs suspended for making Nazi gestures". 27 October 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
39. "Putin supporter in EP calls migrants human garbage". unian.info. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
40. "Polish and Italian MEPs sanctioned for Hitler salutes". 27 October 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2017 – via www.bbc.com.
41. "Protokoll – Montag, 26. Oktober 2015". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2015-11-07.

• Sejm website on his first cadency

External links

• Janusz Korwin Mikke's site (in Polish)
• Janusz Korwin-Mikke's blog (in Polish)
• Janusz Korwin-Mikke's official Facebook page (in Polish)

v t e Chairmans of Unia Polityki Realnej
Janusz Korwin-Mikke Stanisław Michalkiewicz Stanisław Wojtera Jacek Boroń Wojciech Popiela Bolesław Witczak Bartosz Józwiak

v t e previous ← Candidates in the 1995 Polish presidential election → following
Winner	Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Lost in runoff	Lech Wałęsa (incumbent)
Other candidates	Leszek Bubel Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz Janusz Korwin-Mikke Tadeusz Koźluk Jacek Kuroń Andrzej Lepper Jan Olszewski Waldemar Pawlak Jan Pietrzak Kazimierz Piotrowicz Tadeusz Zieliński
Withdrew	Lech Kaczyński Marek Markiewicz Leszek Moczulski Bogdan Pawłowski

v t e previous ← Candidates in the 2000 Polish presidential election → following
Winner	Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Other candidates	Dariusz Grabowski Piotr Ikonowicz Jarosław Kalinowski Janusz Korwin-Mikke Marian Krzaklewski Andrzej Lepper Jan Łopuszański Andrzej Olechowski Bogdan Pawłowski Lech Wałęsa Tadeusz Wilecki
Withdrew	Jan Olszewski

v t e previous ← Candidates in the 2005 Polish presidential election → following
Winner	Lech Kaczyński
Lost in runoff	Donald Tusk
Other candidates	Henryka Bochniarz Marek Borowski Leszek Bubel Liwiusz Ilasz Jarosław Kalinowski Janusz Korwin-Mikke Andrzej Lepper Jan Pyszko Adam Słomka Stanisław Tymiński
Withdrew	Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz Maciej Giertych Zbigniew Religa
Died before election	Daniel Podrzycki

v t e previous ← Candidates in the 2010 Polish presidential election → following
Winner	Bronisław Komorowski
Lost in runoff	Jarosław Kaczyński
Other candidates	Marek Jurek Janusz Korwin-Mikke Andrzej Lepper Kornel Morawiecki Grzegorz Napieralski Andrzej Olechowski Waldemar Pawlak Bogusław Ziętek
Rejected from race	Zdzisław Jankowski Gabriel Janowski Dariusz Kosiur Bartłomiej Kurzeja Krzysztof Mazurski Paweł Pietrzyk Roman Sklepowicz Paweł Soroka Bogdan Szpryngiel Ludwik Wasiak Józef Wójcik Waldemar Urbanowski

v t e previous ← Candidates in the 2015 Polish presidential election → following
Winner	Andrzej Duda
Lost in runoff	Bronisław Komorowski
Other candidates	Grzegorz Braun Adam Jarubas Janusz Korwin-Mikke Marian Kowalski Paweł Kukiz Magdalena Ogórek Janusz Palikot Paweł Tanajno Jacek Wilk
Rejected from race	Artur Głowacki Anna Grodzka Zdzisław Jankowski Włodzimierz Julian Korab-Karpowicz Dariusz Łaska Stanisław Majdański Balli Marzec Kornel Morawiecki Zenon Nowak Wanda Nowicka Iwona Piątek Adam Słomka

• 1942 births
• Living people
• Writers from Warsaw
• Members of the Polish Sejm 1991–1993
• Members of the Polish Sejm 2019–2023
• Polish bloggers
• University of Warsaw alumni
• Polish monarchists
• Candidates in the 1995 Polish presidential election
• Candidates in the 2000 Polish presidential election
• Candidates in the 2005 Polish presidential election
• Candidates in the 2010 Polish presidential election
• Candidates in the 2015 Polish presidential election
• Male critics of feminism
• Polish contract bridge players
• Confederation Liberty and Independence politicians
• Congress of the New Right politicians
• Polish anti-communists
• Opposition to Islam in Poland
• MEPs for Poland 2014–2019
• Paleolibertarianism
• Polish libertarians