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| Janusz Korwin-Mikke | |
|---|---|
 Korwin-Mikke in 2007. | |
| Member of the Sejm | |
| In office 25 November 1991 – 31 May 1993 | |
| Constituency | Poznań |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke (1942-10-27) 27 October 1942 (age 82) Warsaw, Poland |
| Political party | Congress of the New Right |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic Party (1962–82) Real Politics Union (1987–2009) Freedom and Lawfulness (2009–11) Congress of the New Right (2011-now) |
| Spouse(s) | Ewa Mieczkowska Małgorzata Szmit |
| Signature |  |
| Website | korwin-mikke.pl |
Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjanuʂ ˈkɔrvʲin ˈmʲikkɛ], often referred to by his initials JKM, born 27 October 1942) is a Polish political commentator and Member of the European Parliament. He is the leader of the Congress of the New Right, which was formed in 2011 from Freedom and Lawfulness, which he led from its formation in 2009, and the Real Politics Union (UPR), which he led from 1990 to 1997 and 1999 to 2003.
Biography
Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke was born in Warsaw, Poland. He studied at the Faculty of Mathematics and Faculty of Philosophy of Warsaw University. In 1965 he was detained by the communist authorities while studying psychology, law, and sociology. In 1968 he was again arrested, jailed and expelled from the university for his participation in student protests. He passed his master's examination without attending any philosophy courses.
In years 1969–1974 he was a researcher in the Institute of Motor Transport (Instytut Transportu Samochodowego), and then at Warsaw University. In 1978 he established the "Liberal Publishing House" (Oficyna Liberałów), an underground publishing house.
From 1962 to 1982 he was a member of the Democratic Party, a puppet party subordinate to the communist authorities. In August 1980 he supported the political strike of the Szczecin Shipyard workers, and later he was an adviser of NSZZ Rzemieślników Indywidualnych "Solidarność" (Independent Craftsmen's Union). After the imposition of martial law, he was interned but later released. In 1987 he was elected the chairman of a liberal-conservative political party called Ruch Polityki Realnej (Real Politics Movement), which in 1989 changed its name to Unia Polityki Realnej (UPR, Real Politics Union). In 1990 he established a new weekly, Najwyższy Czas! ("It's High Time!"). The paper was named to have published a number of antisemitic articles, some of them by Korwin-Mikke himself, but no exact reference to any particular articles was made. Janusz Korwin-Mikke himself has since then frequently denied being an anti-Semite. Conversely, he has been termed a "hidden Jew" and "Zionist" by some niche groups.
Lech Wałęsa appointed him to Solidarity's advisory body, Komitet Obywatelski (Civic Committee).
Korwin-Mikke met with Milton Friedman when Friedman toured Europe advocating free-market policies. Friedman wrote about Janusz Korwin-Mikke in his memoirs:
Janusz Korwin-Mikke, with whom I corresponded, had been active before liberation as an underground publisher, bringing out a translation of Capitalism and Freedom and Hayek's Road to Serfdom, as well as other libertarian literature. Subsequently, he ran for president on a strict libertarian platform. At the time we were in Warsaw, his Union of Real Policy was housed in a former dwelling that was a literal maze of small offices, all occupied by young people actively working on spreading the libertarian gospel. We had very good, lively discussions with them.
— Milton Friedman, Two lucky people: Memoirs - Milton Friedman, Rose. D. Friedman
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 had been communist secret police agents. The disclosed list contained numerous prominent politicians of most political factions. This led to the government being overthrown by the opposition and the President Lech Walesa.
He was a candidate for the UPR in the Polish presidential election of 1995, obtaining 2.4% of the vote. He was also candidate in 2000 when he got 1.43% of the vote. In the senate by-election in Wrocław in April 2004 he got 18% of the vote, but did not win the seat. In the presidential elections of 2005 he obtained 1.4% of the vote.
Janusz Korwin-Mikke's economic views are radically liberal, in the classical sense of the word; in the U.S. his views would be best described as libertarian conservative. He frequently refers to such figures as Frédéric Bastiat, Alexis de Tocqueville, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Margaret Thatcher. Korwin-Mikke is a self-declared monarchist and thinks that democracy is the "stupidest form of government ever conceived" where "two bums from under the beer booth, have twice more to say than the university professor". He claims that "This leads to stupidity, defraudation and corruption" and "this is how the Athenian democracy ended".
In 2005, he left UPR and created a new party, Freedom and Lawfulness (Template:Lang-pl, WIP).
In 2008, his blog was the most popular political blog in Poland.
Janusz Korwin-Mikke is a former professional contract bridge player. He has authored, together with Andrzej Macieszczak, a popular book on the subject.
Controversy
Korwin-Mikke is a popular public figure in mass media and on the internet, mainly due to often unusual or eccentric ways of demonstrating his political stances. For instance, he protested against high taxes in Poland by eating his tax return together with Polish musician Krzysztof Skiba in front of the Polish revenue service office.
One of Korwin-Mikke's particular opinions that raised public attention is denying the sensibility of women's suffrage (arguing that most women were not interested in politics anyway, and would more often vote for a welfare state.) He also claims that women are generally less intelligent than men. To back up this claim he pointed out that in top 100 chess players there is only one woman. On the other hand, he does not deny women the passive right to vote and he claims that Margaret Thatcher is his political authority; he attended her funeral.
Other provocative statements include the claim that there is no written proof Adolf Hitler was aware of the Holocaust and that the difference between rape and consensual sex is very subtle. He has also claimed that: "there is a hypothesis that the attitudes of men are passed to women by way of the semen which penetrates the tissue... now when contraceptives are much more in use, the women become much more independent.” During the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Korwin-Mikke wrote that the general public should "not see the disabled on television". In 2007 he set up a "Individual Development Foundation" which helps disabled people develop their skills in chess. He proposed that the European Commission's Berlaymont building would be better used as a brothel. In regards to welfare, he has stated his belief 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."
In 2014, Korwin-Mikke was fined for using racist language in a speech in the European Parliament.
Publications
- Ratujmy państwo (Let Us Save the Country) 1990
- Nie tylko o Żydach (Not Only About Jews) 1991
- Prowokacja? (Provocation?) 1991
- Wizja parlamentu w nowej konstytucji Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Vision of parliament in new Polish constitution) 1994
- "Rząd rżnie głupa" – czyli mowy sejmowe (Government playing dumb – Parliament speeches) 1993
- Vademecum ojca (Father's vademecum) 1997
- Niebezpieczne ubezpieczenia (Dangerous insurances) 2000
- Ekonomikka (Economikks) 2001
- Rok 2007 (Year 2007) 2001
- Dekadencja (Decadence) 2002
- Naprawić Polskę? No problem! (Fix Poland? No problem!) 2004
- Podatki – Czyli rzecz o grabieży (Taxes – thing about robbery) 2004
- Bez impasu (Without impasse/finesse)
- Kto tu dymi? (Who is making smoke here?) 2007
- Rusofoby w odwrocie (Russophobes in reverse) 2009
- Rząd rżnie głupa (The government is playing dumb) 2013
See also
References
- Ostaszewski, Krzysztof. "The Market Solution to Economic Development in Eastern Europe" (PDF). Illinois State University. The Edwin Mellen Press. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
- Pankowski, Rafal; Kornak, Marcin (2005). "Poland". In Mudde, Cas (ed.). Routledge. p. 151.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Korwin-Mikke tłumaczy holenderskim mediom, że nie jest antysemitą... po angielsku, z "francuskim" akcentem".
- "Korwin-Mikke: nie jestem antysemitą".
- "Jak Goldberg stał się Korwinem-Mikke". Racja Słowiańska..
- "Janusz Korwin-Mikke nie jest żydem, TYLKO SYJONISTĄ-NEOFITĄ!".
- Two lucky people: Memoirs - Milton Friedman, Rose. D. Friedman.
- "4 czerwca 1992 r. skończyła się wolność".
- ^ "Meet the new faces ready to sweep into the European parliament". The Guardian. 26 May 2014.
- ^ "Janusz Korwin-Mikke w Białymstoku: Dwaj menele mogą więcej niż profesor [FOTO]".
- Blog Janusza Korwin-Mikke najpopularniejszy w Internecie – blog, Janusz Korwin-Mikke. media2.pl (2012-03-27). Retrieved on 2012-04-06.
- Brydż, 1976 (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Watra) OCLC 751027874
- "Pijawki kłamią". Gość Niedzielny. 08.08.20 (31/2010).
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Leader of Poland's Euro-sceptic party believes: "Women should not have right to vote."". 7 April 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ^ Day, Matthew (16 May 2014). "EU elections 2014: the Polish party that wants to turn EC building in Brussels into brothel". The Telegraph.
- "Światowe media piszą o Korwinie na pogrzebie Lady Thatcher".
- "Korwin-Mikke w brytyjskiej prasie. O Tusku i Wałęsie ani słowa".
- "Margaret Thatcher funeral: mourners from far and wide lined the route".
- 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).
- http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/08/nigel-farage-ukip-europe-janusz-korwin-mikke
- "Politician blasts Paralympics". News Poland Express. 7 September 2012.
- "Fundacja Indywidualnego Kształcenia - Foundation Site".
- "10 faktow o Januszu Korwinie Mikke których nie znacie".
- http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/08/nigel-farage-ukip-europe-janusz-korwin-mikke
- Syal, Rajeev (20 October 2014). "Ukip does deal with far-right, racist Holocaust-denier to save EU funding". The Guardian.
- Day, Matthew (17 July 2014). "Polish MEP says 'n-----' in EU parliament". The Telegraph.
External links
- Janusz Korwin Mikke's site Template:Pl icon
- Janusz Korwin-Mikke's blog Template:Pl icon
- Janusz Korwin-Mikke's blog (not updated)
| Chairmans of Unia Polityki Realnej | ||
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| previous ← Candidates in the 1995 Polish presidential election → following | ||
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| Winner |  | |
| Lost in runoff |
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| Other candidates | ||
| Withdrew | ||
| previous ← Candidates in the 2000 Polish presidential election → following | ||
|---|---|---|
| Winner | | |
| Other candidates | ||
| Withdrew | ||
| previous ← Candidates in the 2005 Polish presidential election → following | ||
|---|---|---|
| Winner | | |
| Lost in runoff | ||
| Other candidates | ||
| Withdrew | ||
| Died before election | ||
| previous ← Candidates in the 2010 Polish presidential election → following | ||
|---|---|---|
| Winner | | |
| Lost in runoff | ||
| Other candidates | ||
| Rejected from race | ||
- 1942 births
- Living people
- Writers from Warsaw
- Members of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (1991–93)
- Polish bloggers
- Polish people of German descent
- University of Warsaw alumni
- Polish monarchists
- Candidates for President of Poland
- Polish bridge players
- Congress of the New Right politicians
- Polish anti-communists
- MEPs for Poland 2014–19