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Dr Czesław Bielecki

Czesław Bielecki (born on 3 May 1948 in Warsaw) – Polish architect, author and politician, active member of the democratic opposition during the time of the People’s Republic of Poland, MP for the Sejm of the 3rd term.
In 1973, he graduated from the Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology. In 1997, he received the PhD in technology, field of architecture and urban planning, at the Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology, based on the dissertation “City Game”.
He worked as an architect and held apprenticeships in France, Israel and the German Federal Republic. In 1984, he founded and managed “Dom i Miasto” [House and City] architecture practice.
He was the activist of the democratic opposition. In 1968 he took part in March events and was arrested for the attempted coordination of student demonstrations at Warsaw University of Technology and the University of Warsaw. Between 1970 and 1979, he was the member of the clandestine “Fighting Poland” Group, and between 1979 and 1980, the member of the Polish Independence Agreement.
In 1979, he started his cooperation with Paris-based Kultura [Culture] review, where he published the paper “Freedom in the Camp”. He regularly wrote for the review until the end of the 1990s. He secretly sent the papers of the anti-communist oppositions to France, via a self-organized network of couriers. He published several articles in the clandestine press and in his opposition activities used the alias ‘Maciej Poleski’.
In 1980, he became the member of the “Solidarity” Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union and served as the member of the Culture Committee of the Inter-factory Founding Board for Mazowsze Region. After the martial law was declared, he lived in hiding. He became involved in clandestine publishing activities: he co-authored Mały Konspirator [Budding Conspirer] booklet and published columns in Tygodnik KOS and Tygodnik Solidarność. Between 1982 and 1989, he founded and managed CDN Publishing Outlet. He was arrested twice: in May 1983 and in April 1985 and was accused of attempts at overthrowing the regime. The second time, he was released after around eleven months in prison. During his detention, claiming the status of political prisoner, he went on the hunger strike and was coercively fed. A special committee was established in France to stand in his support. In 1989, Czesław Bielecki took part in the Human Rights Conference in the-then Leningrad, organized by opposition activists in the Soviet Union.
Between 1990 and 1995, he served as the advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Wałęsa, and as the member of the Polish-Jewish Relations Committee. He also chaired the Team for the Public Administration Reform. In 1992, he became the advisor in Jan Olszewski Cabinet. In 1995, he founded the One Hundred Committee, transformed into the One Hundred Movement. Between 1997 and 2001, he was the MP for the Sejm of the 3rd term, elected in Warsaw constituency from the Solidary Electoral Action register. He was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee.
In 2001, together with other members of the One Hundred Movement, he joined the PPChD (Polish Christian Democratic Party). The same year he unsuccessfully ran for the next parliamentary term. He then joined the ranks of the SKL-RNP (Conservative People’s Party – New Poland Movement), and next decided to quit active political life and return to his profession, at his own architecture and construction practice.
In the local elections of 2010, he ran as an independent candidate for the Mayor of Warsaw, supported by the Law and Justice Party and came second, with 23.16% of votes. In October 2015, he became the member of the National Development Council, appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda.
He was the member of the Freedom of Speech Association, the Association of Polish Architects, the Association of Polish Writers and the PEN Club. He initiated the establishment of the SocLand in Warsaw (Communism Remembrance Museum). He has authored columns under the “On own account” series, published first in Wprost weekly and next in Uważam Rze weekly.
He designed the building of the Polish Public TV Broadcasting Company, located at 17 Jan P. Woronicz Street, at the intersection with Samochodowa Street.


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