Mateusz Morawiecki facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mateusz Morawiecki
|
|
|---|---|
Morawiecki in 2025
|
|
| Leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party | |
| Assumed office 14 January 2025 |
|
| Vice President | George Simion |
| Preceded by | Giorgia Meloni |
| Prime Minister of Poland | |
| In office 11 December 2017 – 13 December 2023 |
|
| President | Andrzej Duda |
| Deputy |
See list
Piotr Gliński (2017–2023)
Jarosław Gowin (2017–2020, 2020–2021) Beata Szydło (2017–2019) Jacek Sasin (2019–2023) Jadwiga Emilewicz (2020) Jarosław Kaczyński (2020–2022, 2023) Henryk Kowalczyk (2021–2023) Mariusz Błaszczak (2022–2023) |
| Preceded by | Beata Szydło |
| Succeeded by | Donald Tusk |
| Deputy Prime Minister of Poland | |
| In office 16 November 2015 – 11 December 2017 Serving with Piotr Gliński, Jarosław Gowin
|
|
| Prime Minister | Beata Szydło |
| Preceded by | Janusz Piechociński |
| Succeeded by | Beata Szydło |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 28 September 2016 – 9 January 2018 |
|
| Prime Minister | Beata Szydło Himself |
| Preceded by | Paweł Szałamacha |
| Succeeded by | Teresa Czerwińska |
| Minister of Development | |
| In office 16 November 2015 – 9 January 2018 |
|
| Prime Minister | Beata Szydło Himself |
| Preceded by | Maria Wasiak |
| Succeeded by | Jerzy Kwieciński |
| Minister of Sport and Tourism | |
| In office 15 November 2019 – 5 December 2019 |
|
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Witold Bańka |
| Succeeded by | Danuta Dmowska |
| Member of the Sejm | |
| Assumed office 9 August 2019 |
|
| Constituency | no. 31 |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki
20 June 1968 Wrocław, Poland |
| Political party | Law and Justice (since 2016) |
| Other political affiliations |
Independent (before 2016) |
| Spouse | Iwona Morawiecka |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent | Kornel Morawiecki (father) |
| Education | University of Wrocław (BA) Wrocław University of Science and Technology Wrocław University of Economics (MBA) University of Hamburg University of Basel (MAS) |
| Occupation | Economist, historian, magazine editor, politician |
| Awards |       |
| Signature |  |
Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki (born 20 June 1968) is a Polish economist, historian, and politician. He served as the prime minister of Poland from 2017 to 2023. Before becoming prime minister, he was the deputy prime minister from 2015 to 2017. He also held roles as Minister of Development and Minister of Finance.
Before his political career, Morawiecki worked in business for many years. He is a member of the Law and Justice (PiS) political party.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Mateusz Morawiecki was born on June 20, 1968, in Wrocław, Silesia, Poland. His father, Kornel Morawiecki, was a physicist and a leader in the Fighting Solidarity movement.
As a young person, Morawiecki was involved in groups that opposed the communist government in Poland. He helped copy and distribute underground political writings. He also put up posters to support strikes. Because his father was a well-known activist, Mateusz was sometimes stopped by the police.
In the 1980s, he helped edit an illegal newspaper called Lower Silesia Bulletin. He was also active in the Independent Students' Association. He continued to take part in political demonstrations until the late 1980s. He joined student strikes at the University of Wrocław in 1988 and 1989.
Morawiecki studied at several universities. He attended the University of Wrocław (history, 1992), Wrocław University of Technology (1993), and Wrocław University of Economics (Business Administration, 1995). He also studied at the University of Hamburg and the University of Basel. He completed an advanced program at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
Business Career
In 1991, Morawiecki started working at Cogito Company. He also helped create two publishing companies. That same year, he co-founded a magazine called Dwa Dni (Two Days) and later became its editor.
In 1995, he completed an internship at Deutsche Bundesbank, which is Germany's central bank. There, he learned about financial analysis and banking supervision. From 1996 to 1997, he did research on banking and economics at the University of Frankfurt.
In 1998, he worked for the Committee for European Integration. He helped with negotiations for Poland to join the European Union. He also co-wrote the first textbook on The Law of the European Union published in Poland.
From 1996 to 2004, Morawiecki taught at the Wrocław University of Economics. He also taught at the Wrocław University of Technology from 1996 to 1998. He was part of policy committees at many universities.
From 1998 to 2001, he was on the boards of several companies. From 1998 to 2002, he was a member of the Lower Silesian Regional Assembly.
In November 1998, Morawiecki began working for Bank Zachodni WBK, which is part of the Santander Group. He started as a deputy chairman and later became a managing director. From 2007 to 2015, Morawiecki was the chairman of Bank Zachodni WBK.
Political Career
Deputy Prime Minister (2015–2017)
On November 16, 2015, President Andrzej Duda appointed Morawiecki as Deputy Prime Minister. He also became the Minister of Development in the government led by Prime Minister Beata Szydło. This happened after his father, Kornel Morawiecki, was elected to parliament. The Law and Justice party had won the 2015 parliamentary elections.
In March 2016, Morawiecki announced that he had joined the Law and Justice party.
Finance Minister (2016–2017)
On September 28, 2016, Morawiecki was also appointed Minister of Finance. This made him a very important member of the government. He was in charge of the country's budget, finances, and economic plans.
As finance minister, Morawiecki introduced a plan called the "Morawiecki Plan." This plan aimed to help the economy grow and increase government income. The goal was to fund programs like "Family 500+", which provided child benefits to families. In March 2017, he attended a meeting of G20 finance ministers. He was the first Polish representative to attend this important summit.
Prime Minister (2017–2023)
First Term (2017–2019)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_3.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
In December 2017, Beata Szydło resigned as prime minister. Morawiecki was chosen to take her place. He became the prime minister of Poland on December 11, 2017. He then appointed Szydło as his deputy. In his first speech to the Sejm (Polish parliament), he promised to continue the government's work.
In January 2018, after a public incident in Warsaw, Morawiecki stated that "There is no place in Poland for racism." He said that attacks based on skin color were wrong and that Poland should be safe for everyone.
.jpg)
At a security conference in February 2018, Morawiecki made a comment that caused some discussion. He said that it would not be seen as wrong to say that there were Polish people, Jewish people, Russian people, or Ukrainian people who committed bad acts during World War II, not just Germans. This comment led to criticism from Israeli politicians. The issue was later resolved when Poland and Israel released a joint statement.
Like other leaders in the Visegrád Group, Morawiecki did not agree with the European Union's plan to make countries accept a certain number of migrants. In May 2018, he said that such proposals went against a country's independence.
.jpg)
.jpg)
In July 2018, Morawiecki stated he would work to uncover the full truth about the World War II-era massacres in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. These events involved the killing of many civilians between 1942 and 1945.
Regarding Brexit, Morawiecki mentioned in January 2019 that more Polish people were returning to Poland from the UK. He hoped this trend would continue to help Poland's economy.
In January 2019, Morawiecki said that "Hitler's Germany was based on fascist ideas." He emphasized that all the harm came from the German state during World War II. Morawiecki believes that Germany should pay World War II reparations for the damage caused. In August 2019, he stated that Poland had not yet received fair payment. He noted that Poland lost six million people during the war, which was more than many countries that received large reparations.
Second Term (2019–2023)
On October 13, 2019, Morawiecki led the PiS party to win the parliamentary election again. PiS received its highest number of votes ever in a parliamentary election, getting 43.6% of the national vote. This allowed them to keep their majority in government.
In October 2021, Morawiecki said that the European Union was using strong tactics on certain issues. However, he played down the idea of Poland leaving the EU ("Polexit"). He stated that threats of economic penalties were a "direct challenge." In July 2021, he became the vice-president of the Law and Justice party.
In December 2021, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Warsaw to talk with Morawiecki. They discussed Poland's disagreement with the EU over the rule of law. They also talked about EU climate policies and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Morawiecki said that Poland did not want people to suffer because of the EU's Green Deal. He suggested that the EU's Emissions Trading System was contributing to the 2021 global energy crisis. From February 10 to April 26, 2022, he also served as the Minister of Finance.
In January 2023, Morawiecki stated his support for the death penalty.
In February 2023, as the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine continued, Morawiecki met with Hungarian President Katalin Novák. He said that countries must be ready for "years-long deterrence and defence against the Russian threat."
In February 2023, Morawiecki also said that Poland would use its good relationship with Turkey to help Finland and Sweden join NATO quickly.
In March 2023, he visited Saudi Arabia and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In March 2023, after Xi Jinping's visit to Russia, Morawiecki expressed worry about a "dangerous" alliance between China and Russia. In April, he spoke in Beijing and said that supporting Ukraine was important for Taiwan's independence. He saw a strong connection between the situations in Ukraine and Taiwan.
In April 2023, Morawiecki told the Atlantic Council that Poland's relationship with Hungary had changed a lot. This was due to Hungary's stance on Ukraine and Russia. He noted that cooperation within the Visegrad group was now much less.
In July 2023, Morawiecki stated that Poland would not open its borders to imports of agricultural products from Ukraine. He said, "We protect our agriculture."
Third Term (2023)
In October 2023, Morawiecki was re-elected as a member of the Sejm. On November 6, President Andrzej Duda announced he would ask Morawiecki to form a new government. On November 27, Morawiecki was confirmed as prime minister with a new group of ministers. However, his party did not have enough support in the Sejm to keep power. An opposition group led by former prime minister Donald Tusk had enough seats to defeat Morawiecki. As expected, Morawiecki's government was defeated on December 11. Tusk was then elected as his successor.
Post-Premiership (2023–present)
.jpg)
On January 14, 2025, Morawiecki was appointed president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR). He took over from Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni. George Simion from Romania became his vice-president.
Personal Life
.jpg)
Morawiecki is married to Iwona Morawiecka. They have four children: two daughters named Olga and Magdalena, and two sons named Jeremiasz and Ignacy.
Other Roles
- Member of the Board of Governors, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
- Member of the Board of Governors, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Honours and Awards
Morawiecki has received several awards and honors:
Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2015)
Cross of Freedom and Solidarity (2013)
Honorary Badge "For Merits to Banking of the Republic of Poland" (2011)
Silver Cross of the Fighting Solidarity (2021)
Grand Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania (2019)
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 2nd class (2022)
In 2008, Morawiecki was made an Honorary Consul of the Republic of Ireland in Poland. In 2019, he was named Man of the Year at the annual Krynica Economic Forum. He has also received other awards from economic groups, universities, and cultural organizations.
Images for kids
-
Mateusz Morawiecki's signature
See also
In Spanish: Mateusz Morawiecki para niños
