Szymon Hołownia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Szymon Hołownia
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Hołownia in 2024
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| Marshal of the Sejm | |
| Assumed office 13 November 2023 |
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| President | Andrzej Duda |
| Deputy |
See list
Krzysztof Bosak
Włodzimierz Czarzasty Dorota Niedziela Monika Wielichowska Piotr Zgorzelski |
| Preceded by | Elżbieta Witek |
| Member of the Sejm | |
| Assumed office 13 November 2023 |
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| Constituency | 24 – Białystok |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 September 1976 Białystok, Poland |
| Political party | Poland 2050 (2020–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
Third Way (2023–present) |
| Spouse | Urszula Brzezińska |
| Children | 2 |
Szymon Franciszek Hołownia (born September 3, 1976) is a Polish politician and a familiar face from television. He currently serves as the Speaker of the Sejm, which is like the main parliament in Poland. He started this important role on November 13, 2023. Before becoming a leading politician, Szymon Hołownia was famous for co-hosting Mam talent!, the Polish version of the popular show Got Talent, from 2008 to 2019. In 2020, he ran for president as an independent candidate and finished third. He is also the leader of a political party called Poland 2050. In the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, he was chosen to be a member of the Sejm, representing the city of Białystok.
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A Career in Journalism
Szymon Hołownia started his career as a journalist. From 1997 to 2000, he worked as an editor for a newspaper called Gazeta Wyborcza. Later, from 2001 to 2004, he was a writer and editor for Newsweek Polska. He also worked for other well-known Polish newspapers and magazines, like Rzeczpospolita, Tygodnik Powszechny, and Wprost.
He also hosted shows on various radio stations, including Radio Białystok and Radio Vox FM. Besides his work in newspapers and radio, Szymon Hołownia has written twenty books. These books often cover topics about society and religion.
Life on Television
Many people know Szymon Hołownia from his time on television. He was the co-host of Mam talent!, the Polish version of the famous talent show Got Talent, from 2008 to 2019. He hosted this show with Marcin Prokop on the TVN channel.
Before Mam talent!, in 2006, he hosted a show called "Po prostu pytam" (which means "I just ask") on TVP1. He also worked as a program director for Religia.tv from 2007 to 2012. On this channel, he hosted shows like "Między sklepami" ("Between Stores") and "Bóg w wielkim mieście" ("God in the Big City"). He also used to host a segment where he reviewed newspapers on the morning show Dzień Dobry TVN.
Helping Others: Humanitarian Work
Szymon Hołownia is very involved in helping people. He started the Białystok branch of the "Pomoc Maltańska" foundation. In 2013, he created the "Kasisi" foundation, and the next year, he started the "Dobra Fabryka" foundation.
Through the "Dobra Fabryka" foundation, aid has reached people in countries like Bangladesh, Mauritania, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, and Senegal. This foundation helps about 40,000 people every year. The "Kasisi" foundation focuses on running the largest orphanage in Zambia, where over 200 children live permanently.
Szymon Hołownia is also a strong supporter of children's rights. In 2019, he organized an online fundraiser that collected a lot of money (2 million Polish złoty) for a helpline for children and young people. This support helped the helpline continue to operate for another year. He also helped create the Pomocni.info website, which offers support to people going through tough times. He has also been an ambassador for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which are goals to make the world a better place for everyone.
Political Journey
Szymon Hołownia announced he would run for president in the 2020 Polish presidential election on December 8, 2019. He presented his main ideas, which focused on four areas: keeping the country safe, protecting the environment, showing kindness and support to others, and making local governments stronger. He ran his campaign mostly with the help of volunteers and money raised from the public. He gained a lot of support, getting between 10% and 20% in polls.
In the 2020 presidential election, he received over 2.6 million votes, which was 13.9% of all votes. He came in third place out of eleven candidates. After the election, he announced that he was forming a new political group called the Poland 2050 Movement. On November 13, 2024, he announced that he would run for president again in the 2025 Polish presidential election.
His Political Ideas
Szymon Hołownia believes in a strong parliamentary democracy, where people vote for their representatives. He supports the idea of a country where laws are fair and everyone follows them, and where different groups can have their own ideas. He thinks it's important for the government's powers to be separated so no one part has too much control. He also values the Constitution of Poland as the most important law in the country.
He has been critical of some past government actions, especially changes made to the justice system. He wants to find common ground with people who have different political views. He strongly supports Poland being a member of NATO (a military alliance) and the European Union. He also believes Poland should have good relationships with Ukraine.
Hołownia has suggested that Poland should spend more money on healthcare, perhaps 7% of its total economic output. He wants to make doctors' work easier and use more telemedicine (medical help given remotely). He also thinks that local governments should be in charge of hospitals to improve services. For the environment, he proposes creating a National Climate Council to help Poland become "climate neutral" by 2050, which means reducing carbon emissions to almost zero. He believes Poland should move away from using coal for energy and focus on renewable energy sources. He also sees the water crisis as a major environmental challenge for Poland.
Regarding social issues, Szymon Hołownia supports the legalization of same-sex civil unions, which give legal recognition to same-sex couples. He has stated that his political group would allow members to vote based on their own beliefs on such matters.
Personal Life
Szymon Hołownia is married to Urszula Brzezińska-Hołownia. She is a pilot of a Mikoyan MiG-29 jet fighter in the Polish Air Force. They have two daughters. He went to the Social High School in Białystok and studied psychology at the Warsaw School of Social Psychology, though he did not finish his degree.
He is a Roman Catholic. Before getting married, he had considered becoming a monk twice. In 2020, there was a misunderstanding at a church, but the local church leadership later apologized, confirming that the priest had made a mistake. Szymon Hołownia is also a vegetarian.
Awards and Recognition
Szymon Hołownia has received several awards for his work. He won the Grand Press award twice: once in 2006 for an interview he conducted, and again in 2007 for his specialized journalism.
In 2004, he received the Business Center Club Press Prize. He was also given the Ślad Award in 2007. In 2011, he won the Wiktor award, which is chosen by the audience, for his television work in 2010. He had been nominated for this award before in 2008 as "The Greatest Television Discovery." In 2008, journalism students across Poland gave him the MediaTory award. In 2016, the Ombudsman for Children honored him with a medal for his efforts in protecting children's rights.
See also
- List of Polish politicians
- 2023 Polish parliamentary election
