Wa&lsla;&ecedil;sa, Lech (1943- )

Polish trade union leader, president of Poland 1990–95. One of the founding members of the Solidarity free‐trade‐union movement, which emerged to challenge the communist government during strikes in the Gdańsk shipyards in August 1980. Wa&lsla;&ecedil;sa led the movement to become a national force. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1983 for his work with the Solidarity movement. After his election as president, he gradually became estranged from Solidarity. In 1997 he formed a Christian Democratic party, which was, however, unlikely to make a significant impact on Polish political life.

A brilliant orator and negotiator, as an electrician at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Wa&lsla;&ecedil;sa became a trade‐union organizer and led a series of strikes in 1970 and 1976. In August 1980 he successfully challenged the government to improve working conditions and grant political concessions. After the imposition of martial law in December 1981 he was interned. A devout Catholic, he obtained the support of the Church hierarchy in his negotiations with the authorities.

In 1990 he became president but lost his power base due to his apparent inability to work with the freely elected parliament and conflicts with previous allies and advisers, most notably Tadeusz Mazowiecki. In 1995 he was defeated in the presidential elections by the Social Democrat Aleksander Kwaśnie wski. Although he continues to take an active part in Poland's political life, his influence is not significant. The leader of the Solidarity trade union, Marian Krzaklewski, effectively blocked all Wa&lsla;&ecedil;sa's efforts to use it as a springboard for further involvement in the country's politics.