Lech Walesa
Lech Walesa was an electrician at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk who became the leader of Solidarnosc (Solidarity) -- the first independent trade union in the Eastern Bloc -- and the symbol of peaceful resistance to communist rule in Poland. He co-organised the August 1980 shipyard strikes that produced the Gdansk Agreements, forcing the communist government to recognise an independent union for the first time in Soviet bloc history. When General Jaruzelski declared martial law in December 1981, Walesa was interned for nearly a year. He continued to lead Solidarity underground through the 1980s, sustained by covert CIA support and the moral authority of compatriot Pope John Paul II. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 -- which he could not collect in person, fearing he would not be allowed back into Poland -- he negotiated the Round Table Agreements of 1989 that led to Poland's first free elections in June 1989. Solidarity won overwhelmingly. Walesa served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995.
- Lived: 1943 CE – ?
- Nationality: Polish
- Roles: trade_union_leader, activist, head_of_state
