Maciej Giertych - Biography

Biography

Maciej Giertych was born March 24, 1936 in Warsaw, the son of notable politician of the nationalist National Democracy movement Jędrzej Giertych. In late 1945 his family left Poland for post-war Germany's British zone and finally settled in the United Kingdom. In 1954 Giertych passed his final school exams and entered Oxford University, where he founded the Polish Students Club during his studies. He received the BA and MA in forestry. Between 1958 and 1962 he studied at the University of Toronto, where he received his PhD for studies on tree physiology.

In 1962 Giertych returned to Poland, where he completed his qualifications for an assistant professorship at the Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) in Kórnik near Poznań. In 1964 he married Antonina Giertych, née Jachnik. In 1970 he received his Habilitation degree for his studies on forest genetics at the Agricultural University of Poznań. Since 1976 he has lectured at the Nicolaus Copernicus University of Toruń. He has also published more than 200 works and studies, mostly on forest-related topics. The same year he became a member of the Forest Sciences Committee of the PAN. In 1981 he received the grade of associate professor and in November 1989 of full professor.

In 1986 Giertych joined the advisory council (Rada Konsultacyjna), made up of opposition members and party officials set up by the leader of the communist authorities, Wojciech Jaruzelski. He continuously showed his support for General Jaruzelski, and supported the "alliance" between Poland and the Soviet Union. The council included several prominent Poles such as Marek Kotański, Krzysztof Skubiszewski and Kazimierz Dejmek, but also leading members of the communist party. He also served as the Polish representative to the International Union of Forest Research Organisations from 1986 to 1995.

After the fall of the communist regime in Poland in 1990, Giertych continued his scientific work; between 1993 and 2000 he was an advisor to the Ministry of Environmental Affairs. In 1990 he was a member of one of the minor political parties, the National Party of Poland (Stronnictwo Narodowe). Most of its members eventually entered the League of Polish Families (LPR) and dissolved the National Party.

On September 23, 2001, Giertych was elected to the Polish Parliament from a Poznań constituency. On June 16, 2004, he became a Member of the European Parliament for the LPR. Together with the rest of his party he sits as a Non-attached Member. Giertych comes from a prominent family of Polish nationalist politicians: he is the grandson of Franciszek Giertych and son of Jędrzej Giertych, and father of Roman Giertych, who led the LPR in the past.