Polish dissident Mirosław Chojecki, former president of the Association of Free Speech and key figure in the underground publishing movement, died on the night of October 10 2023.
KOR activist and underground publisher
Chojecki joined the Committee for Workers’ Defense in 1976 and, a year later, founded the Independent Publishing Workshop NOWa, the largest publisher operating outside state censorship. He published banned books and collaborated with numerous opposition figures.
Time in exile and return to Poland
Between 1976 and 1980 Chojecki was repeatedly detained for 48 hours, beaten, and briefly arrested in March 1980. He began a hunger strike on 7 April 1980 and was released on 10 May after international pressure. He was later sentenced to a suspended 1½‑year prison term for alleged theft of a copier. During the 1980 Gdańsk Shipyard strike he was again arrested and was released after the signing of the August Agreements.
Just before martial law, he fled to France, where he published the monthly magazine Kontakt and produced films documenting Poland’s modern history. After 1990 he returned to Poland, helped found the first commercial television station NTW and the Film Group Kontakt, served as an advisor to the Minister of Culture, and initiated the Association of Free Speech.
Awarded for his civic contributions
Chojecki received the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Rebirth of Poland and the Order of the White Eagle. In his later years he remained active in public life and supported civic initiatives.
