Komorowski was then the governingCivic Platform party's candidate in the resultingpresidential election, which he won in the second round of voting on 4 July 2010. He was sworn in as president on 6 August 2010. Komorowski thus became the second person to serve on two occasions as Polish head of state since 1918, afterMaciej Rataj. On 24 May 2015, Komorowski was defeated in the second round byAndrzej Duda in the2015 presidential election. As a result, Komorowski was succeeded by Duda on 6 August 2015.
Komorowski was the only president of theThird Polish Republic not to experience acohabitation while in office. As of 2025, he remains the only Polish president elected with the backing of the Civic Platform party.
Bronisław Maria Komorowski was born inOborniki Śląskie to Zygmunt Leon Komorowski (1927–1992), professor of African Studies at the University of Warsaw and Jadwiga Komorowska (née Szalkowska)(1921–2025).[2] Bronisław's grandfatherJuliusz Komorowski [pl] was the lastKomorowski family owner of theKavoliškis Manor [lt] in theLithuanian village ofKavoliškis [lt] nearRokiškis.[3] Juliusz Komorowski fluently spoke in theLithuanian language and taught it to his children.[4] Six generations of the Komorowski family owned Kavoliškis Manor until 1940 whenLithuania was occupied by the Soviets.[3][4][5] According to Bronisław Komorowski, while living in Poland his family continued some Lithuanian traditions: consumption of traditional LithuanianKūčios dishKūčiukai andChristmas wafers, also they "decorated the Christmas tree like in Kavoliškis".[3][4] Furthermore, Komorowski remembered that his grandmother, Maria Magdalena Gorska, sang songs in the Lithuanian language and told him about Lithuania.[4]
From 1957 to 1959 he lived inJózefów nearOtwock. From 1959 to 1966 he also attended elementary school inPruszków. In 1966 he transferred toWarsaw and graduated fromCyprian Kamil Norwid High School no. 24. For many years he was affiliated with theScout Movement.[6] During his studies he was a Scout instructor in 208 WDHiZ "Parasol" Battalion inMokotów. He met his future wife through Scouting.[7]
Komorowski recalled that in his adolescence years his father took him near the border, ordered him to kneel and to pray with theLord's Prayer.[4] Komorowski's father also told him that he should remember that his ancestor's land is behind the barbed wire and that he has to love it.[4]
In 1977 he finished his studies in history at theUniversity of Warsaw. From 1977 to 1980 he was an editor at the journalSłowo Powszechne.
In 1980, he was sentenced along with activists of theMovement for Defense of Human and Civic Rights to one month in prison for organizing a demonstration on 11 November 1979[9] (the judge who presided the trial was Andrzej Kryże).[9]
From 1980 to 1981, he worked in the Centre of Social Investigation of NSZZ "Solidarity".[9] On 27 September 1981, he was one of the signatories of the founding declaration of the Clubs in the Service of Independence.[9] He was interned while Poland was undermartial law.[9] From 1981 to 1989, he taught at the Lower Seminary inNiepokalanów.[9] In the spring of 1989 Bronisław visited the Lithuanian village of Kavoliškis and toured the Kavoliškis Manor complex, which was previously owned by his ancestors.[3]
As a candidate of the Democratic Union he was elected to parliamentin 1991 andin 1993. In 1997, during the 2nd Sejm, together with a group of Warsaw University activists under the management ofJan Rokita he created Koło Konserwatywno-Ludowe. In the same year Koło Konserwatywno-Ludowe joined the newly createdConservative People's Party (SKL), which joinedSolidarity Electoral Action (AWS).[11]
In September 1997 Komorowski was elected as a candidate of AWS. From 1997 to 2000 he presided over the Parliamentary National Defence Committee, and from 2000 to 2001 served as theminister of national defence in the government ofJerzy Buzek. In 2001, while still a minister in the minority AWS government, Komorowski, along with some activists from SKL, became a member ofCivic Platform (PO). He stood forelection to the 4th Sejm as a candidate of PO. Again he was elected, this time for the Warsaw constituency.[12]
After the inauguration of the new parliament he resigned from SKL. Since 2001 he has been a member of the National Civic Platform Board. In the 4th Sejm he was the deputy chairman of the Parliamentary National Defence Committee and a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.[12]
He wonelection to the 5th Sejm in a district outsideWarsaw. On 26 October 2005, he was elected Vice Speaker of the Sejm. 398 MPs voted in favour of his candidacy. His party had earlier recommended him as a candidate for Speaker. His candidacy, in defiance of precedent, was rejected byLaw and Justice (PiS) which voted forMarek Jurek. This created an unfavourable climate further discussions regarding a PO-PiS coalition.
After the resignation of Marek Jurek as Speaker of the Sejm on 25 April 2007 Civic Platform announced Komorowski's candidacy for Speaker. On 27 April 2007 the Sejm rejected his nomination, andLudwik Dorn from PiS became a new marshal. 189 MPs voted for Komorowski. Komorowski became Deputy Marshal.
Komorowski took first place on the PO list for the Warsaw constituency in the2007 parliamentary election and received 139,320 votes.[13]
According to theConstitution of Poland, Komorowski was required to set a date for the next presidential election within 14 days of assuming the position, the election date coming within 60 days of that announcement. On 21 April, his office announced that the election would be held on 20 June.[15]
In theelection, he got 41.54% of votes in the first round and then facedJarosław Kaczyński, who got 36.46% of votes in the first round. In the runoff Komorowski was elected president (8 933 887 valid votes, 53,01%) and formally took office on 6 August 2010.[16]
Following his election, Komorowski announced that he would resign from the Sejm on 8 July 2010, and thus cease to be a marshal and an acting president (his successor as an acting president was the next marshal of the SejmGrzegorz Schetyna, who held the position for about a month before Komorowski's formal inauguration).[21]
On 25 May 2015, following his defeat in the second round of the2015 presidential election, Komorowski conceded the presidency to rivalAndrzej Duda, after the latter won a 51.5% majority.[22] His term ended on 6 August 2015, when Duda was sworn in as a new president.
On 22 February 2015 he supported the idea of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko to introduce a UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas.[23]
On 9 April, during a visit to Kyiv, he spoke from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. During his speech, he stated: "There will be no stable, secure Europe if Ukraine does not become part of it, and only the blind can not see the presence of Russian troops in the Donbas." Politicians in Ukraine and Poland called the speech historic.[24]
On 2 July he visited Lviv, where he received an honorary doctorate fromLviv University. During a joint press conference with Poroshenko, he stated that he would create his own institute to deal withPolish-Ukrainian relations.[25][26]
Komorowski has been married toAnna Dembowska (born 1954) since 1977. The couple has five children, Zofia Aleksandra (born 1979), Tadeusz Jan (born 1981), Maria Anna (born 1983), Piotr Zygmunt (born 1985) and Elżbieta Jadwiga (born 1987).[citation needed]
Komorowski is proud that his family is from Lithuania and he always sought to stress this.[27] In 2015, during the awarding ceremony of the honorary citizen ofRokiškis Komorowski said that half of his heart is Lithuanian and that this land is very precious to him, as well as that he understand everything in theLithuanian language.[4] According to Komorowski, in the post-World War II years he felt "ripped from the roots" and that his children also have sentiments for Lithuania.[4] Komorowski has no plans to return to Lithuania for permanent inhabitation, however he is always looking to visit Lithuania when there is an occasion.[27] Komorowski expressed in 2015 that he wish that in his family their family's heritage would be more than just a sentiment and that it would stay, as well as that it would serve for the cooperation ofLithuanians andPoles.[27]
A university department named the Bronisław Komorowski Centre for Political Practice was created atCollegium Civitas in Warsaw in 2015, and Komorowski gives lectures there to students especially specializing in Journalism and New Media.[28]
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