Szymon Hołownia | |
|---|---|
 Hołownia in 2022 | |
| Marshal of the Sejm | |
| Assumed office 13 November 2023 | |
| President | Andrzej Duda Karol Nawrocki |
| Preceded by | Elżbieta Witek |
| Member of theSejm | |
| Assumed office 13 November 2023 | |
| Constituency | 24 – Białystok |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1976-09-03)3 September 1976 (age 49) |
| Political party | Poland 2050 (2020–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Third Way (2023–2025) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Szymon Franciszek Hołownia (Polish:[ˈʂɨmɔn xɔˈwɔvɲa]; born 3 September 1976) is a Polish politician andtelevision personality currently serving as Marshal of theSejm since 13 November 2023. From 2008 to 2019 he co-hostedMam talent!, the Polish version ofGot Talent, together withMarcin Prokop. He is the leader of thePoland 2050 political party, and was a candidate in the2020 and2025 Polish presidential elections.
In the2023 Polish parliamentary election, he was elected to theSejm fromBiałystok as a member ofThird Way.
From 1997 to 2000, he worked as an editor ofGazeta Wyborcza, and from 2001 to 2004 as a columnist and editor ofNewsweek Polska. From April[1] to July 2005[2] he was the deputy editor-in-chief of Ozon magazine. From September 2005 to 2006, he worked forRzeczpospolita daily as an editor of the Plus Minus appendix.[3] He published – among others – inKultura Popularna,Machina,Przewodnik Katolicki,Tygodnik Powszechny andWięź.[1] In the years 2006–2012 he was again a columnist forNewsweek Polska. From September 2012 to April 2013 he was a columnist for theWprost weekly. From 2015 he is a regular columnist forTygodnik Powszechny.[4]
He hosted programs in Radio Białystok, Radio Vox FM, cooperated with Radio PiN.[5][1]
He has authored twenty books on social issues and religion.[6]
Together with Marcin Prokop he co-hosted the Polish edition ofGot Talent onTVN (2008–2019).[7] In 2006, he was the host of the program "Po prostu pytam" (pl. "I'm just asking") onTVP1.[6] In the years 2007–2012 he was the program director ofReligia.tv.[6] In this station he hosted an ethical talk show "Między sklepami" (pl. "Between Stores") broadcast from theZłote Tarasy shopping mall in Warsaw,[8] the program "Bóg w wielkim mieście" (pl. "God in the Big City")[9] and numerous other programmes.
He was a host of press review inmorning showDzień Dobry TVN.[10]
He founded the Białystok branch of the "Pomoc Maltańska" foundation.[11] In April 2013, he founded the "Kasisi" foundation, and in the following year he established the "Dobra Fabryka" foundation.[12]
As part of the "Dobra Fabryka", aid organized by Hołownia reached, among others, residents of Bangladesh, Mauritania, Rwanda, Burkina Faso and Senegal. In total, the foundation helps around 40,000 people on a yearly basis.[13] The "Kasisi" foundation focuses on running the largest orphanage in Zambia, where more than two hundred children live permanently.[14]
Hołownia is achildren's rights advocate.[15] In 2019, he organized aFacebook fundraiser which raised PLN 2 million (including over PLN 1.5 million paid byKulczyk Foundation) for the 24-hour telephone helpline for children and youth run by the "Dajemy Dzieciom Siłę" foundation. The support let the line to operate for another year, though it was rejected by theMinistry of National Education.[16] He is a co-initiator of thePomocni.info website, addressed to people in a difficult life situation.[17][18][19][20]
He was an ambassador of theUNSustainable Development Goals.[21]
Hołownia announced his candidacy for in the2020 Polish presidential election on 8 December 2019 from theGdańsk Shakespeare Theatre.[22] On 7 February 2020, he issued a manifesto focused on four aspects:national security,environmental protection,solidarity and activity of thelocal governments.[23] The chief of his electoral staff isJacek Cichocki. He was supported, among others, byJanina Ochojska.[24][25] He based his campaign almost entirely on volunteers operating at the local offices in 16 major Polish cities and on assets from a public fundraiser.[26][27][28] Hołownia drummed up 10-20% of support for his candidature.[29]
In2020 Polish presidential election he received 2,693,397 votes, which was 13.9% of total votes, coming third out of eleven candidates.[30] After the election, he announced the formation of a new political movement calledPoland 2050 Movement (Polish:Ruch Polska 2050).[31]
On 13 November 2024 Hołownia announced his start in the2025 presidential election.[32] He received 4.99% of the votes, coming fifth out of thirteen candidates.
In 2025, he has met with the leader and other MPs of theLaw and Justice party, discussing the possibility of vote of no confidence against thePrime MinisterDonald Tusk, with Hołownia reportedly being offered the role of prime minister in a potential technical government or an extension of his tenure as amarshal of the Sejm. After the meetings came to light, he said that he regularly meets with the representatives of both the ruling coalition and the opposition.[33][34]
On 27 September, Hołownia announced that he would step down as party leader of Poland 2050 in January, when the next leadership election would happen,[35] and applied for the role ofUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[36]
Hołownia has expressed support for parliamentarydemocracy,sovereignty,rule of law,civil society,separation of powers andpolitical pluralism. He emphasizes the importance of Poland's political transformationafter 1989, though considers some of its effects to be negative. He emphasizes the role of local governments.[37] He regards theConstitution of Poland as the supreme and indisputable legal act on which the president's conduct is based.[38] He was critical towards theFirst Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki andSecond Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki. He disapproves of the long-term impacts of the2015 Polish Constitutional Court crisis and considers changes in theJudiciary of Poland carried out byLaw and Justice to be unconstitutional.[39] He does not want to be associated with any political ideology, assuming that agreements and common goals can be found with representatives of all views.[40][41] He supports Poland's membership inNATO,European Union andWeimar Triangle. He supports Poland's good relations withUkraine and theBaltic states.[42][43]
Hołownia has proposed a referendum on increasing the health premium in order to repairhealth care in Poland. According to Hołownia, Poland should allocate 7% ofGDP for this purpose. He points out the need to make the doctors' work lighter and to expandtelemedicine services. He has suggested handing over hospitals with their revenues to theVoivodeship governments in order to improve the quality and availability of services, aselected councillors would be responsible for them.[44] He supports expanding public transport connecting rural Poland with voivodeship capitals.
Hołownia supports depoliticization of state companies.
He supports the creation of a National Climate Council to develop a plan for Poland to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 under theEuropean Green Deal, including a move away from coal energy.[45] He considers the water crisis anddeforestation for biomass main ecological problems of Poland. He is a supporter ofrenewable andnuclear energy.[46]
Hołownia supports expanding public housing and lowering bank margins to bring down the cost of living and has stated that he would veto any act establishing housing loan subsidies for banks.
Hołownia supports military spending as a way to increase economic growth, saying that half of the military spending needs to be made in Poland, as opposed to the United States and South Korea.
Hołownia is opposed togay marriage, preferring the legalization of same-sexcivil unions. He has stated that Third Way would follow "a rule of voting according to one's conscience" if such question was brought up.[47]
Hołownia supports a phone ban in primary schools.[48]
Hołownia is married to Urszula Brzezińska-Hołownia, aMikoyan MiG-29 jet fighter pilot and a first lieutenant in thePolish Air Force.[49] They have two daughters, Maria and Elżbieta (as of 2022).[50] He graduated from the Social High School in Białystok. He studied psychology at theWarsaw School of Social Psychology but did not complete his degree.[51]
He is aRoman Catholic. Before getting married, Hołownia had been in theDominican Order twice and was about to take the monastic ordination.[52] In January 2020 he was denied communion by a priest of theCarmelite Church of Warsaw due to his political views; Hołownia denounced the event on Facebook, leading theArchdiocese of Warsaw to issue an official apology, stating that the priest had broken Church regulations.[53]
He is avegetarian.[54]
Hołownia has won the Grand Press award twice: 2006 in the Interview category for his conversation with the theologian, Rev. Jerzy Szymik, titled "Heaven for pigeons"[55] and in 2007 in the Specialist Journalism category for an interview with the ethicist and philosopher Dr. Kazimierz Szałata.[56]
In 2004, he was awarded the Business Center Club Press Prize.[57] In 2007, he was awarded the Ślad Award.[58] In 2011, he received the Wiktor award in the Wiktor Audience category for 2010, he was previously nominated for the Wiktor award in 2008 in the category The Greatest Television Discovery.[59] In 2008, he was awarded the MediaTory award by students of journalism from all over Poland in the NawigaTOR category.[60] In 2016, he was awarded the Honorary Medal by the Ombudsman for Children for Merit for the Protection of Children's Rights.[61]
| Election | Affiliation | First round | Second round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Percentage | Position | Votes | Percentage | Position | ||
| 2020 | Independent | 2,693,397 | 13.87% | 3rd | Not qualified | ||
| 2025 | Poland 2050 | 978,901 | 4.99% | 5th | Not qualified | ||
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Leader ofPoland 2050 2022–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Marshal of the Sejm 2023–present | Incumbent |
| Order of precedence | ||
| Preceded byasPresident | Order of precedence of Poland Marshal of the Sejm | Succeeded byasMarshal of the Senate |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
