Mrs Jolanta Kwaśniewska

Spouse of the President of the Republic of Poland
1995-2005

Born on June 3rd, 1955 in the family of Anna and Julian Konty, Jolanta Kwa?niewska grew up in Gdańsk  where she also graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Gdańsk

She met Aleksander Kwaśniewski during her university studies and was married to him in 1979. Two years later their daughter Aleksandra was born.

She started working in 1984 and in 1991 established her own real estate agency which she kept running until her husband became the President of the Republic of Poland.

She was never active in politics. At the university she participated in student cultural movement. Successful in her own business, she also devoted her time and energy to numerous charity campaigns, many of which she initiated herself.

As First Lady she promotes voluntary activities and encourages others to help the disabled, the ill and the poor. She focuses specifically on children and tries to enrich their lives and enlarge their possibilities, and with this aim in mind in 1997 she established the Foundation Communication without barriers.

In the Foundation Mrs Kwaśniewska initiated a programme Let's Open the World for Children, which makes it possible for many Polish orphans and disabled children to visit different countries in Europe and on other continents.

Together with her husband she established the Young Talent Help Fund, whose objective is to provide support and assistance to financially underprivileged pupils and students.

She is also a member of Comite des Sages, established by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, aimed at the development of a global plan to eliminate illicit production, trafficking and consumption of drugs.

She was honoured with many awards: the Holy Brother Albert - Adam Chmielowski main prize - for achievements in charity activities, in particular for care for the disabled children (1997), Order of the Smile - for providing aid to children (1998) as well as the titles Women of the Year and Warsaw's Lady of the Year - for volunteer activities (1998).

In 1999 Mrs Kwaśniewska received the Doctor Henryk Jordan medal for assistance to children and their families, the medal "For Your Children and Ours" granted by the American Centre of Polish Culture in Washington and the Gold "Medal of Merit for the Mining Industry" for the aid provided to orphaned mining families.

In the year 2000 Mrs Kwaśniewska was granted The Beauty of the Soul Award by the readers of Beauty Magazine as well as The Golden Heart Award by the Polish Red Cross in recognition of her charity campaigns. Moreover, she received the Rose of Providence for special services to the House of the terminally-ill, the Big Golden Heart awarded by St. Stanislaw Kostka Foundation of the Help for Handicapped Children and Young People, Children's Friend Award granted by a Warsaw Children's Hospital Hematology Ward as well as Hippocrates Award for her contribution to the development of family health care.

The Magazine Home & Market recognized Mrs Jolanta Kwaśniewska as The most influential woman of 2001. In the same year she was awarded Amber Heart by the Polish Army Command-in-Chief in recognition of her charity activities and also The International Medal of the Association "Lions Clubs" for exceptional achievements in the work for the Polish society.

In May 2002 The Committee of the Year's Award for the Humanitarian Activities "Optimus Hominum" awarded Mrs Kwaśniewska a special prize for all her charity campaigns. In recognition of her services to society, culture and public life, the Association "Kuśnica" granted her with the Honorary Award "Kowadło". In July 2002 Mrs Jolanta Kwaśniewska received the award For The Future of Children of Europe given every other year by a Hungarian Association "Future of Europe Association" in recognition of activities aimed to promoting tolerance and peace among young people from all over the world. In 2002 Mrs Kwaśniewska was also honoured with "Super Wiktor 2001" for 'a television personality' - it is the award granted by the Television Academy. The readers of the magazine Pani recognized Jolanta and Aleksander Kwaśniewski "The Couple of the Year 2001" and so granted them with a special prize "Silver Apple".

Mrs Jolanta Kwaśniewska was honoured with the following decorations:

- Belgium: Grand Ribbon of the Order of Leopold (1999)

- Spain: Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2001)

- Germany: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2002)

- Estonia: Grand Cross with the Ribbon of Terra Mariana (2002)

- Japan: Grand Ribbon of the Order of the Precious Crown (2002)

-Malta: The Order of Merit of the Republic of Malta: Companion of Honour (2002).

She takes interest in literature, theatre, music and fine arts, and likes to spend free time with her family. They all enjoy travelling and sports, especially skiing and tennis.

Mrs Kwaśniewska speaks English and Russian.

November 2002.

Communication without barriers

Foundation of Mrs Jolanta Kwaśniewska, First Lady of Poland

The Communication without barriers Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Mrs Jolanta Kwaśniewska, wife of the President of Poland, in 1997. The Foundation's mission has not change since the time of its inception and it is:

To support all activities which initiate the process of cultural and civilisational change providing people with equal opportunities to allow for their intellectual, professional and cultural development.

The Foundation receives most of its funds from businesses, other grant making organizations as well as individuals. It is governed by a Council and the Board of Directors which are composed of individuals of different professional backgrounds who share and support the Foundation's mission and dedicate their free time, expertise and effort to furthering the Foundation's goals. In order to minimize its administrative costs, the Foundation employs 2 full-time staff while the majority of tasks related to the organization of individual projects are carried out by volunteers.

The Foundation initiates and implements a variety of programmes and projects whose main goal is to help the people in need. The Foundation supports public institutions, non-governmental organizations and individuals. Some of the main projects include: support of hospitals (purchase of medical equipment and medicines), care centers for the terminally ill, shelters for the homeless, etc. Apart from financial and in-kind support, the main goal of Mrs Kwaśniewska's Foundation Communication without barriers is to influence the systemic change, promote awareness of the social problems and the attitudes of tolerance towards people who have been previously marginalized. The Foundation concentrates its efforts on a variety of health campaigns (breast cancer, AIDS, heart diseases, diabetes, etc.) and tries to positively influence the attitudes towards HIV patients as well as mentally and physically disabled people.

The majority of the Foundation's activities focus on the programmes and projects addressing the needs of children since they are most vulnerable and often in need of greatest care and attention. They are also the future of each society and their well-being should be of highest importance to other members of society.

In 2000 Mrs Jolanta Kwaśniewska launched the programme called "The Butterfly Hospitals" which brings joy and happiness to children hospital wards e.g. by supporting the redecoration of hospital walls with colorful images. The project has met with a wonderful response from children, medical personnel and the whole society.

The Foundation organizes holiday trips for disabled, disadvantaged children and orphans during which they get maybe the only chance in their lives to gain new experience and learn about the world. Since the beginning of this programme, the Foundation has provided the opportunity of going abroad to about 3.000 children.

The Foundation, thanks to the effort and active role of its founder has established links of co-operation with various international organizations and individuals abroad who share the same vision and dedicate their energy to the improvement of the lives of people all over the world.

Mrs Jolanta Kwaśniewska has been very active in promoting the ideal of peace and tolerance in the world. She organized an international conference "Keep Children Smiling in the New Millennium" in Warsaw in September 1999 to mark the 10th anniversary of the UN General Assembly's adoption of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. It was during this conference that the idea of the Rainbow Bridge Project was first launched and was met with widespread support on the part of the participants of the conference. The overarching theme of the programme of the Rainbow Bridge summer camp taking place in Poland in August 2001 was tolerance but the principal emphasis was on mutual acquaintance and communication, things which favour the shaping of tolerant attitudes.

The above is the text of the official biography posted by the Government of of the Republic of Poland during the period of Aleksander Kwaśniewski's presidency