Bogdan Lis

Who is Bogdan Lis?

Bogdan Lis is a Polish politician, known for his involvement with the anti-communist Solidarity social movement.

Born in Gdańsk in 1952, he worked in Port of Gdańsk and Elmor company. Between 1971 and 1972 he was imprisoned for his participation in the anti-governmental coastal cities protests. Although in 1975 he joined the Polish United Workers Party, in 1978 he was one of the founders of the anti-government Free Trade Unions of the Coast. In mid-1980 he organized the strike in Elmor, and took part in the creation of the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee and soon afterwards, together with Lech Wałęsa and others, of the NSZZ Solidarity itself.

After martial law in Poland in December 1981 led to the arrests of many Solidarity members, including Wałęsa, Lis went into hiding and in underground became one of the leaders of the Temporary Coordinating Committee, which served as an underground leadership of Solidarity. In that organization Lis was responsible for cooperation between Solidarity and its foreign supporters. He was arrested in June 1984, accused of treason but released half a year later after amnesty was given to many imprisoned Solidarity activists.