Jan Rzymełka
Jan Rzymełka – (born on 7th June 1952 in Katowice, Poland) is a Polish politician, a mountain guide in Tatra and Beskid, the initiator of Earth Day and a longtime Member of Parliament from Silesia (X, I, III, IV, V, VI and VII term).
Political Career
He has been a member of “Solidarity” (Solidarność) since 1980. In 1989 he founded the Civic Committee of the Silesian-Dąbrowski Region. Between 1989 and 1993, he held mandate as a Member of Parliament (X and the first term). From 1998 to 2000 he was a councillor of the regional council and a board member of the Silesian province. In March 2000 he was a Member of Parliament (the third term), replacing Irena Lipowicz. He belonged to the Liberal-Democratic Congress (Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny) and the Freedom Union (Unia Wolności). In 2001 he joined the Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska). He again obtained a parliamentary seat in the elections in 2001 and 2005. He was Chairman of the Environment Committee and the Polish-German parliamentary group and a deputy to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He also served as assistant to Pat Cox. In the parliamentary elections in 2007 he was elected as a Member of Parliament. In the Parliamentary sixth term he was a chairman of the Sub-Committee of Geology and Mining. In the 2011 elections he unsuccessfully ran for a parliamentary seat for another term, he then was appointed to this role in place of Marek Plura in June of that year.
In 2011 he was awarded the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish.
Education
In 1976 he graduated from the Faculty of Geology and Exploration at the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Kraków. He also graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and History at the Jagiellonian University. At the Silesian University he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
