Anna Walentynowicz

Anna Walentynowicz (Polish pronunciation: [ˈanna valɛntɨˈnɔvit͡ʂ]; 15 August 1929 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish free trade union activist. Her firing in August 1980 was the event which ignited the strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, set off a wave of strikes in Poland, and quickly paralyzed the Baltic coast.The Interfactory Strike Committee (MKS) based in the Gdańsk shipyard eventually transformed itself into Solidarity trade union, of which she became a prominent member. By September, more than one million workers were on strike in support of the 21 demands of MKS, making it the largest strike ever. Walentynowicz's arrest became an organizing slogan [Bring Anna Walentynowicz Back to Work!] in the early days of the Gdansk strike, is now widely regarded as the "mother of independent Poland."

Personal facts

Birth date	August 13, 1929
Birth place	Second Polish Republic , Ukraine , Rivne
Date of death	April 10, 2010
Place of death	Russia , Smolensk

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