Piotr Nowina-Konopka

Piotr Nowina-Konopka, (born 27 May 1949) is a Polish academic and politician.

Academic career

Konopka studied at the Sopot School of Economics, Gdańsk University, where he gained an MSc (1972) and a PhD (1978) in economics. From 1978-1989 he was assistant professor in the Foreign Trade Economics Institute, Gdańsk University, and from 1988-1989 was professor of catholic social science at Gdańsk Theological Institute. Konopka was Vice-Rector of the College of Europe, and head of the Warsaw/Natolin campus, from 1999-2004. Since 2006 he has been a professor at Giedroyć College in Warsaw, where he teaches a course on Negotiations and Mediations in International Conflicts

Public activities

From 1982-1989, Konopka was an assistant and spokesman for Lech Wałęsa, leader of the Solidarity movement, and served as the Solidarity spokesman at the 1989 Round Table Agreement negotiations. He has been a member of several international relations groups, and most recently served as European Union adviser to the Georgian Parliament in 2005-2006.

From 1991-2001 Konopka was a member of the Polish Sejm or Parliament, representing the Radom constituency. He served on several foreign affairs committees, and from 1998-1999 served as a secretary of State, and as deputy Head Negotiator on Poland’s accession to the EU.

Decorations

Konopka has been made an Officer of Polonia Restituta in Poland, and a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur and Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite in France. He has also been awarded Das Verdienstkreuz I Klasse des Verdienstordens in Germany.