- Krzysztof Kononowicz
Krzysztof Kononowicz (born
January 21 ,1963 inKętrzyn ) was a candidate for the office ofmayor ofBiałystok the 2006 local elections inPoland . He attracted some notoriety for his purposely unsophisticated political advertisement first aired on localtelevision . These were enormously popular and featured heavily onYouTube .In 2006, Krzysztof Kononowicz, a simple-minded 43 year-old unemployed driver-mechanic and
pig farmer living with his widowed mother Leonarda in a wooden house, became a candidate of the electoral comitee "Podlachia of the XXIst Century" ("Podlasie XXI Wieku"). Several weeks before the elections, Adam Czeczetkowicz, activist of the fringe far-rightPolish National Party (supported by the party leaderLeszek Bubel ), convinced him to run for mayor and make the advertisement. Within several days, over 3 millionInternet users had seen the commercial on YouTube, distrubuted like the other Kononowicz materials by his electoral comitee. The video also made it to Polish national TV. Soonmerchandise (including the characteristicsweater supposedly belonging to Kononowicz) were being sold on the Internet.Kononowicz won 1,676 votes (1.9%), but he by far became the most famous person out of the 2006 elections, featured as a guest in several television shows and becoming a popular
Internet meme in Poland in the late 2006 and early 2007, even being voted "personality of the year" in the poll by the Polishweb portal Onet.pl . In several interviews, he stated that he wants to be a candidate for thePresident of Poland at the next election, while Czeczetkowicz's people said they wanted him to candidate for the post of mayor ofWarsaw .It is unclear if Kononowicz himself was aware at least in the beginning that his newly-established "popularity" meant he was really just a laughing stock of the country at the moment. The leading Polish politician
Donald Tusk called him "an unfortunate man". Foreign commentators said he was "likeBorat , except not acting but the real thing". [http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/polands-reallife-borat/2006/11/15/1163266600167.html The sweater that has Poland in stitches] , "The Age ", November 15, 2006] [de icon [http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/0,1518,449045,00.html Polen-Borat im Proll-Pulli] , "Der Spiegel ", November 17, 2006]In March 2007, Kononowicz was accused by his neighbours of abusing his elderly mother (including possibly
sexual abuse ). Both mother and the son rejected the accusations but the police decided to investigate.pl icon [http://www.dziennik.pl/wydarzenia/article24044/Kononowicz_wykorzystywal_seksualnie_matke_.html Kononowicz wykorzystywał seksualnie matkę?] , "Dziennik Polska-Europa-Świat ", 14 March 2007] The investigation was ceased two months later and Kononowicz was cleared from all charges. [pl icon [http://www.dziennik.pl/wydarzenia/article33541/Ktos_wrabial_Kononowicza.html Ktoś wrabiał Kononowicza] , "Dziennik Polska-Europa-Świat ", 22 May 2007]References
External links
*pl icon [http://www.kononowicz.prv.pl/ Kononowicz's official website]
* [http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/5,75539,3729657.html Kononowicz gallery] , "Gazeta Wyborcza ", November 10, 2006
*pl icon [http://doza.o2.pl/?s=4097&t=8098 Cała kupa Kononowiczów] ,o2 , January 1, 2007
*pl icon [http://www.kononowicz.pl/ A Kononowicz fan site]
*pl icon [http://krzysztofkononowicz.net/ Another Kononowicz fan site]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.