page_title: Lech Kaczyński
section_title: Death
hierarchical_section_title: Lech Kaczyński / Death
caption_attribution_description: English: Fragments of TU-154 the Polish president at the crash site in Smolensk Русский: Фрагменты Ту-154 на месте авиакатастрофы самолета президента Польши в Смоленске Українська: Уламки Ту-154 на місці катастрофи літака президента Польщі у Смоленську
context_page_description: Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was a Polish lawyer and politician who served as the Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005 and as the President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he previously served as President of the Supreme Audit Office from 1992 to 1995 and later Minister of Justice and Public Prosecutor General in Jerzy Buzek's cabinet from 2000 until his dismissal in July 2001.
  Born in Warsaw, he starred in a 1962 Polish film, The Two Who Stole the Moon, with his identical twin brother Jarosław. Kaczyński was a graduate of law and administration of Warsaw University. In 1980, he was awarded his PhD by Gdańsk University. In 1990, he completed his habilitation in labour and employment law. He later assumed professorial positions at Gdańsk University and Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.
  During the communist period, Kaczyński was an activist in the pro-democratic anti-communist movement in Poland, the Workers' Defence Committee, as well as the Independent Trade Union movement. In August 1980, he became an adviser to the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee in the Gdańsk Shipyard and the Solidarity movement.
context_section_description: On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154M plane was carrying Lech Kaczyński, his wife Maria Kaczyńska, and other members of a Polish delegation (top public and military figures) from Warsaw to commemorate the Katyn massacre. The plane crashed while approaching Smolensk Air Base in Russia. The governor of Smolensk Oblast confirmed to the Russia 24 news channel that there were no survivors. 96 people were killed in the crash, including many of Poland's highest military and civilian leaders.
  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a government commission to investigate the crash. Russia's Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, was placed in charge of the investigation.
caption: The wreckage of the Tu-154 at the scene of the crash in which Kaczyński was killed
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