Maciej Giertych

Maciej Marian Giertych (born March 24, 1936 in Warsaw) is a Polish dendrologist and social conservative politician of the League of Polish Families (LPR). He favours state intervention in the economy. He was a member of the Sejm (between 2001 and 2004) and a current Polish member of the European Parliament (since 2004). He was a candidate in the 2005 Polish presidential elections, but withdrew from the race because of low vote results (circa 3%).
==Biography==
Maciej Giertych was born March 24, 1936 in Warsaw, the son of notable politician of the nationalist National Democracy movement Jędrzej Giertych. In late 1945 his family left Poland for post-war Germany's British zone and finally settled in the United Kingdom. In 1954 Giertych passed his final school exams and entered Oxford University, where he founded the Polish Students Club during his studies. He received the BA and MA in forestry. Between 1958 and 1962 he studied at the University of Toronto, where he received his PhD for studies on tree physiology.http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7117/full/444265d.html
In 1962 Giertych returned to Poland, where he completed his qualifications for an assistant professorship at the Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) in Kórnik near Poznań. In 1964 he married Antonina Giertych, née Jachnik. In 1970 he received his Habilitation degree for his studies on forest genetics at the Agricultural University of Poznań. Since 1976 he has lectured at the Nicolaus Copernicus University of Toruń. He has also published more than 200 works and studies, mostly on forest-related topics. The same year he became a member of the Forest Sciences Committee of the PAN. In 1981 he received the grade of associate professor and in 1990 of full professor. 
In 1986 Giertych joined the advisory council (Rada Konsultacyjna), made up of opposition members and party officials set up by the leader of the communist authorities, Wojciech Jaruzelski. The council included several prominent Poles such as Marek Kotański, Krzysztof Skubiszewski and Kazimierz Dejmek, but also leading members of the communist party. That same year, he also became the Polish representative to the International Union of Forest Research Organisations. He supported strengthening ties with the Soviet Union in accordance with Roman Dmowski's ideology, while criticizing some dissidents for working too closely with western politicians, which he believed would jeopardize Poland's western borders.
After the fall of the communist regime in Poland in 1990, Giertych continued his scientific work; between 1993 and 2000 he was an advisor to the Ministry of Environmental Affairs. In 1990 he was a member of one of the minor political parties, the National Party of Poland (Stronnictwo Narodowe), which eventually entered the League of Polish Families (LPR) coalition.
On September 23, 2001, Giertych was elected to the Polish Parliament from a Poznań constituency. On June 16, 2004, he became a Member of the European Parliament for the LPR. Together with the rest of his party he sits as a Non-attached Member.
Giertych comes from a prominent family of Polish nationalist politicians: he is the grandson of Franciszek Giertych and son of Jędrzej Giertych, and father of Roman Giertych, who currently leads the LPR.
==Political views==
Maciej Giertych opposed lifting the ban on purchase of land in Poland by foreigners (due to fears of resurgence of German colonialism), homosexuality and moral relativism. He criticized and opposed Poland's entry into the European Union. He has supported closer ties with Eastern European countries (especially Russia), as well as defending Polish industry against what he regards as the unfair practices of western companies. He is also against the proposed European Constitution. In general the views of Maciej Giertych are in line with the ideology of Radio Maryja, a media group and political-religious channel of conservative parties in Poland.
During his discourse Giertych however had explicitly condemned National Socialism and insisted Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler also had an "atheistic and socialistic taste about them". He also praised Antonio Salazar and Eamon de Valera in the same address to the European Parliament.
In February 2007, Giertych sparked outrage among European Union officials and Jewish organizations by publishing a brochure called "Civilisations at war in Europe"http://giertych.pl/ksiazka2/Civilisations_at_war.pdf that claimed that Jews "are biologically different" and "create their own ghettos" because they supposedly prefer to separate themselves from others.Polish EU legislator's anti-Semitic booklet sparks outrage - Haaretz - Israel News. A number of journalists and certain Jewish organizations considered the brochure to be anti-Semitic.
During the European Parliament's session on 14 March 2007, Parliament's President The President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering reprimanded Maciej Giertych for the content of his pamphlet in accordance with Rule 147 of the EP's Rules of Procedure. He said that the publication was "a serious breach of fundamental rights and, in particular, the dignity of human beings to which our institution so strongly adheres". Pöttering dissociated the Parliament from the work saying that it had made no financial contribution to its publication. Several members of the Parliament have joined with the European Jewish Congress in calling for an investigation of the publishing of the pamphlet and whether Parliament funds were involved.
 "Dateline World Jewry", April 2007, World Jewish Congress
== Creationist views==
Giertych supports a version of creationism that attributes the creation of the universe, life, and its further development to an act of God's will. He is an honorary member of the Daylight Origins Society, a creationist organisation based in the United Kingdom. 
In his foreword to Gerard Keane's 1999 book Creation Rediscovered, Giertych documented how his views changed from assuming evolution is true to being skeptical of it.
In 2006, Giertych rebutted the accusation that he advocated teaching creationism in schools. He stated, "I am a scientist — a population geneticist with a degree from Oxford University and a PhD from the University of Toronto — and I am critical of the theory of evolution as a scientist, with no religious connotation." 
 
On October 11, 2006, Giertych introduced and moderated a pro-creationist seminar held in Brussels for members of the European Parliament; The title of the presentation was Teaching evolutionary theory in Europe. Is your child being indoctrinated in the classroom? 
In 2008 Giertych appeared in Ben Stein's movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed". The documentary features Giertych talking about his views on the theory of evolution. The scene was filmed in the European parliament in Brussels.
==See also==
* Polish presidential election, 2005
* Radio Maryja
==References==
==External links==
* personal website (Polish & English)
* League of Polish Families (Polish)
* Maciej Giertych – "Poland above all!"
* Maciej Giertych – Speech in European Parliament, 4 July 2006, about the Spanish Civil War
* Skeptics: scientists who are skeptical of the claims of Darwinism, abiogenesis or macroevolution
* Nature 444, 406-407 (23 November 2006) http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/444406a; Published online 22 November 2006: Anti-evolutionists raise their profile in Europe
* Civilisations at war in Europe
Category:1936 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Warsaw
Category:Members of the European Parliament from Poland
Category:Christian creationists
Category:Antisemitism
Category:Polish presidential candidates
Category:University of Toronto alumni
Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford
Category:Members of Polish Sejm 2001-2005
Category:Dendrologists
cs:Maciej Giertych
de:Maciej Giertych
fr:Maciej Giertych
pl:Maciej Giertych
ro:Maciej Giertych
sv:Maciej Giertych