2019 in Poland

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See also:	Other events of 2019 Timeline of Polish history

Events of 2019 in Poland.

Incumbents

Further information: Politics of Poland

• President  – Andrzej Duda (independent, supported by Law and Justice)
• Prime Minister  – Mateusz Morawiecki (Law and Justice)
• Marshal of the Sejm  – Marek Kuchciński (Law and Justice) (until 9 August), Elżbieta Witek (Law and Justice) (since 9 August)
• Marshal of the Senate  – Stanisław Karczewski (Law and Justice) (until 11 November), Tomasz Grodzki (Civic Platform) (since 12 November)

Events

January

Medieval entrance gate and town walls of Szydłów in 2019

• January 1 — Town rights were restored to ten localities: Koszyce, Lubowidz, Nowa Słupia, Nowy Korczyn, Oleśnica, Opatowiec, Pacanów, Pierzchnica, Szydłów, and Wielbark. ^[1]
• January 4 – Koszalin escape room fire ^[2]
• January 13 – Paweł Adamowicz, the mayor of Gdańsk, is stabbed during a live charity event in Gdańsk by a former inmate, who was released from prison a month prior to the assassination. Adamowicz dies the following day from his injuries, at the age of 53. ^[3]

March

• March – the town of Świdnik in eastern Poland passed a resolution rejecting "LGBT ideology". ^[4]

April

• April 1 — Priests in Gdańsk burn Harry Potter books. ^[5]
• April 8 — Polish teachers began a strike initiated by Polish Teachers' Union ^[6]
• April 22 — Pruchnik was condemned by the World Jewish Congress for doing the Burning of Judas. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}

May

Panama v Mali match in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Bydgoszcz, 25 May 2019

• 23 May – 15 June – The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup took place

June

• 14 June – Anwil Włocławek won their third Polish Basketball Championship defeating Polski Cukier Toruń in the finals (see 2018–19 PLK season ).

July

• 20 July: Białystok equality march attacked by thousands of members of far-right groups, hooligan football fans, and others. ^[12] The New York Times, compared the publish shock to the reaction to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. ^[13]

August

• August: the Archbishop of Kraków Marek Jędraszewski said the "LGBT ideology" were like a "rainbow plague" in a sermon commemorating the Warsaw uprising. ^[14]

October

• 13 October: The governing Law and Justice (PiS) government wins Reelection, with an increased popular vote of 43%, the highest vote share by any party since Poland returned to democracy in 1989.

November

• 24 November: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 is held in Gliwice. Poland's representative, Viki Gabor, also wins the event, making Poland the first country to win the competition twice in a row and the first host nation to win.

December

• 20 December: The governing Law and Justice (PiS) government passes the Polish Supreme Court Disciplinary Chamber law

Holidays

Further information: Public holidays in Poland

Source: ^[15]

• 1 January - New Year's Day
• 6 January - Epiphany
• 21 April - Easter Sunday
• 22 April - Easter Monday
• 1 May - May Day
• 3 May - 3 May Constitution Day
• 9 Jun - Whit Sunday
• 20 June - Corpus Christi
• 15 August - Assumption Day
• 1 November - All Saints' Day

2019 Independence Day in Kraków

• 11 November - Independence Day
• 25 December - Christmas Day
• 26 December – 2nd Day of Christmas

Births

Main article: Births in 2019

Further information: Category:2019 births

Deaths

January

• 14 January – Paweł Adamowicz, mayor of Gdańsk (b. 1965). ^[3]

February

• 1 February – Bożena Aksamit, Journalist (b. 1966) ^[16]

Jan Olszewski

• 7 February – Jan Olszewski, 3rd Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1930) ^[17]

March

• 23 March – Maria Iwaszkiewicz, writer (b. 1924) ^[16]

April

• 17 April – Ryszard Kaja, stage designer (b. 1962) ^[18]

June

• 7 June – Ryszard Bugajski, film director (b. 1943) ^[16]
• 17 June – Zbigniew Horbowy, glassware designer (b. 1935) ^[16]

July

• 8 July – Natalia Rolleczek  [ pl ], writer (b. 1919) ^[19]
• 20 July – Wiktor Jędrzejec, graphic designer, (b. 1961) ^[16]

August

• 6 August – Krystyna Dańko, humanitarian (b. 1917) ^[20]
• 18 August – Andrzej Buszewicz, actor (b. 1934) ^[16]

September

• 18 September – Leszek Elektorowicz, poet (b. 1924) ^[16]
• 28 September Jan Kobuszewski, actor (b. 1934) ^[16]

October

• 14 October – Bohdan Butenko, cartoonist (b. 1931) ^[16]
• 20 October – Andrzej Heidrich, graphic artist (b. 1928) ^[16]

See also

• 2019 European Parliament election

References

1. "10 nowych miast w Polsce od 2019 roku" (in Polish). Retrieved 20 November 2025.
2. "Five teenagers dead after fire in 'escape room' in Poland". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
3. "Stabbed Polish mayor dies in hospital". BBC. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
4. Goclowski, Marcin; Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Anna (21 May 2019). "Polish towns go 'LGBT free' ahead of bitter European election campaign". Reuters. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019.
5. Harry Potter books burned by Polish priests alarmed by magic, BBC News, April 1, 2019, retrieved April 1, 2019
6. Sieradzka, Monika (8 April 2019). "Polish teachers go on strike over wages in dispute with government". DW. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
7. "Polish Judas ritual 'anti-Semitic' - Jewish congress". BBC News. 2019-04-22. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
8. "Jewish congress condemns revival of folk tradition in Poland as anti-Semitic". Reuters. 2019-04-22. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
9. Noack, Rick (2019-04-23). "Children beat effigy of Judas in Poland, amid persistence of 'medieval anti-Semitism'". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2023-08-02.
10. "Jewish group slams revival of anti-Semitic tradition – DW – 04/22/2019". dw.com. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
11. Paton, Callum (2019-04-23). "Town Marks Easter With 'Idiotic' anti-Semitic Effigy". Newsweek. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
12. Polish city holds first LGBTQ pride parade despite far-right violence Archived 2020-10-05 at the Wayback Machine , CNN, 21 July 2019
13. Anti-Gay Brutality in a Polish Town Blamed on Poisonous Propaganda Archived 2020-10-08 at the Wayback Machine , New York Times, 27 July 2019
14. "Poland's Catholic Church says country is under siege from a 'rainbow plague'". New York Post. No. August 2, 2019.
15. "Poland Public Holidays 2019". Public Holidays Global. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
16. "In Memoriam: Cultural Figures Who Passed Away in 2019". culture.pl. December 30, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
17. "Poland's former prime minister Olszewski dies at 88: state TV". Reuters. 8 February 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
18. "Ryszard Kaja, grafik i malarz, nie żyje. "Wódka, cerata i śledzik to esencja Polski" - mówił autor słynnej serii plakatów z polskimi miastami". wyborcza.pl. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
19. "Jej "Drewniany różaniec" był wstrząsem. Zmarła Natalia Rolleczek". TVN24. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019.
20. "Polish woman who saved adoptive Jewish family from Holocaust dies at 102". The Times of Israel . Archived from the original on 2022-11-14. Retrieved 2019-08-09.