Poverty Historian Bronislaw Geremek Joins History

(BRUSSELS2) Bronislaw Geremek was 76 this summer. He died today, on a road in western Poland, his car having hit - for an unknown reason - another car in the opposite direction.

Bronislaw Geremek was first of all a historical figure of Solidarnosc. He had been one of those intellectuals to join the ranks of the first opponents - the workers of the shipyards of Gdansk in particular.

He had then been one of the politicians who had best anchored the new Poland to the European Union: foreign minister of his country (1997-2000) then MEP, from 2004 (under the label of the Liberals and Democrats ). If, sometimes, his positions (more or less in favor of the intervention in Iraq or the Bolkestein directive) could surprise, he remained what he always was: a straight man.

He was also one of the best specialists in the history of poverty, particularly at the level of the Middle Ages, and had devoted many years of his life and several books to it. "The poor have a right to history. The poor have a right to participate in the advantages and benefits of a modern society and should not be victims of exclusion." he liked to say. A very current position and in the image of the man's commitment (text describing his participation in an ATQ Fourth World workshop: here)

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Also read theeditorial by Francois-Régis Hutin published in Ouest-France (Sat July 19) which relates the whole personality of the man (in my opinion one of the most complete that can be found in the French press).