Who Is Who: Deceased Poland President Lech Kaczynski

Lech Kaczynski was elected President of Poland in December 2005. Photo BGNES

Lech Kaczynski was born in Warsaw in 1949, the son of an engineer who served as a soldier of the Armia Krajowa in World War II.

Kaczynski has an identical twin brother, who is the former Prime Minister of Poland and co-founder (2001) and current Chairman of the Law and Justice party, Jaros?aw Kaczy?ski.

The brothers first shot to fame at the age of 12 as stars in the film "Two boys who stole the moon".

Lech followed his brother into the anti-government movement in the late 1970s and served as an adviser to the strike committee at the Gdansk shipyard during the August 1980 Solidarity-led protests. He was arrested under martial law in 1981.

The brothers found themselves outside mainstream politics in the early 1990s after falling out with the Solidarity leader, and then Polish president, Lech Walesa.

Kaczy?ski served as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005 when he was elected as Poland's president on the ticket of the Law and Justice Party. His campaign then focused on the lack of government experience of his rival, Donald Tusk and Poles’ need to have a president who would stand up for their interests.

The Law and Justice party stresses the traditional values of the Catholic Church.

Lech Kaczynski is married to economist Maria Kaczy?ska and has one daughter, Marta (born 1980) who graduated from the Department of Law at Gda?sk University.

On Saturday, a Tupolev Tu-154 plane carrying President Kaczy?ski and his wife Maria crashed while on approach to Smolensk Airport at 10:56 am Moscow time. The crash occurred in foggy conditions about 1.5km from the airport.

The governor of Smolensk Oblast (Smolensk Region) confirmed for Russia 24 news channel that there were no survivors in the crash. Early reports suggest 87 people were on-board the flight.