Opposition activity and socio-political concepts of Jan Lityński

The purpose of this article is to introduce Jan Lityński, Polish oppositionist active from late ‘60s to 1989 and to describe his beliefs and opinions about politics, society and his environment. Lityński became an oppositionist against communist government as a student at University of Warsaw and was involved in events known as “March 1968” which led to his imprisonment and made continuing his education impossible. But despite this, Lityński remained in the opposition until the collapse of the communist regime in Poland. He collaborated with the most prominent members of the opposition and wrote texts on political and social issues for various periodicals published in the illegal circulation. As a member of KOR and “Solidarność”, he lost his freedom many times but never let himself be broken or to betray his beliefs. In 1989 he took part in Polish Round Table Agreements that led to the change of the political system. This article was written based on Lityński’s publications from the 1980s and things he wrote and said years after those events. Other sources of information were interviews conducted with Lityński and statements made about him by associates from the opposition period.