Birth and early life Janusz Korwin-Mikke was born in
German-occupied Warsaw on 27 October 1942. He was the only child of Ryszard Mikke (6 February 1911 – 25 April 1966) and Maria Rosochacka (3 April 1917 – 4 August 1944). His father, Ryszard, was the head of the engineering department of the . Korwin-Mikke's uncle, , was a
Lieutenant Colonel in the
Polish Cavalry during the
Second World War, he died on 12 September 1939 while commanding
15th Poznań Uhlan Regiment at the
Battle of the Bzura, during the
September Campaign. In 1944, his mother, Maria, was killed during the
Warsaw Uprising against the occupying German forces. From then, he was under the care of his grandmother and later his stepmother. Korwin-Mikke's great-grandfather was Gustaw Izydor Mücke, son of Samuel Beniamin Mücke (who was a brewer in
Kielce). The Korwin-Mikke family, with its origins in the
Kingdom of Sweden, migrated through the
Electorate of Saxony to
Poland, following the
Great Famine of 1695–1697, alongside
Augustus II the Strong, after he was
elected king of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1697. The
Germanic surname Mücke was
polonized to Mikke after the family received the
Korwin coat of arms. Before converting to
Catholicism, Korwin-Mikke's family adhered to the
Augsburg Confession, which is the primary confession of faith of the
Lutheran Church and one of the most significant documents of the
Protestant Reformation. Korwin-Mikke is a distant relative of
Hellmuth von Mücke, an officer of the
Kaiserliche Marine, the navy of the
German Empire, in the early 20th century and
World War I. He is also related to , a Polish historian, publicist and writer.
Detention by communists Korwin-Mikke studied at the Faculty of Mathematics and Faculty of Philosophy of the
Warsaw University. For his
anti-communist activities, in 1964 he was detained by the communist authorities while studying psychology, law, philosophy and sociology. During the
1968 Polish political crisis, he was again arrested, jailed and expelled from the university for his participation in student protests. Despite his anti-communist activities, Korwin-Mikke was reinstated and allowed to finish his studies with the
dean Klemens Szaniawski. He successfully defended his master thesis
Metodologiczne aspekty poglądów Stephena Toulmina (eng. Methodological aspects of
Stephen Toulmin's views), written under the guidance of
Henryk Jankowski.
Meeting with Milton Friedman Korwin-Mikke met with
Milton Friedman when Friedman toured Europe advocating free-market policies. Friedman wrote about Janusz Korwin-Mikke in his memoirs:
Far-right politics From 1962 to 1982 he was a member of the
Democratic Party. In August 1980 he supported the political strike of the Szczecin Shipyard workers, and later he was an adviser of NSZZ Indywidualnego Rzemiosła "
Solidarność" (Independent Craftsmen's Union). In 1987 he founded a
national conservative,
economically liberal political party called
Ruch Polityki Realnej (Movement of Real Politics), later renamed -
Unia Polityki Realnej (UPR, Union of Real Politics). In 1990, he established a
libertarian conservative sociopolitical
weekly newspaper Najwyższy Czas! (About Time!). In 1991, Korwin-Mikke became a member of the
Sejm, between 1991 and 1993, during the first parliamentary term after the establishment of the
Third Polish Republic. Notably, during his time as deputy, he was the originator of the , which obliged the
Minister of Internal Affairs to disclose the names of all politicians who had been communist
secret police agents. The disclosed list contained numerous prominent politicians of most political factions. This led to the dissolution of the
Cabinet of Jan Olszewski during the – a term used in journalism to describe the events of the night from 4 to 5 June 1992, associated with the dismissal of the government of
Jan Olszewski. Korwin-Mikke is a
perennial candidate in Polish presidential elections, obtaining 2.4% of the vote in 1995, 1.43% in 2000, 1,4% in 2005, 2.48% in 2010, 3.3% in 2015. He is a self-declared
monarchist who claims that democracy is "
the most stupid form of government ever conceived". In 2008, his blog was the most popular political blog in Poland. He frequently refers to figures such as
Frédéric Bastiat,
Alexis de Tocqueville,
Friedrich Hayek,
Milton Friedman,
Margaret Thatcher and
Nicolás Gómez Dávila, among others.
Member of the European Parliament In the
2014 European Parliament election, Korwin-Mikke was elected as a
Member of the European Parliament, standing as a candidate of the
Congress of the New Right. On 28 January 2018, he officially announced his intention to resign from the
European Parliament and return to
Polish politics. He was replaced by
Dobromir Sośnierz.
Return to Polish politics On 6 December 2018, the decision to jointly participate in the
European elections was made by Korwin-Mikke's
KORWiN party and the
National Movement party. In January 2019, the coalition was joined by
Grzegorz Braun,
Piotr Liroy-Marzec and
Kaja Godek. In February 2019, the coalition began using the name "Koalicja ProPolska" (ProPoland Coalition). However, on 27 February 2019, the official name "
Confederation KORWiN Braun Liroy Nationalists" was announced. In March 2019, an application for the registration of a party under this name was submitted. Later on the new political entity would be called
Confederation Liberty and Independence. In 2019, Korwin-Mikke was elected as deputy in the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament (
Sejm), effectively returning to
Polish politics after 26 years of absence. On 15 October 2022, Janusz Korwin-Mikke resigned from his position as the chairman of the
KORWiN party. Stepping into his role is the former vice president of the party,
Sławomir Mentzen. Under new leadership, the party underwent a
rebranding and is now known as
New Hope (Nowa Nadzieja). During the
2025 Polish presidential election, he was closely associated with
Grzegorz Braun and his campaign.
Electoral defeat and suspension Soon before the election, during an interview Korwin-Mikke said "There are girls that are 12-13 years old and are mature and there are girls that are 19 years old and are immature. State shouldn't decide when girl achieved sexual maturity, it is determined by nature." During the
2023 Polish parliamentary election, Korwin-Mikke was defeated by
Karina Bosak, the wife of the chairman of
National Movement,
Krzysztof Bosak. She achieved a surprisingly good result, garnering support from over 21 thousand voters. In doing so, she surpassed the party's number one candidate, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, who received votes from just under 9.5 thousand people and consequently did not secure a seat in the
Sejm from the
Sejm Constituency no. 20. On 18 October 2023, the head of Confederation's
electoral campaign,
Witold Tumanowicz, informed the
Polish Press Agency that a decision had been made by the party court to "expel Janusz Korwin-Mikke from the Council of Leaders and suspend him" in the rights of a Confederation member, after Tumanowicz blamed Korwin-Mikke for the electoral defeat of the whole party. Tumanowicz further emphasized that "if he violates the suspension conditions, the party court will consider his removal from Confederation." On 29 October 2023,
Sławomir Mentzen, the chairman of
New Hope party, announced on social media that Janusz Korwin-Mikke will not be running on the Confederation's list in the next elections. Mentzen added that he faced a "tragic choice" and stated: "Unfortunately, the responsibility for the political project, for future results, for ensuring that the effort of our candidates and supporters is not wasted, forces me to make this difficult decision." In 2024, Korwin-Mikke split from New Hope, founding
KORWiN. == Views ==