Polish electrician who founded Solidarity in 1980, won the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, and became the first post-communist president of Poland (1990-1995).
Closely associated with
Václav Havel (fellow Eastern-bloc dissident-turned-president) and Pope John Paul II (the Polish pope whose 1979 visit catalyzed Solidarity).
For an intellectual contrast, see
Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and Communist leader — Jaruzelski imposed martial law in 1981, banned Solidarity, and interned Wałęsa. He represented the Soviet-backed institutional power Solidarity's nonviolent labor movement was organized to displace — they ultimately signed the 1989 Round Table Talks together that ended Polish communism.