From 1972-1981 Marek Nowicki  was a nuclear physicist at the University of Warsaw´s Department of Mathematics and Physics. In the nineteen-seventies he cofounded the Student Mountaineering  Movement in Poland, and in the eighties was the President of the Federation of Academic Mountaineering Clubs as well as a member of the board of the Polish Mountaineering Association.

In 1980-81, Marek Nowicki was the head of the Mediation Commission in the Mazowsze Region of  Solidarity, and later became the head of the Protest Action Team of the Mazowsze Region where he organized demonstrations and planned strikes. During Martial Law he was interned in various prisons.

Once released from internment, he founded the underground publishing house Neutrino and was the editor-in-chief- of the underground quarterly, Praworzadnosc, in which he signed his articles, “Man”.

In December of 1982, Marek Nowicki was one of the key founders of the underground Helsinki Committee in Poland. He took part in writing the first reports on human rights abuses in Poland that were passed on to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Following the collapse of communism in 1989, members of the Helsinki Committee created the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and chose Marek Nowicki as its president. Today, thanks to his dedication, the Helsinki Foundation is one of the most experienced and professional non-governmental organizations in Europe.

The United Nations, OSCE  as well as the  Polish Parliament had turned to Marek on numerous occasions for his expertise in the field of human rights. He was one of the authors of the “Charter of Human Rights” that was in part incorporated into the new Polish Constitution in 1997. Moreover, he wrote numerous publications, including screenplays and educational programs, on human rights and the philosophy of human rights. Above all he was a passionate lecturer.  He initiated a wide variety of human rights educational programs, including the Helsinki Foundation´s post-graduate Human Rights School. He inspired and actively supported the human rights movement in post-communist states, particularly in Poland and the CIS.  He lectured all over the Russian Federation, Central Asia and the Caucasus until his illness overtook him. Particularly in this part of the world, Marek Nowicki became a symbol for the non-violent fight for human dignity and civil rights.

The funeral for Marek Nowicki, President of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, will take place on October 17, 2003 at 13:00 in St. Karol Boromeusz Church, ul. Powazkowska 14 in Warsaw. A procession to the family grave will follow the church ceremony. 


Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights