Wałęsa

American  

[vuh-wen-suh] / vəˈwɛn sə /

noun

1. Lech born 1943, Polish labor leader: a leader of Solidarity 1980; president 1990–96; Nobel Peace Prize 1983.

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Wałęsa British  

/ væˈwɛnsə /

noun

1. Lech (lɛç). born 1943, Polish statesman: president of Poland (1990–95); leader of the independent trade union Solidarity 1980–90; Nobel peace prize 1983

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Example Sentences

In Poland, Solidarity and Lech Wałęsa walked into the Round Table talks as the uncontested voice of the nation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 7, 2025

A better future shimmers on the page when Lech Wałęsa climbs over a fence as an unemployed electrician, taps someone on the shoulder and becomes “the face of the Polish revolution.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2025

In Poland in 1980, shipyard workers under the leadership of labor activist Lech Wałęsa formed a trade union and went on strike to protest government policies.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

József Antall, an opposition leader and Hungary’s first post-Communist prime minister, called forth national pride in the service of democracy as Wałęsa did in Poland.

From Slate • Jul. 3, 2020

Solidarity became a broad social movement, led by the electrician Lech Wałęsa, that pressured the regime to engage in talks to negotiate a bloodless end to Communist rule.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 23, 2018