Bronisław Maria Komorowski was born on 4 June 1952 in Oborniki Śląskie, near Wrocław, Poland. He is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of the Republic of Poland from 2010 to 2015. He comes from an intelligentsia family with strong landowning and independence traditions; his father, Zygmunt Leon Komorowski, was a professor of African studies and diplomat, and his mother, Jadwiga, participated in the wartime underground. Komorowski graduated in history from the University of Warsaw in 1977. Siblings Bronisław has two sisters, Maria Stella Komorowska (born 1949) and Halina Maia Komorowska (born 1955). He was born as…
Author: Kevin Koech
Lech Wałęsa was born on 29 September 1943 in Popowo, near Włocławek, in German-occupied Poland. He is a Polish labour activist, trade-union leader, politician and statesman who co-founded and led the Solidarity movement, the first independent trade union in a communist country, and later served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995. He is the son of Bolesław Wałęsa, a carpenter who died shortly after the Second World War as a result of wartime forced labour, and Feliksa Wałęsa. After his father’s death his mother remarried her brother-in-law, Stanisław Wałęsa. Wałęsa trained as an electrician, worked at the Lenin…
Aleksander Kwaśniewski was born on 15 November 1954 in Białogard, Poland. He is a Polish politician and journalist who served as the third President of the Republic of Poland from 23 December 1995 to 23 December 2005. He is the son of Zdzisław Kwaśniewski, a surgeon, and Aleksandra Kwaśniewska Bałasz, a nurse. He studied transport economics and foreign trade at the University of Gdańsk from 1973 to 1977 but did not complete his degree. In 1979 he married lawyer Jolanta Konty, and the couple have one daughter, Aleksandra, born in 1981. After leaving the presidency he has remained active in…
Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, Duke of Värmland, was born Carl Philip Edmund Bertil on 13 May 1979 at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. He is the only son and second of the three children of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. At birth he was Crown Prince and first in line to the throne, but a change in the Act of Succession that took effect on 1 January 1980 introduced absolute primogeniture, placing his elder sister Victoria ahead of him. He is currently fourth in the line of succession. He married Sofia Hellqvist on 13 June 2015 in…
Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, was born Olof Daniel Westling on 15 September 1973 at Örebro Regional Hospital in Örebro, Sweden. He is the son of Olle Westling, a former social services director, and Ewa Westling, who worked for the postal service. He grew up primarily in Ockelbo in Gävleborg County after the family moved there in his early years. He was christened at Almby Church in January 1974. On 19 June 2010 he married Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in Stockholm Cathedral and was granted the title of Prince of Sweden and Duke of Västergötland, becoming a member of…
Queen Silvia of Sweden was born Silvia Renate Sommerlath on 23 December 1943 in Heidelberg, Germany. She is the only daughter of Walther Sommerlath, a German businessman, and Alice Soares de Toledo, who was Brazilian. The family lived in Heidelberg until 1947, when they moved to São Paulo, Brazil, where Silvia spent much of her childhood. In 1957 they returned to West Germany and settled in Düsseldorf. On 19 June 1976 she married King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and has been Queen consort of Sweden ever since. The couple have three children: Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip, and…
Princess Sofia, Duchess of Värmland, was born Sofia Kristina Hellqvist on 6 December 1984 at Danderyd Hospital in Danderyd, Sweden. She is the middle child of Erik Oscar Hellqvist, an employment counsellor of Danish-Swedish background, and Marie Britt Hellqvist (née Rotman), a marketing manager. She was christened on 26 May 1985 at Tibble Church in Täby and grew up mainly in Älvdalen in Dalarna County after the family moved there when she was six. On 13 June 2015 she married Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland, in the Palace Church at the Royal Palace of Stockholm and received the title…
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, was born Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée on 14 July 1977 at Karolinska University Hospital in Solna, Stockholm. She is the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia and the heir apparent to the Swedish throne. Under the 1980 Act of Succession, which introduced absolute primogeniture, she became Crown Princess and first in line, ahead of her younger brother. She was baptised on 27 September 1977 in the Palace Church. On 19 June 2010 she married Daniel Westling, who became Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland. The couple have two children:…
Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland, was born Madeleine Thérèse Amelie Josephine on 10 June 1982 at Drottningholm Palace near Stockholm. She is the youngest child and second daughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden. A member of the House of Bernadotte, she was third in the line of succession at birth and currently ranks ninth. She was christened on 31 August 1982 in the Royal Chapel at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. On 8 June 2013 she married British-American financier Christopher O’Neill in the Palace Church at the Royal Palace in Stockholm.…
Prince Henrik of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, was born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat on 11 June 1934 in Talence near Bordeaux, France, and died on 13 February 2018 at Fredensborg Palace. He was the husband of Queen Margrethe II and served as her royal consort from her accession in 1972 until his death. The couple married on 10 June 1967 in Holmens Kirke in Copenhagen. Together they had two sons, King Frederik X and Prince Joachim. Born into an old French noble family, he spent early childhood years in French Indochina (present-day Vietnam), where his family…
Count Nikolai of Monpezat, born Prince Nikolai of Denmark on 28 August 1999 in Copenhagen, is a member of the Danish royal family. He is the eldest son of Prince Joachim of Denmark and his first wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg. As the eldest grandchild of Queen Margrethe II and the late Prince Henrik, and the eldest nephew of King Frederik X, he currently stands sixth in the line of succession to the Danish throne. In 2023, following a decision by Queen Margrethe II to streamline the royal family, he and his siblings lost the style of prince or princess…
Margrethe II, born Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid on 16 April 1940 at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. She is the eldest child of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid, born Princess of Sweden. A constitutional amendment in 1953 allowed female succession, making her heir presumptive. She succeeded her father upon his death and became the first female Danish monarch since Margrethe I in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. Her reign lasted exactly 52 years,…
Marie Agathe Odile, Her Royal Highness Princess Marie of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, was born on 6 February 1976 in Paris, France. She is the second wife of Prince Joachim of Denmark, younger brother of King Frederik X. Before her marriage she was a French citizen and a Roman Catholic; upon marrying into the Danish royal family she converted to the Evangelical Lutheran Church and became a Danish citizen. She and Prince Joachim have two children, Count Henrik Carl Joachim Alain (born 2009) and Countess Athena Marguerite Françoise Marie (born 2012). She is also stepmother to Prince Joachim’s two sons…
Crown Prince Christian of Denmark, born Christian Valdemar Henri John on 15 October 2005 at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, is the eldest child of King Frederik X and Queen Mary. He became Crown Prince and first in line to the Danish throne on 14 January 2024, following the abdication of his grandmother Queen Margrethe II and his father’s accession as king. He also holds the title Count of Monpezat. Baptised on 21 January 2006 in Christiansborg Palace Chapel, his godparents include Prince Joachim of Denmark, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, and Crown…
Prince Joachim of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, was born Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian on 7 June 1969 at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen. He is the younger son of Queen Margrethe II and the late Prince Henrik, and the only sibling of King Frederik X. He stands fifth in the line of succession to the Danish throne, after the four children of his elder brother. Christened on 15 July 1969 in Aarhus Cathedral, the first member of the royal family to be baptised outside Copenhagen, he was confirmed in 1982 at Fredensborg Palace Chapel. He may act as regent when the King…