Irena Lasota

Irena Lasota (born 25 July 1945 as Irene Hirszowicz) is a Polish philosopher, publicist, publisher, social and political activist, and president/co-director of the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe. As a so-called banana youth, Lasota began her political activism as a student in Poland during the 1968 political crisis, which pitted protesting students against the then-Communist government. Soon after the March events, Lasota would emigrate to the United States, eventually returning to Europe in the first half of the 1980s to settle down in France. Lasota is to this day a frequent commentator on Polish and American political affairs, and remains an outspoken supporter of freedom of speech and democratic institutions.