Nobel Prize-Winning Former President Of Poland To Visit Occupy Wall Street

Lech Walesa was Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 1982 (Time)

Lech Walesa, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning former president of Poland, will show his support of Occupy Wall Street by paying Zuccotti Park a visit. "How could I not respond," Walesa said, "The thousands of people gathered near Wall Street are worried about the fate of their future, the fate of their country. This is something I understand."

Walesa, a former electrician, was imprisoned by the communist government of Poland for being a union activist, and was elected president in 1990 after sucessfully leading negotiations for Polish workers. He is also the inspiration for the U2 song "New Year's Day."

"This this a worldwide problem," Walesa told a Polish newspaper. "The Wall Street protesters have focused a magnifying glass on the problem." A spokesman for the 99 New York Campaign describes Walesa's career to the Daily News: "He fought very, very hard for the rights of all working people." It's unclear when Walesa will make the journey, but his representative said it'd be "soon."

Walesa isn't the only supporter of Occupy Wall Street that is famously familiar with communism: scholar and cultural theorist Slavoj Žižek addressed those assembled in Zuccotti Park on Sunday afternoon.

via gothamist.com