Maciej Kuroń was a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 journalist and culinary publicist. He was a host of television culinary shows, which made him very popular in Poland. He was the son of Jacek Kuroń

Jacek Kuron

Jacek Jan Kuroń was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. Kuroń was a prominent Polish social and political figure; educator and historian; an activist of the Polish Scouting Association; co-founder of the Workers' Defence Committee; twice a Minister of...

.

In 1980, as a student of Pedagogical College

University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn

The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn was established on September 1, 1999, in accordance with the new Statute of Sejm signed by the President of the Republic of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, as well as the Minister of National Education, Mirosław Handke, in August of the same year. Its...

 in Olsztyn

Olsztyn

Olsztyn is a city in northeastern Poland, on the Łyna River. Olsztyn has been the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in the Olsztyn Voivodeship...

, Kuroń represented Olsztyn's students in Warsaw's Founding Committee of the Independent Students Union. During the martial law in Poland

Martial law in Poland

Martial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition to it. Thousands of opposition...

, he was in 1982 expelled from college by Communist authorities. Later, he studied at The Culinary Institute of America, and in 1998 became host of a TV show Cook together with Kuroń, presented by the TVN

TVN (Poland)

TVN is a major Polish commercial television network. The broadcaster was co-founded by Polish businessmen Mariusz Walter and Jan Wejchert. The network launched on October 3, 1997. TVN belongs to the TVN S.A...

. He also authored several cookbooks, including Polish Cuisine.

A father of four, Kuroń died unexpectedly of acute heart failure, on 25 December 2008 at his home in Izabelin near Warsaw. He was buried on 7 January 2009, at the Powązki Cemetery

Powazki Cemetery

Powązki Cemetery , also known as the Stare Powązki is a historic cemetery located in the Wola district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city, and one of the oldest...

. On the same day, President Lech Kaczynski

Lech Kaczynski

Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...

 awarded him the Officer's Cross of the Polonia Restituta

Polonia Restituta

The Order of Polonia Restituta is one of Poland's highest Orders. The Order can be conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, art, economics, defense of the country, social work, civil service, or for furthering good relations between countries...

"for outstanding achievements in his work for democratic change in Poland and for his involvement in shaping the social attitudes of the Poles".

Sources