--- description: Anna Walentynowicz is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Anna Walentynowicz: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80f2561fd1b8d57e/698a0af186f68e56ce6ee6a5/social-1980_Anna-Walentynowicz.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1980: Anna Walentynowicz Mar 5, 2020 11:39 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Illustration by Agata Nowicka for TIME by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:39 AM CUT Poland’s escape from Soviet rule began with Solidarity, a movement for the rights of workers that [Anna Walentynowicz](https://time.com/5730106/velvet-revolution-history/ "undefined"), a welder and crane operator, helped create in 1980\. In retaliation for her activism, she was fired that year from the Lenin Shipyard. Her colleagues went on strike to get her job back, sparking a mass resistance that culminated in the Gdansk Agreement, which allowed the first free-trade union in communist Eastern Europe. Within a year, the Solidarity union had nearly 10 million members, with Walentynowicz as one of its leaders. The triumph in Gdansk precipitated the fall of communism, a decade later. It also led generations of Poles to see Walentynowicz as the mother of their independence. _—Simon Shuster_ [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/anna-walentynowicz-1980-time.html "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793658/anna-walentynowicz-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793658/anna-walentynowicz-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1980: Anna Walentynowicz","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:39:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:26.560Z","description":"Anna Walentynowicz is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793658/anna-walentynowicz-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80f2561fd1b8d57e/698a0af186f68e56ce6ee6a5/social-1980_Anna-Walentynowicz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80f2561fd1b8d57e/698a0af186f68e56ce6ee6a5/social-1980_Anna-Walentynowicz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1980 Anna-Walentynowicz","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793658/anna-walentynowicz-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1980: Anna Walentynowicz"}}]}] ```