Lech Walesa of Poland was a prominent political figure in the Solidarity movement and served as the first democratically elected president of Poland from 1990 to 1995. He was a leader in the fight against communism and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Walesa was born in 1943 in Popowo, Poland and began his career as an electrician in the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk. He rose to prominence during the 1970s and 1980s as a leader of the Solidarity movement, which was instrumental in bringing about the end of communism in Poland.