Aldona Skirgiełło

Aldona Anna Skirgiełło (born 27 July 1977) is a Polish politician, actor, and farmer. She is known for her appearance in the TTV series "Wives of Podlasie" , where she played a star role. Skirgiełło was born in Warsaw, where she studied law and worked as a horse rider and photographer for 18 years. She abandoned her studies to emigrate to England, where she became a hippologist. in Warsaw. She was raised by and named after her grandmother, Aldona Skirgiełło, who was the first Polish stewardess. In her youth, she worked as an horse rider in Służewiec, later a professional photographer for 18 years. Skirgiełło explained her decision with her love for horses – she started horseriding when she was 2 years old. Return to Poland After the divorce, Skirgiełło left Poland for England in 2005, where she studied at the Anglia Ruskin University for 9 years. She graduated in two fields – hippologist and racing industry specialist. to settle into subsistence farming on a "traditional " in Podlasie, raising Gypsy Cobs and other farm animals.

They settled in Wyczółki in 2014, Skirgiełło later said that she was tired of living in the city, and was inspired by her husband's stories of living in trailers in 1980s. The couple chose Podlasie region, on the border with Belarus, because "it had not yet been so destroyed by civilization". Skirgiełło searched for a long time to find her "dream place". She and her husband attracted media attention in 2015 for their ascetic way of life, as they sought to recreate the way of life of Polish farmers in the 1960s. Their farm had neither running water nor electricity, and they promoted tourism in the region by offering to teach guests rural traditions and old crafts. She was also featured in a reportage concerning Orthodox Christians of Podlasie.

In 2016, Polish journalist Błażej Torański published an article about Skirgiełło, which discussed her life story and the radical change in her lifestyle that she settled for. TVP3 Białystok later released a documentary that sparked further interest in Skirgiełło. In late 2017, she became a widow as her husband died. She continued to live on the farm and to raise her son Witold as a lonely mother. In March 2024, she starred in the TTV series "Wives of Podlasie" . According to Rzeczpospolita, although she was known locally, her star role in the series made me her a public figure amongst broader, nationwide audience. Skirgiełło appealed to audience through her passion for horses and stories about the rural life and her childhood.

In September 2024, the second season of "Wives of Podlasie" started, where Skirgiełło once again played a star role. Skirgiełło also announced that she would soon publish her autobiography. A publisher house that Skirgiełło decided to enter an agreement with was Axis Mundi. According to Radio Podlasie, Skirgiełło became recognizable thanks to the series, and the biography had exceeded sales expectations and already had to be reprinted two days after release.

Skirgiełło's autobiography gathered attention amongst feminist circles, and noted for detailed recollections of physical and mental abuse that she endured in her first marriage. In a radio interview, she expressed satisfaction with sales of her book and announced her plans to write more books. 2025 presidential run and aftermath In January 2025, Skirgiełło was nominated as the official presidential candidate of Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland, with speculation that she became a candidate "on the basis of the gained popularity" from "Wives of Podlasie". Skirgiełło herself claimed that the candidacy was proposed to her by the chairman of Samoobrona, Along with Krzysztof Tołwiński of the Front party, Skirgiełło became the only 2025 presidential candidate to represent the agrarian and underdeveloped region of Podlasie.

Ultimately, Skirgiełło's presidential candidacy was unsuccessful as by the time of the deadline, she narrowly fell short of the 100,000 signatures needed to appear on the ballot. After the presidential election, it was reported that Skirgiełło might return to "Wives of Podlasie" for the third season, again in a star role. In September 2025, Skirgiełło confirmed that she is starred in the third season.

Political activity 2018 local election Logo of the Skirgiełło's 2025 Polish presidential election campaign. In May 2018, Skirgiełło expressed her interest to enter local politics. She portrayed herself as an anti-establishment candidate, arguing that her gmina is a "black hole" that needs to be revitalized by investing in agritourism, and addressing the wealth inequality between the gmina's town and surrounding countryside. However, Skirgiełło was widowed shortly before the election. In the 2018 Polish local elections, she ran for Wójt of Nurzec-Stacja, winning 171 votes (10.14%).

After the local elections, she became a member of a far-left party Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland. She described herself as a representative of the "third way of the late Andrzej Lepper", expressing anti-capitalist views and proposing a non-capitalist economic system. She also calls for a parliamentary representation of national and ethnic minorities in Poland, especially Orthodox Christians; she also supports reestablishing economic and diplomatic relations with Belarus and Russia, protecting "traditional Christian values" and elimination of the LGBT card from Polish law. In her 2019 political campaign, she declared: "Let's start from the basics. Let's start by rebuilding what should be a strong foundation for an independent Poland. Currently, Polish agriculture and the Polish economy are still being destroyed, on a much larger scale than a few years ago." Despite her poor result, her campaign was highly visible in media thanks to her name recognizability; she considered her result satisfactory, stating: "Despite the fact that some claimed it no longer existed, Samoobrona is back and it is here to stay and work." 2024 local election Skirgiełło also ran in the 2024 Polish local elections, where she once again registered as a candidate for Wójt of her gmina Nurzec-Stacja. In her program, she called for implementing social support for struggling farmers, expanding social safety net in the countryside, cutting income tax rates for farms, and tightened control of food import to protect Polish agriculture. She won 4.95% of the vote and failed to win the seat, and the incumbent Wójt was re-elected with an overwhelming margin. Norbert Jadczuk of Law and Justice won with over 60% of the popular vote, which meant that there was no run-off. Apart from Jadczuk and Skirgiełło, there were two other candidates for the seat. 2025 presidential election In 2025, Skirgiełło declared her candidacy for the 2025 Polish presidential election. She described herself as a "horse breeder, spiritual development mentor, singing songwriter, independent woman and highly controversial local scandalist". This was the first time since the 2010 Polish presidential election that the party nominated its own presidential candidate, and is seen as a part of a revival of interest in the party and its deceased controversial leader Andrzej Lepper.

Skirgiełło was described as "the voice of people forgotten by the elites: farmers, manual workers, women from the countryside". She stated: "A woman from Podlasie must be both tough and committed, and life in the province is not just folklore from a TV series, but a daily struggle for dignity and social justice." Similarly to her 2019 Senate run, Skirgiełło invoked and referenced her Orthodox faith, including posting photos with Orthodox priests. Speaking of her view on the Russo-Ukrainian War, Skirgiełło stated:

Skirgiełło applauded the President of USA Donald Trump for signing an executive order stating that there are only two genders, stating that she too is opposed to 'gender ideology', and that her homosexual friends are also 'against the LGBTQ+ movement'. When asked about her prospect of victory, she stated "I won't win the election anyway, but I will stir things up." while Fronda described her as strongly anti-Ukrainian and claimed that her candidacy, along with that of pro-Russian Maciej Maciak, was promoted by Belarusian state media.

In regards to the economy, Skirgiełło called for nationalization of the Polish industry, stating: "Polish land should be in Polish hands. The same goes for Polish industry and the Polish economy. We cannot allow foreign capital to enter our country and start ruling and pushing its way in. Those who have stolen from Poland and continue to steal from it should be brought to justice and will be brought to justice." She opposed capitalism, and referring to the words of John Paul II, stated: "It is unacceptable that the only alternative after the fall of communism is capitalism. For 10 years, from 1979 to 1989, thieves in white gloves prepared the division of Poland. Now, something new is coming, something new has awakened." Skirgiełło supported expanding social safety net, and argued that the social welfare policies of Law and Justice, such as the +500 Family Program, were coopted from Samoobrona, and criticized the privileged position of Ukrainian refugees in Poland regarding welfare, pensions, and employment benefits.

Despite a well-publicized candidacy, Skirgiełło did not manage to gather the 100,000 signatures needed to appear on the ballot on time. At the day of the deadline, 4 April, she narrowly fell short, having gathered around 93,000 signatures. Skirgiełło declared that she would not step down from politics, and would to work on expanding party structures and building a voter base for parliamentary elections. She attributed her unsuccessful run to Samoobrona having been "weakened by external influences that are destroying it". On 12 April, Skirgiełło criticized the party, stating that party members did not gather signatures for her and that no campaign team was organized. Endorsement On 13 May 2025, Skirgiełło announced her support for Grzegorz Braun, the candidate of the Confederation of the Polish Crown. She argued that should he become president, Braun would dissolve the Sejm and trigger a snap election, which would end the Third Cabinet of Donald Tusk. Skirgiełło called Braun a choice for "those who want a strong, sovereign, and authentic Poland."

Her endorsement ran contrary to Samoobrona, which endorsed Karol Nawrocki, an independent candidate supported by Law and Justice, instead. However, the former vice-chairman and spokesman of Samoobrona, Mateusz Piskorski, who is also the leader of Zmiana, is a member of Braun's electoral committee.

In the second round of the presidential election, Skirgiełło appealed to vote against Rafał Trzaskowski.

Personal life Skirgiełło was married to Fred Samuels, an English Gypsy, but became widowed in 2017. She has one son, Witold. She also had two daughters – first was born in 1998 but does not keep contact with her mother, while Skirgiełło's second daughter died in car accident at 3 years old. She is an Eastern Orthodox Christian.

Electoral history Senate Election year Party # ofvotes % ofvote District Elected? 2019 Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland 5,048 5.91% No

Wójt of Nurzec-Stacja Election year Party # ofvotes % ofvote Elected? 2018 Independent 171 10.14%No 2024 Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland 78 4.95%No