Zdzisław Najmrodzki

Zdzisław Najmrodzki (; 20 August 1954 – 31 August 1995) was a Polish thief active in the 1970s and the 1980s who has been described as one of the period's most famous criminals. He escaped from authorities 29 times, including escapes from a train, a courthouse window, Warsaw police headquarters, and a prison. and was eventually pardoned in 1994 by the president of Poland, Lech Wałęsa. He graduated from an auto mechanics vocational school. When he was 19, he was drafted into military service for two years, during which he stood out for his physical fitness. Afterward, he received an offer to join the army's special forces. He declined, as he hoped to become a rally driver. Despite that, he never applied for or obtained a driving licence. Najmrodzki received no payment from the sales.

On 15 November 1994, Lech Wałęsa, the president of Poland, pardoned Najmrodzki as a "resocialized" person. Presidential advisor Lech Falandysz said of the pardon: "When Grzegorz Piotrowski, the killer of priest Popiełuszko, was prematurely released, the natural order of justice for the president was to pardon Najmrodzki". He was also the subject of the biography Poszukiwany Zdzisław Najmrodzki by Józef Łoziński, published in Wrocław in 1991. An episode of Wielkie napady PRL-u, a criminal documentary series, was dedicated to his exploits. His escape from prison via a tunnel in 1989 inspired a scene in the 1991 film V.I.P. directed by Juliusz Machulski. In 2018, Gliwice Town Theatre put on a play entitled Najmrodzki, czyli dawno temu w Gliwicach, based on his life.

Works 1990: Oblicza prawdy, Oficyna Wydawnicza Galicja