Donald Malinowski

Who was Donald Malinowski?

Donald Marto Malinowski, CM was a Catholic priest and politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1969 to 1986.

The son of Stanley Malinowski and Marlyn Gajewska, he was educated in Poland, Scranton, Pennsylvania and St. John's College. During World War II, Malinowski fought against the Nazis in the Armia Krajowa, who supported Poland's government-in-exile in London. He was wounded on three occasions, and was sentenced to death for refusing to sign an oath of allegiance to the communist government that came to power at the war's end. He escaped from his prison to Sweden, where he remained for three years, gaining an appreciation for its principles of social democracy. He came to Canada in 1950.

In 1952, Malinowski entered a Polish National Catholic Church seminary in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was later ordained as a priest, and married a nurse named Anna Glazer. The couple worked in New York State before moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1959.

Malinowski served as a chaplain at the Royal Canadian Legion, and was named the parish priest at St. Mary's National Catholic Church in north-end Winnipeg.