Grave of the Brzeziński family
[lot C1 001 ]
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Adam BRZEZIŃSKI
( 1929-1954 )
( 1929-1954 )
Born in Warsaw, son of Tadeusz and Leonia (below). Graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts, McGill University. Died in New York at the age of 25.
Leonia BRZEZIŃSKA
( 1896-1985 )
( 1896-1985 )
Born in central Poland. Graduated from the Academy of Political Science and from the Conservatory of Music in Warsaw. With her first husband had a son, Jerzy Zylinski. Came to Canada in 1938 with her second husband, Tadeusz Brzezinski (below). They had three sons : Zbigniew, Leszek and Adam. In 1939 Leonia became head of the Polish section of the Canadian Red Cross. After the war she launched, in Montreal, a line of cosmetics known as "Polish skin-care products for Canadian women". She died at the age of 89.
Her sister, Maria Gruszka is buried in grave no. 5 [lot C1 005]
Her sister, Maria Gruszka is buried in grave no. 5 [lot C1 005]
Tadeusz BRZEZIŃSKI
( 1896-1990 )
( 1896-1990 )
Diplomat and writer. Born in south-east Poland (now Ukraine). Studied at universities in Vienna, The Hague and Lwow, obtaining a PhD in Law and Political Science at Lwow University. Served in the Polish army from 1918 to 1921, taking part in the defence of Lwow (1918) and in the Warsaw campaign (1920). Entered the Polish Foreign Service and was posted to Westphalia, Rhineland and France as well as to Leipzig (Germany). There, during the German persecutions of the Jews in 1931-1935, he helped many escape and emigrate abroad. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin recognized his efforts on behalf of the Jews in 1938 by inscribing his name in the Golden Book of Honour. Tadeusz was posted in the Ukraine from 1936 to 1937 and in Canada as of 1938. During World War II he helped Polish professors and engineers establish the first Department of Aeronautics at Montreal's École Polytechnique. In 1945, when Canada ceased to recognize the Polish government-in-exile, Brzezinski remained in Montreal as a political émigré. He continued to be very active in the Polish-Canadian Congress and in the Polish Institute of Arts and Science, among others. He also worked for Quebec's National Library in 1954-1964 and for Quebec's Ministry of Culture until 1967. Published numerous articles and papers on international politics and law. Recipient of numerous Polish and foreign awards and medals. Died at the age of 94, mourned by his surviving sons, Zbigniew, a renowned American political scientist, and Leszek, an engineer.