Tadeusz Brzeziński (February 21, 1896 – January 7, 1990) was a Polish diplomat and consular official. He was the father of

Zbigniew Brzezinski Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński ( , ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), or Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was President Jimmy Carter' ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

's national security adviser.

Life and career

Brzeziński was born in the town of

Złoczów Zolochiv ( uk, Золочів, pl, Złoczów, german: Solotschiw, yi, זלאָטשאָוו, ''Zlotshov'') is a small city of district significance in Lviv Oblast of Ukraine, the administrative center of Zolochiv Raion. It hosts the administrat ...

, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire (today

Zolochiv, Lviv Oblast Zolochiv ( uk, Золочів, pl, Złoczów, german: Solotschiw, yi, זלאָטשאָוו, ''Zlotshov'') is a small city of district significance in Lviv Oblast of Ukraine, the administrative center of Zolochiv Raion. It hosts the administrat ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

), the son of Zofia (Woroniecka) and Kazimierz Brzeziński. He received his university education in Lwów (now

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

), and in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. As a volunteer in the Polish independence movement from 1918 to 1920, Brzeziński saw action in the Battle of Lwów during the Polish-Ukrainian War and against Soviet forces in the final Warsaw campaign of 1920. He entered the diplomatic-consular service of the new Polish Republic, serving in Essen,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

;

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

;

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, Germany;

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

, in the

Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

(during the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secret ...

on 1 November 1936 – 16 December 1937), and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, where he lived after the Communist takeover in Poland after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. While in Leipzig, Germany, before World War II, Brzeziński became involved in efforts to rescue European Jews from

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as con ...

. In 1978, his efforts on behalf of the Jewish people were recognized by

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...

Menachem Begin. Brzeziński was

consul-general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

from 1938 until the Communist takeover of Poland at the end of World War II. He served as president of the

Canadian Polish Congress The Canadian-Polish Congress ( pl, Kongres Polonii Kanadyjskiej, KPK, CPC) is a Canadian not-for-profit organization federally integrated on the 7th of February 1933 in Winnipeg, Manitoba which was previously known as the Federation of Polish Soci ...

from 1952 to 1962, and in 1975 helped create the World Polish Congress. Until his retirement, he worked for the

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Ministry of Culture, setting up French-language centres in small towns. Brzeziński died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in Montreal at the age of 93. He was survived by his two sons:

, President

's national security advisor; and Lech Brzeziński, an engineer also living in Montreal. His grandsons are foreign policy expert

Ian Brzezinski Ian Joseph Brzezinski (born December 23, 1963) is an American foreign policy and military affairs expert. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy from 14 May 2001 to 20 January 2005, under President Geo ...

, lawyer and US Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski, and journalist

Matthew Brzezinski Matthew Brzezinski (born October 7, 1965) is an American writer and journalist. Biography Brzezinski was born in Canada and is of Polish heritage. He graduated from McGill University in 1991. Brzezinski began working as a journalist in the earl ...

. His granddaughter

Mika Brzezinski Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski Scarborough (; pl, Brzezińska; born May 2, 1967) is an American talk show host, liberal political commentator, and author who currently co-hosts MSNBC's weekday morning broadcast show ''Morning Joe''. She was forme ...

is a political commentator and host of '' Morning Joe''.

References

Sources

* Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm, ''Dreams and Reality'', Toronto 1984, * Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm, ''Kanada, Kanada'', Warsaw 1986, * Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm, ''Untold Stories of Polish Heroes From World War II'', Hamilton Books , Rowman & Littlefield 2018,

External links

Photo of Zbigniew standing with Tadeusz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brzezinski, Tadeusz 1896 births 1990 deaths People from Zolochiv, Lviv Oblast People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Polish Austro-Hungarians Polish emigrants to Canada Diplomats of the Second Polish Republic Deaths from pneumonia in Quebec Tadeusz

Life and career

See also

Archives

References

Sources

External links