Jerzy "George" B. Zubrzycki AO

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

MBE (Military) (12 January 192020 May 2009) was a Polish-born Australian sociologist, widely regarded as the "Father of Australian Multiculturalism".

Life

Zubrzycki was born in Kraków, Poland. He escaped from Nazi rule in World War II, and joined the Free Polish forces in the United Kingdom. For his services there he was made a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(Military Division) by the UK Government.James Jupp, "An advocate for multiculturalism"
''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'', 26 May 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2017 In 1956 he was appointed to a post at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

in Canberra, Australia, where he remained for the rest of his life. He chaired the Australian Ethnic Affairs Council 1977–81, served on the council of the Institute of Multicultural Affairs 1980–86, and on the interim council of the

National Museum of Australia The National Museum of Australia (NMA), in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''Nation ...

. He travelled widely with members of the

Fraser government The Fraser government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal–Country party coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Init ...

to help explain their multiculturalism policies. He was a member of the

Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (, or PASS) is a pontifical academy established on 1 January 1994 by Pope John Paul II and is headquartered in the Casina Pio IV in Vatican City. It operates much like other learned societies worldwid ...

, and he was also honoured by Poland and the United States. He died in Canberra on 20 May 2009, aged 89. A biography of Jerzy Zubrzycki, ''The Promise of Diversity'', by John B H Williams and John Bond, was published by Grosvenor Books Australia in 2013. It was translated into Polish and published in Warsaw in 2016.

Honours

In 1967 Zubrzycki was elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. For his work promoting multiculturalism in Australia, Zubrzycki was appointed a Commander of the

(CBE) in 1978, and an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) in 1984.It's an Honour: AO
Retrieved 10 November 2017

Bibliography

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Notes

External links

1920 births 2009 deaths Australian sociologists Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of Australia Members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Polish emigrants to Australia Quadrant (magazine) people People associated with Kultura (magazine) Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia {{Australia-sociologist-stub