Damian Stanisław Wandycz (January 2, 1892 (Dobrzyń) – May 12, 1974) was a Polish-American émigré social and political activist, engineer, chemist, as well as a petroleum and natural gas industrialist. He served as a member of the municipal council of the Polish city of Lwów before World War II as well as Executive Director of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America in the years 1951–1956.
Damian Stanisław Wandycz | |
Office: | Executive Director of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America |
Term Start: | 1951 |
Term End: | 1956 |
Predecessor: | Marian Chodacki |
Successor: | Wincenty Kowalski |
Birth Date: | January 2, 1892 |
Birth Place: | Dobrzyń |
Death Date: | May 12, 1974 |
Nationality: | Polish-American |
He studied at the polytechnics of Prague and Warsaw. During World War I fought with the I Brigade of the Polish Legions. In 1918 a member of the Polish diplomatic mission to Czechoslovakia.
In 1923, Wandycz became the director of a Polish petroleum-exporting company. During World War II worked for the Polish government-in-exile. Sent to the United States with the mission of negotiating an American loan for Poland, remained in America.
In 1965–1969, director of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America. In 1951–1956 executive director of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America. Also an organizer of the first Congress of American Scholars of Polish Extraction.
Damian Stanisław Wandycz was survived by his son Piotr Wandycz, a Polish-American historian.
Wandycz received, among others, the Cross for Loyal Service to the I Brigade (Krzyż za Wierną Służbę I Brygady), the Cross of Independence (Krzyż Niepodległości) and the Gold Cross of Merit (Złoty Krzyż Zasługi).