Jerzy Zubrzycki

Jerzy "George" B. Zubrzycki AO CBE 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 (Military Division) by the UK Government.

In 1956 he was appointed to a post at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, where he remained for the rest of his life.

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 launched at an AIPA event by Malcolm Fraser, the former Australian PM. 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 Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1978, and an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1984.