Wacław Jędrzejewicz General Wacław Jędrzejewicz ( ; 29 January 1893 – 30 November 1993 ) was a Polish Army officer and diplomat and subsequently an American college professor . He was co - founder and long - time president of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America . Life . Jędrzejewicz was born in Spiczyńce ( then Russian Empire , now Ukraine ) . As a student at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków ( 1913 – 14 ) , Jędrzejewicz joined Józef Piłsudski ' s Riflemen ' s Association ( " Związek Strzelecki " ) . In 1915 he was one of the founders and leaders of the Polish Military Organization ( " Polska Organizacja Wojskowa " , or " P . O . W . " ) . In August 1915 he brought his " Warsaw Battalion " into the Polish Legions ' First Brigade , then fighting in Volhynia . In July 1917 , during the Legions ' " Oath Crisis " ( precipitated by a demand from Germany and Austro - Hungary that the Polish Legionnaires swear loyalty to them ) , Jędrzejewicz was imprisoned by the Germans . When Poland regained independence in November 1918 , Jędrzejewicz began work at the Polish Army ' s Section II ( " Oddział II " , or Intelligence ) . On 24 April 1920 , Jędrzejewicz , now a captain , signed a military convention with Ukraine ' s " Ataman " Semen Petlura which paved the way for the Polish Army ' s 1920 Kiev Expedition . Next he served as Section II chief successively to Generals Kazimierz Sosnkowski and Gustaw Zygadłowicz . In September – November 1920 , as a major , he was the Polish Army ' s liaison officer to allied Belarusian forces . At the conclusion of the Polish - Soviet War of 1919 – 21 , Jędrzejewicz was a military expert with the Polish delegation at the Riga Peace Conference . In 1922 – 25 Jędrzejewicz directed the Polish General Staff ' s " East " Department . In 1925 he was promoted to lieutenant - colonel . In 1925 – 28 , he was military attaché and effective chargé d ' affaires in Tokyo , Japan . Returning to Poland , he served as director of the Foreign Ministry ' s Consular Department ( 1928 - 1933 ) and as Treasury Vice Minister ( 1933 - 1934 ) . On 22 January 1934 , he was appointed Minister of Religious Denominations and Public Education in the government of his brother , Premier Janusz Jędrzejewicz ( 1885 - 1951 ) , serving on as well in the premierships of Leon Kozłowski and Walery Sławek . He introduced educational reforms that sparked controversy in Poland but won international approval and emulation . After Marshal Józef Piłsudski died ( 1935 ) , Jędrzejewicz held no more ministerial offices . When World War II broke out in September 1939 , Jędrzejewicz helped evacuate the treasury of the Fund for National Defense , which in February 1940 he delivered to General Władysław Sikorski ' s Polish government - in - exile in Paris . Due to the anti - Piłsudskiite policies of General Sikorski ( whose prewar career had been derailed by differences with Piłsudski ) , Jędrzejewicz was prevented from serving now with the Polish Armed Forces in exile . Consequently , in March 1941 he emigrated to New York . On 4 July 1943 , Jędrzejewicz co - founded the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America , dedicated to study of recent Polish history , and was its first director ( 5 July 1943 — 28 September 1948 ) . In 1948 Jędrzejewicz became professor of Russian language and literature at Wellesley College . In 1958 - 1963 he was director of Slavic studies at Ripon College in Wisconsin . On retiring , he returned to New York , where in 1964 he again became director of the Józef Piłsudski Institute . He died in 1993 at the age of 100 . Works . Jędrzejewicz published some 300 scholarly papers in history and several major books , including " Poland in the British Parliament , 1939 - 45 " and a two - volume " Kronika życia Józefa Piłsudskiego " ( Chronicle of the Life of Józef Piłsudski ) . His English - language publications also included " Piłsudski : a Life for Poland " , New York , Hippocrene Books , 1982 . Recognition . Jędrzejewicz was awarded the Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari ( personally by Marshal Jozef Piłsudski , 11 November 1921 ) , the Cross of Independence with Swords , the Cross of Valour ( " Krzyż Walecznych " ) four times and the Order of Polonia Restituta , Classes I ( Grand Cross , 1993 ) and IV , and received decorations of 13 countries , including the French Légion d ' Honneur . In 1993 , Jędrzejewicz was awarded Honorary Citizenship of the Royal City of Kraków . In 1992 Jędrzejewicz was promoted by Polish President Lech Wałęsa to the rank of brigadier general . Jędrzejewicz died at the age of 100 on 30 November 1993 , in Cheshire , Connecticut , the last of Marshal Piłsudski ' s government ministers and the last co - founder of the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America . He was interred on 4 June 1994 at Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw , Poland .