Dr. Zygmunt Szkopiak was a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 scientist, diplomat and historian who from 1986 until its dissolution in 1990, served as the last Minister of Foreign Affairs in the London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

-based Polish government-in-exile.

Born in Morzewiec

Morzewiec

Morzewiec is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Koronowo, within Bydgoszcz County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It lies south of Koronowo and north-west of Bydgoszcz.The village has a population of 130....

, a small village in north-central Poland, 14 km from the country's 8th largest city, Bydgoszcz, Zygmunt Szkopiak was 12 at the time of the September 1939 German invasion of Poland. The Szkopiak family, which included his parents and siblings, was deported to Austria where they spent the war toiling as agricultural slave laborers. Liberated by the British Eighth Army

Eighth Army (United Kingdom)

The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....

, he and his family received refugee status and were sent to England where he entered the Polish College of the University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

 at Battersea

Battersea

Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...

, received a doctorate in the physics of metallurgy

Metallurgy

Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...

 and joined the staff of Battersea College of Advanced Technology which, in 1968, became the University of Surrey

University of Surrey

The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...

. He authored numerous scientific papers in his research specialties which centered upon stress relaxation

Stress relaxation

Stress relaxation describes how polymers relieve stress under constant strain. Because they are viscoelastic, polymers behave in a nonlinear, non-Hookean fashion...

 and internal friction, and served as editor of a Polish scientific journal and a visiting professor abroad. He also met and married Lucia, like himself, a Polish refugee, whose father was one of the victims of the Katyn Massacre

Katyn massacre

The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...

 and who reached England via Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

, the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 and South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

.

Szkopiak was a member of the co-ordinating committee of the European Freedom Campaign group, which was established in London at an Inaugural Rally at Westminster Central Hall

Westminster Central Hall

The Westminster Central Hall or Methodist Central Hall is a Methodist church in the City of Westminster. It occupies the corner of Tothill Street and Storeys Gate just off Victoria Street in London, near the junction with The Sanctuary next to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and facing...

 on 10 December 1988 and consisted almost exclusively of representatives from countries behind the Iron Curtain

Iron Curtain

The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...

. On 17 August 1989, The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

published a letter, which he signed as Minister of Foreign Affairs, explaining that "for the past 44 years we have continued as the legitimate government" and setting forth "the terms under which the Polish Government-in-Exile would cease to function". An ardent anti-communist he was a supporter of the Western Goals Institute

Western Goals Institute

The Western Goals Institute was a conservative pressure group in Britain, re-formed in 1989 from Western Goals UK, which originated in 1985 as an offshoot of the U.S. Western Goals Foundation...

 and was present at their dinner at Simpson's-in-the-Strand

Simpson's-in-the-Strand

Simpson's-in-the-Strand is one of London's oldest traditional English restaurants. Situated in the Strand, it is part of the Savoy Buildings, which also contain one of the world's most famous hotels, the Savoy....

 on 25 September 1989 for El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

's President, Alfredo Cristiani

Alfredo Cristiani

Alfredo Félix Cristiani Burkard, popularly known as Alfredo Cristiani was President of El Salvador from 1989 to 1994....

, and his inner cabinet.

Starting in 1984, he held the title of professor at Polish University Abroad

Polish University Abroad

The Polish University Abroad, or Polish University in Exile , was initially established in Paris, France, in 1939 with the aim of maintaining Polish education while Poland was occupied. With the fall of France, it was re-established by the Polish government in exile in London, England.The Polish...

 and, from 1983 to 1991, was a Christian Democratic member of the exile-based National Council of Poland

National Council of Poland

National Council of Poland was a consulting and expert body of the Polish government in exile and Polish president. The first council was formed in December 1939 and was disbanded in July 1941 in protest to the signing of the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement. It was reactivated in February 1942, but...

. His final official post, from 1991 to 1997, was as president of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain

Federation of Poles in Great Britain

The Federation of Poles in Great Britain is an organisation established to promote the interests of the Polish ethnic minority in Great Britain, and to promote Polish history and culture among the British people....

.

Zygmunt Szkopiak died in London seven weeks before his 76th birthday.