Stanislaw Kadziewicz '77, a former librarian at Widener Library and an analyst for Radio Free Europe, died December 5 in Munich, Germany. He was 38.
Friends said yesterday that Kadziewicz was an involved member of Harvard's Polish-American community, even while he worked overseas.
"He was not only bright, he was a beautiful human being," said Slavic Librarian in the College Library Grazyne Slanda, a friend and former co-worker of Kadziewicz's.
Kadziewicz was a specialist in the economies of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He was born in Barczewo, Poland, and was 12 years old when his family moved to South-bridge, Mass.
"He never lost touch with his former country," said Slanda.
At Harvard, Kadziewicz exposed many people to Polish music through weekly radio programs at WHRB, the campus radio station. Marek Zebrowski, a New England Conservatory alumnus who worked with Kadziewicz at the station, remembered Kadziewicz searching through the city for rare Polish records.
"He always knew that whatever he would be doing would have to do with Poland," Zebrowski said.
Kadziewicz graduated cum laude from Harvard and went on to earn a degree from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law in 1982.
His "dual identity" as a Polish-American was one of the qualities many of his friends remembered. His job at Radio Free Europe, which broadcasts Western news and entertainment to Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union, marked the culmination of a career in Polish-American relations. Kadziewicz also worked as an interpreter for the U.S. embassy in Warsaw from 1978 to 1979.
Kadziewicz began to work for the Slavic Department of Widener as an undergraduate, and returned from 1981-1984. During that time, he also serving as an advisor to first-year students.
After his move to Germany, he vis- Friends said he had planned to come home onOctober 15 of this year, when his health suddenlycollapsed. He died of a brain tumor. Kadziewicz is survived by his parents, Waclawand Wladyslawa (Wojtyto) Kadziewicz ofSouthbridge, and a sister, Theresa, of Worcester. The funeral was held Tuesday in St. Hedwig'sChurch in Southbridge
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