At the age of 82, Walter Wiesław Gołębiewski, President of the World Research Council on the Polish Diaspora, Vice President of the Coalition of Polish Americans, and head of the “Gazeta Polska” Club in Clearwater, Florida, has passed away.
Walter Wiesław Gołębiewski was born on October 28, 1942, in Warsaw. He graduated from the Adam Mickiewicz High School No. IV in Warsaw. In 1965, he received a master’s degree in economics and later pursued studies in numerous faculties at universities in the United States.
From 1976, he worked as an expert for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). In the 1980s, he emigrated to the United States, where he became deeply involved in the social and political life of the Polish community. He was active as a publicist, author of about 200 articles and several books devoted to the issues of traditional values of Polish republicanism.
In 2013, he published his autobiography Memoirs of an Emigrant Against the Backdrop of Postwar Polish Reality.
Since 2007, Walter Wiesław Gołębiewski had served as president of the World Research Council on the Polish Diaspora, through which he organized numerous academic conferences dedicated to Poles living abroad. From 2017, he served as Vice President for Polish Affairs of the Coalition of Polish Americans. Since 2019, he had been chairman of the “Gazeta Polska” Club in Clearwater, Florida. He was also co-founder and the first vice president of the World Association “Republica Polonia.” He was a member of many historical, social, and political associations and organizations.
For many years, Walter Wiesław Gołębiewski was also active in sports. Since 1984, he was involved in American road cycling, and in the same year became a member of the management team of the U.S. national cycling squad at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. From 1989 to 1994, he was head coach of Canada’s national road cycling team.
In 2018, he was awarded the Cross of the Polish Diaspora.
Walter Wiesław Gołębiewski died suddenly on August 20, 2025, at his home in Florida.
He is survived by his wife Elżbieta and his son Artur with his family.
Expressions of deepest sympathy and words of comfort for the entire family have been extended by Tomasz Sakiewicz, Editor-in-Chief of Gazeta Polska; Ewa Wójcik, President of the “Gazeta Polska” Clubs; Paweł Piekarczyk, Coordinator of Foreign “Gazeta Polska” Clubs; Tadeusz Antoniak, Coordinator of the “Gazeta Polska” Clubs in the United States; and the Members of the “Gazeta Polska” Clubs.
For the repose of the soul of the late Walter Wiesław Gołębiewski, a perpetual Holy Mass has been ordered at the Chapel of the Miraculous Icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa at Jasna Góra.