Jerzy (George) Zubrzycki was born in Krakow, Poland on 12 January 1920. After serving in the army and with the Polish underground movement he evacuated to Britain in June 1940 where he served with the Polish Parachute Brigade, and the Polish Section of the Special Operations Executive. In September 1945 Zubrzycki began studies at the London School of Economics, graduating in 1952 with a MScEcon in population studies. He then enrolled and completed a PhD at the Free Polish University in London. In 1955 Zubrzycki accepted a post as Research Fellow in the Department of Demography, Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University. He continued to work at the ANU as a Senior Fellow in Sociology, RSSS, from 2 March 1959 and Professorial Fellow from 9 July 1965. He was founding Professor of the Department of Sociology in the Faculty of Arts in 1970. He wrote extensively on immigration, conducted research and collected population statistics influential in shaping government policies on immigration and multiculturalism. Zubrzycki was involved in a number of organisations and government bodies including the Australian Ethnic Affairs Council, the Australian Immigration Advisory Council, the National Multicultural Advisory Council, Australian Aid to Poland, the World Health Organisation Fourth World Project, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican and the National Museum of Australia. Zubrzycki retired from the ANU in 1986. He died in Canberra on 20 May 2009.