Andrzej Stelmachowski, long time head of the Association of the Polish Community Abroad and advisor to president Lech Kaczynski on the affairs of Poles resident in foreign countries, has died at the age of 84.

A lawyer by profession, professor Stelmachowski was also an active member of the anti-communist opposition and one of the initiators of the 1989 Round Table debates which paved the way for democracy and free market transformations in Poland. He also held the post of Senate Speaker in its first term and served as National Education Minister in the conservative right government of Jan Olszewski.

Andrzej Stelmachowski was the author of over 160 book publications and scientific works. He was the holder of honorary doctor’s degrees of a number of prestigious academic centers, including the Sorbonne in Paris, the University in Ferrara or the Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski Catholic University in Warsaw.