Re: Marek Zawadowski

[Robin Cockett <robin@ucalgary.ca>]

Let me add my condolences and shock to hear of Marek's death.

I first met Marek in about 1986 -- I think he was a student in Warsaw at the time. I had been invited to talk at the Banach Center by Helena Rasiowa -- my connection to the formidable Helena was actually through her son Zbigniew Ras.  Helena led an effort to keep Polish mathematicians and computer scientists in touch with their western counterparts despite being part of the soviet union ... often through invitations to the Banach Center.

Needless to say I was very excited to travel behind the iron curtain.  Helena had appointed a "chaperone" for me: being rather ignorant I assumed it might be a member of the communist party and a requirement for visitors.  It was, however, Marek!  Not at all communist! Helena knew I was interested in category theory and had paired me accordingly.

At that time it was usual to get some local currency of the country before you travelled there:  I recall going to the bank (in the US) and being told that there was "no exchange rate" for zloti.   So when I arrived at the airport in Warsaw I naively had first in mind to get zloti.  There was a booth to exchange  money so I exchanged some dollars and got what I thought must be a very generous exchange rate.   Marek met me at the gate and the first thing he said was "I hope you did not exchange any money! They give a terrible exchange rate!"  ...  I instantly knew that I could trust Marek!

In fact, the Banach institute gave me a generous stipend in zloti and there was no need to exchange any money.

Marek was an excellent host and introduced me to a Warsaw ... still behind the iron curtain.  Lech Welesa was in prison at that time. The first experience of Soviet life (in  winter) was to discover that the communal hot water did not work as pipes from the power station had burst (actually no one said what happened or even would admit that the system had broken).   I recall Helena -- the realist -- making arrangements so that participants could have a bath in another quarter of the city.

At the end of the meeting I still had a huge amount of zloti so Marek took me shopping.   This was an interesting experience as it consisted of joining queues to find out what they were queuing for!  Needless to say I could not spend all my zloti so I ended up giving them to Marek.   I learned that university staff were not really paid a living wage so these perks (and visiting positions in the US -- often brokered by Helena) were essential.

I was always delighted to see Marek at (Category Theory) conferences and will greatly miss him.

-robin
(Robin Cockett)








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