Quick Facts
Biography
Michał Tyszkiewicz (25 May 1903 - 21 March 1974) was a Polish diplomat and songwriter. An heir to the once mighty Tyszkiewicz family, he is best known as the husband of Hanka Ordonówna, a star of Polish pre-war cinema and stages. Following the Soviet occupation of Vilna, Tyszkiewicz and Ordonówna were both arrested by the NKVD. Separated, they were reunited in Persia following their release after the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement. As part of the Anders' Army the couple organised evacuation of Polish children from USSR concentration camps to India. Tyszkiewicz also briefly served as the first secretary of the Polish Embassy in Tehran. After the war he could not return to Soviet-controlled Poland. The couple adopted Jan Tyszkiewicz, son of Michał Tyszkiewicz's brother, who had been murdered by the NKVD in 1940. Michał Tyszkiewicz died 21 March 1974 in Munich.