THE RIGHTEOUS, REV KONRAD RUDNICKI, DIES AT 87

Konrad Rudnicki was a professor of astronomy and theology, a clergyman and theologoist of the Mariavite Old Catholic Church and from 1979, Minister General of the Mariavite Congregation. In 1996, together with his mother Maria, he was honoured with the title of Righteous Among the Nations. During the War, they helped the Jewish Weintraub family, with whom they were on friendly terms. Among other help, they hid members of the family in their home and arranged false papers for them.

After the War, Konrad Rudnicki recommenced his studies in astronomy at Warsaw University. For a dozen or so years, he worked at the Warsaw University Astromonical Observatory, and then, from 1968 at the Jagiellońian University in Kraków. In 1965, he discovered a comet which was named C/1966 T1 Rudnicki. He made this discovery while he worked at the American Palomar Observatory. It was the first comet to be discovered by a Pole after the War. He also conducted research at the Vatican Astroncomical Observatory at Castel Gandolfo.