Marcel Weyland's family fled Poland at the outbreak of the Second World War and escaped through Russia to Japan and eventually to Shanghai, where they were held in a Japanese internment camp. They arrived in Sydney after the war. Weyland studied architecture and later undertook a law degree. He also began to translate into English the Polish epic poem Pan Tadeusz, by Adam Mickiewicz. The translation project occupied Weyland for many years until it was finally ready for publication in 2004. In 2008 Weyland received a Medal of the Order of Australia 'for service to the Polish community in Australia and internationally through the preservation and promotion of Polish cultural heritage, particularly literature.'
[Sources: 'It's an Honour: Australia Celebrating Australians' (http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/index.cfm); 'Marcel Weyland's Story' (http://www.pantadeusz.zoomshare.com/); and Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz, translator Marcel Weyland, Blackheath: Verand Press, 2004.]
