Count Michael Gaszynski

ENCINITAS ---- Count Michael Gaszynski was a diplomat, restaurateur, painter and a translator for Winston Churchill, but, for the last 52 years of his life, he was foremost a devoted husband to his wife, Viviana, a caregiver said Monday. "Even when Count Gaszynski was on his death bed, he always thought about his wife first and for her concerns," said Daniel Scott, who met the artist and diplomat more than two years ago, through the Hospice of the North Coast. Most recently, Scott, owner of the Agape' Senior Service in Carlsbad, helped to transport the Gaszynskis around North County. Michael Gaszynski died in his sleep on Aug. 6. He was 96. The couple moved to Encinitas in 1986, as they entered the final phase of their life together. There, Gaszynski joined the San Dieguito Art Guild and continued working in art, painting watercolors while she sculpted in alabaster. At his 91st birthday party, Gaszynski told reporters that although his eyesight was declining and that his brushstrokes were becoming looser, his passion and inspiration for crafting painting had not diminished. He enjoyed painting watercolors of the streets of Warsaw, Poland, or the sidewalks of Carlsbad, because they were "spontaneous" compared with oils, which had to dry out. A North County Times story published in April 2002 gave many of the details of Gaszynski's colorful life: The artist was born in Warsaw, Poland, on April 2, 1911. His family narrowly escaped the Russian Revolution in 1917. After World War I, in the Polish resort town of Zakopanae, he skied to school while a French nanny and preparatory education in Belgium taught him fluency in seven languages. Shortly before Hitler invaded Poland, his family moved to France and he was hired by Britain's Cunard White Star Line, which had ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean. In London, Gaszynski was an interpreter for the Polish government in exile, often working directly with Winston Churchill as an interpreter for the Polish consul general's press attache. He arrived in San Francisco in 1945 as a diplomat representing Poland at the United Nations Conference. Within two years, Gaszynksi moved to Hollywood and opened Michael's Cheesecake at the Farmers Market, which generated publicity and profits. Soon, the self-described "Cheesecake King" appeared on TV and on the pages of magazines and newspapers in photographs standing aside celebrities as varied as Miss Poland and Marilyn Monroe. As his interest in art grew, American Artist Magazine awarded him for his black-and-white brush drawings in 1950. A year later, he was appointed director of the newly established Huntington Hartford Foundation for artists and married Viviana Prichard, a sculptor from Santa Monica. Gaszynski's artwork has been acquired by such notable personalities as acclaimed pianist Arthur Rubinstein, Charlton Heston and Gregory Peck. A memorial service for Gaszynski will be held at sea at 10 a.m. Aug. 23, at the Oceanside Harbor. Contact staff writer J. Stryker Meyer at (760) 901-4089 or jmeyer@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.