Zbigniew Alexandre Pełczyński (known to his students as ZAP) was born in Warsaw in 1925, educated under German occupation, served in the Polish Resistance as a teenager and survived the Warsaw Uprising – only just.

He came to Britain and to Oxford in 1946 with the British Army and chose to stay. It was ten years or more before he saw his mother and brother again.

He learnt English in Gateshead, gained a First in Philosophy at Aberdeen University and returned to Oxford for his MA, PhD and then to teach. he had short spells at each of Balliol and Merton Colleges before tenure at Pembroke from 1957 to 1992 where he become known as a much admired teacher and tutor of Philosophy, Politics and East European History.

He is survived by his three children and three grandchildren.