Matthew Lewandowski jewelry dies and papers

Matthew Lewandowski (1932-2011) was a tool and die maker based in Brooklyn who specialized in the production of jewelry. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1932. He grew up as a child soldier as part of the Polish resistance against Nazi Germany. After the war, he studied economics and worked as an administrator setting up factories in Communist Poland. In 1973 he was granted political asylum and moved to the United States with his family. He found work at a Manhattan jewelry factory where he learned the tool and dye making trade. In 1980 he established his own business at 47 Withers Street in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, named Matthew Tool & Dye. Joined by his son George and his daughter Barbara, Lewandowski worked with a close knit group of designers and tool-makers to realize thousands of earring designs for the wholesale market during a career of more than 30 years. He retired in November 2011, and passed away shortly thereafter.

- Marc Ganzglass, Space for Art and Industry (Brooklyn, New York)