Hailing from Rogozno in Poland, Pszybylski earnt a degree and gained work as a Research Assistant at the University Observatory in Posnan. When World War II broke out, he served as an artillery officer but was taken as a prisoner-of-war by the Nazis. In 1941, he escaped Mecklenberg camp where he was being held and travelled by train and foot to Switzerland. There he completed more study and gained a Doctorate in Technical Sciences.

In 1950, he emigrated to Australia where he worked digging trenches for cables. It was then that a government official passed on his credentials to Richard Woolley, Director at Mount Stromlo Observatory. And for the next 28 years, Przybylski would spend his career working in astronomy.

On arrival at Mount Stromlo, he was christened 'Bill Smith' by his new chums, who struggled with the multiple consonants in his birth name. 

Przybylski was the first candidate awarded a PhD from the Australian National University in 1954. Six years later, on Mount Stromlo, he discovered a star with a peculiar make-up (an Ap star) - an over-abundance of most rare-earth elements but an under-abundance of more common ones like iron.

The star was named in his honour - it is also known as HD 101065 and can be found in the Centaurus constellation in the southern skies. 

Antoni Przybylski was described as warm-hearted, generous and deeply religious. He died in Canberrra in 1986.