Nina Videl was born in Warsaw in 1888. She was the daughter of Emil Videl, a well-known lawyer. (Videl is sometimes spelled Weydel or Waydel.)
While visiting Paris with her father and sister, she met George Fudakowski, an engineer who was living and working there. In 1910 Nina and George were married in Warsaw, but soon returned to Paris.
In 1911 their daughter, Maria Renata (Rena) was born. Later that year, the family returned to Warsaw, according to the wishes of Nina and her father, who wanted to have her and her family nearer to him. George took a job with Westinghouse in Warsaw and later with Siemens, a large German electrical manufacturer.
In 1914 the war intervened in their lives and the family, who were vacationing in the German-controlled Baltic Sea area, suddenly found themselves unable to return to Russian-controlled Warsaw. With the help of Nina's father, however, the family was able to return to Poland by way of Sweden, Norway, and Russia.
Their son, Zygmunt Jan, was born in Warsaw on May 12, 1915. Shortly thereafter, the Germans advanced on and took the city, creating an untenable situation for George. He left with the departing Russians to settle in St. Petersburg. There he was again able to obtain a position at Westinghouse as an engineer.
Separated from her husband, Nina became active with the Polish Relief Committee but fell victim to an epidemic of scarlet fever. She died on December 18, 1915 at the age of 27. Due to poor communications during the war, George did not learn of her death until a year later. The children went to live with Nina's younger sister, Jadwiga, and their father.
Additional source: Zygmunt's Reminiscences, 1989
Fudakowski-Krajewski family home