Scientific conference

Below is the conference program with links to the bios of the Participants and the content of their speeches - available on the YouTube channel.

Scientific conference „Working together, yielding together - the success of the Gazolina oil company in the Second Republic”.”, was organized by the Independence Foundation together with the Institute of History of the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) and the Center for Research on Polish Organizations Abroad of the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) on October 9-10, 2023 at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin within the framework of the project „Research and dissemination of innovative economic and social achievements of the Gazolina Company in the Second Republic of Poland” subsidized by the Minister of Science and Education under the Science for Society program (identification no.: NdS/550914/2022/2022).

The conference was held under the Honorary Patronage of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda.

It was titled „Joint work - joint yield”, as this slogan reflected the life mission of the founder of „Gazolina”, Eng. Marian Wieleżyński, who was supported in his pioneering work for the Polish energy industry by Eng. Władysław Szaynok. As a result of their actions, the economic development of the company, founded in 1912, from its early years was strengthened by the implementation of the concept that the employees of the company should also become co-owners (employee shareholding).

The scientific conference was the next stage of the Project, preceded by in-depth research of archival materials and documents related to the activities of the „Gazolina” company - conducted by a team of specialists from the Institute of History of the Catholic University of Lublin. The presentation of the research results was an important element of the conference.

It should be noted that one of the main rationales of the Polish founders of Gazolina, who funded their company even before the outbreak of World War I, was that, through a targeted ownership structure, a Polish company with high profitability should be protected from takeover by foreign capital.

The founders of „Gazolina” pursued their, often pioneering, technological and business achievements in close connection with patriotic attitudes. Shaped in the multicultural space of Eastern Lesser Poland and Lviv while they were still under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, they excelled in using the advantages of such an environment to create an enterprise that, with its market success, could support the economy of the resurgent Polish state.

They launched one of the world's first liquid natural gas plants (exported in cylinders, for example, to Belgium and Palestine), brought natural gas from the Boryslav Basin to Lviv by pipeline (1929), and finally, from the early 1930s, gasified the newly emerging city of Gdynia, using modern technology to produce two-gas.

The founders of the „Gazolina” company achieved tremendous market success, all the while closely linking the fate of their company with the economic development of the Second Republic. Presenting the roots of the Polish gas industry, we would like to demonstrate to the recipients of our message also the importance of this sector for Poland's energy security today.

The positive message coming out of the conference refers not only to the important layer of „historical identity” of Poles (the pioneering achievements of Polish engineers at the beginning of the 20th century), but also - by linking it to today's achievements of Polish companies in the energy sector - can help build the „economic patriotism” so badly needed in Poland today. The country's energy security is one of the basic conditions for its effective development.

The conference was accompanied by the publication of two publications by the Independence Foundation, in cooperation with the Publishing House of the Scientific Society of the Catholic University of Lublin: „Working together, yielding together - a report on the twenty-fifth anniversary of S.A. Gasoline 1912-1937” (reprint of the company's 1937 report) and „Working together, harvesting together - the life and work of the wise man.” - Edition IV of the biography of the co-founder of Gazolina S.A., Eng. Marian Wieleżyński, by his son: Lech Wieleżyński (written and published in London in 1985).

The post-conference materials were published in cooperation with the Publishing House of the Scientific Society of the Catholic University of Lublin in the publication Joint work, joint yield. Success of the fuel company „Gazolina” in the Second Republic. Studies and materials from the scientific conference, Lublin 9-10 X 2023, edited by Natalia Turkiewicz, Lublin 2024.

All publications are available free of charge in the „Downloadable” of this website, as PDF files. You can also read them online at „Multimedia„.

Since the beginning of the project, the Independence Foundation has been cooperating with descendants of Gazolina company co-founders scattered around the world, including those affiliated with the Gazolina Wieleżyński Association. Descendants of Gazolina co-founders also took part in the Lublin conference.

Conference program (interactive)