Research and dissemination of the innovative economic and social achievements of the Gazolina Company in the Second Republic of Poland
Multimedia
Videos
Films made as part of the Project „Research and dissemination of the innovative economic and social achievements of the Gasoline Company in the Second Republic”.”-published on the YouTube channel.
> „Gazolina. Visionaries from the Borderlands” - Report by editor Anna Kurzępa, produced by TVP3 Lublin as part of an educational-media campaign in cooperation with the Independence Foundation on the occasion of a scientific conference entitled. „Joint work, joint yield. The success of the Gazolina fuel company in the Second Republic,” which took place at the Catholic University of Lublin on October 9-10, 2023. The on-air premiere took place on October 21, 2023 on TVP3 Lublin.
The film consists of four episodes, up to 21 minutes in length - featuring experts and descendants of Gazolina's founders, illustrated with documents, archival photographic and film footage.
The episodes are devoted respectively to the following topics: 1/ Eng. Marian Wieleżyński - Co-founder of Gazolina company, originator of ideas and business and market solutions; creator of the idea of employee participation in company ownership
2/ Eng. Władysław Szaynok - Co-founder of Gazolina company, author of technical solutions and legal initiatives (gas transmission in the Republic under state control)
3/ Employee share ownership - the idea of participation of Employees in the ownership of the enterprise; effective protection against the takeover of a dynamically developing Polish enterprise by competitors with foreign capital
4/ Institute „Methane” - innovative „think-tank” brought to life by the founders of the „Gazolina” Company together with their friend from Lviv Polytechnic, the world-famous electrochemist, Professor Ignacy Moscicki. The innovative scientific institution from the years of the Second Republic still has a continuation today in the form of the leading Institute of Industrial Chemistry in Warsaw, part of the „Lukasiewicz” scientific network.
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 N. Turkiewicz, Lublin 2024.
A selection of archival photographs and documents collected as a result of the project
School certificate of Walerian Wieleżyński, father of Marian (co-founder of Gazolina company). Stanislawow 1841 / Photo: Brwinow ArchivesPortrait photograph of Walerian Wieleżyński, father of Marian (co-founder of the Gazolina company). Chernivtsi, 1870s / Photo: Brwinów ArchiveNatural gas, accompanying oil drilling, was treated as a hazardous waste from the beginning of the Boryslav Basin - and was burned, near the dense mines, in tall tubular „flares.” / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesThe building of Lviv Polytechnic, at 12 Leon Sapieha St. Here, at the then c.k. Polytechnic School in Lviv, they began their studies Wladyslaw Szaynok (1895) and Marian Wieleżyński (1897) / Photo (period postcard) National Library /POLONAMarian Wieleżyński (on the right) with his older brother Alexander - began studying at the Lviv Polytechnic School in 1897 / Photo: Brwinów ArchiveWladyslaw Szaynok's Certificate of Government Examination (first) at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the c.k. Polytechnic School in Lviv (1897) / Photo: Szaynok Family Archive Certificate of the Second Government Examination of Wladyslaw Szaynek at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the c.k. Polytechnic School in Lviv on July 19, 1899, obverse. / Photo: Szaynok Family ArchiveCertificate of the Second Government Examination of Wladyslaw Szaynek at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the c.k. Polytechnic School in Lviv, July 19, 1899, reverse side. / Photo: Szaynok Family ArchiveCertificate of membership of engineer Wladyslaw Szaynok to the Municipality of the City of Rzeszow in the Kingdom of Galicia, (1902) / Photo: Szaynok Family ArchiveBrothers Władysław and Józef Szaynok. The Szaynok family came to Rzeszow from Hungary in the first half of the 19th century. / Photo: Szaynok Family ArchiveEng. Marian Wieleżyński graduated from the Vienna University of Technology. He was expelled from the Lviv university for his political and independence involvement (he belonged to the PPS). In Vienna he was counted among the most talented students, which was confirmed by the university authorities awarding him a medal and a distinction for the best thesis in 1901. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesStanislaw Siedlecki, father of Jadwiga (later wife of Marian Wieleżyński). January insurgent and exile. Portrait photograph from the end of the 19th century / Photo: Brwinów ArchiveEng. Marian Wieleżyński married Jadwiga, née Siedlecka, a month after graduating - on August 29, 1901. It took place in a church in Zlotopol (now part of Kyiv). Pictured: with his fiancée and her siblings - from left Jadwiga Siedlecka, Marian Wieleżyński, Wanda Siedlecka, Stanisław Siedlecki (standing), Ludwik Siedlecki. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesJadwiga Wieleżyńska (n/z with her husband during her first pregnancy) was very active in the underground „job” of courier of the PPS Fighting Organization. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesWladyslaw Szaynok married Jadwiga d'Abancourt, a talented pianist and graduate of the Vienna Conservatory, in 1921. Pictured: second from right. Photo taken in 1905, in the piano class of the Galician Music Society in Lviv. / Photo: Szaynok Family Archive„Oil-City” shaft fire. The explosion and fire of the „Oil City” shaft in Boryslav in the summer of 1908 was one of the most important dates in the development of the Boryslav Basin. The fight against it lasted more than a month. Marian Wielezynski had an additional argument for the validity of his, conducted for several years, calls for sensible management of gas, which was treated in the kerosene mines at the time only as dangerous waste. / Photo: National Digital ArchiveTitle page (frame) of the historical technical documentation of the Tustanovice-Drohobych gas compressor station and gas pipeline, designed and implemented in 1912 by the „Natural Gas Plant of Eng. Marian Wieleżynski”. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesTustanovice-Drohobych gas pipeline - file documentation. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesTustanovice-Drohobych gas pipeline - technical documentation. Natural gas compressor station; water cooler. On the project stamp and signature of Eng. Wladyslaw Szaynek. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesTustanovice-Drohobych gas pipeline - planning documentation. Copy of the cadastral map and cross-section of the sewer. On the project stamp and signature Eng. by Wladyslaw Szaynok. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesTustanovice-Drohobych gas pipeline - planning documentation (frame). Plan of the Gas Compressor Station in Tustanovice. On the project stamp and signature of Eng. Wladyslaw Szaynok. / Photo: Brwinów ArchiveSeal of Marian Wielezynski: „Konces. biuro instalacyjne dla zużytowania gazu ziemnego INŻ. MARYAN WIELEŻYŃSKI Drohobycz-Borysław.”; with signature - on the design documentation for the Tustanowice-Drohobycz natural gas pipeline, 1912. (in Brwinów Archives)/ Photo: Maciej SzymczakSeal of Wladyslaw Szaynek, government-authorized engineer of machine building and factory structures in Rzeszow; with signature - on design documentation of the Tustanovice-Drohobych Natural Gas Compressor Station, 1912. (in the Brwinów Archives) / Photo: Maciej SzymczakMarian Wieleżyński (left) and Władysław Szaynok aboard the steamer „Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse” on their way from Hamburg to New York at the invitation of the American company Ingersoll Rand, spring 1913. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesThe gate of Europe's first gasoline factory - here already as Gazolina S.A. Gasoline Factory No. 1 was launched in the spring of 1914 and operated until 1930, producing initially 2 wagons of gasoline per month, and by the end of its operation, 8 wagons. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesTenement house at 3 Leon Sapieha Street in Lviv (now Stepan Bandera). Since 1916 it has been the headquarters of the company of Marian Wielezynski and Wladyslaw Szaynek, eventually - also of the Gazolina S.A. company. / Photo: Serhii Khomiak/ Shutterstock.comExcerpt from Wladyslaw Szaynek's letter to Marian Wielezynski, dated July 14, 1913, testifying to his interest in cooperation with Ignacy Moscicki, supported by the author's interesting opinion of the outstanding chemist and future President of Poland: - Moscicki (a very friendly and understanding professor) took a great interest in natural gas and declared his readiness to cooperate in this business. In the matter of carbon black and gasoline, one can expect from him considerable assistance. (...) / Photo: Professor Ignacy Moscicki Institute of Industrial ChemistryAction of the company „Interurban Gas Pipelines.” This state-private joint-stock company, founded in 1921, built transmission networks. It was established thanks to the efforts of Wladyslaw Szaynok. / Photo: Collection of the Petroleum and Gas Industry Museum Foundation in BóbrkaAssignments in Gazolin S.A. purchased by Marian Wielezynski. The process of transformation into a joint stock company was carried out in such a way that it was Gaz Ziemny Sp. z ograniczoną poręką that sold its shares held in Gazolina Sp. z o.p. Contracts were concluded with well-known and respected people. In this way, an effort was made to avoid the possibility of such capital coming into Gazolina's possession that could prove to be a became dangerous for further development of the company. / Photo: Central Historical Archives of Ukraine in LvivAssignments in Gazolina S.A. (cadre) purchased by Professor Ignacy Moscicki. The professor was an exceptional figure, which is why the two partners, who had worked closely with the future Polish president for years at the Metan company, decided to personally sign the notarial deed, even though Ignacy Moscicki was acquiring a completely standard shareholding of only 1,000 crowns. / Photo: Central Historical Archive of Ukraine in LvivBronislaw Wojciechowski - from 1923 proxy of Gazolina S.A. and co-creator of its success from the financial and organizational side in the interwar period. There were two signatures on Gazolina's shares: Wieleżyński and Wojciechowski. From 1921 a doctor of laws, with a degree from Jagiellonian University. From 1928 he was a member of the Polish parliament. Pictured here in the uniform of the rotmistrz of the 9th Regiment of Malopolska Lancers. / Photo: Archive of Michał WojciechowskiWedding photo of Bronislaw Wojciechowski and Jadwiga Zaleska. Both combined patriotic attitudes with views close to the socialists of the time. They married in Piotrkow on January 23, 1919, during one of Bronislaw Wojciechowski's frontline vacations. / Photo: Archive of Michał WojciechowskiMarian Wieleżyński with his children - from left: Zbyszek, Leszek, Jadwiga (Lusia) and Ignacy. / Photo: Brwinów Archives (dated1915-1917).Wladyslaw Szaynok with his children Andrew and Anna (1927) / Photo: Szaynok Family ArchiveWladyslaw Szaynok with his son, Andrew (1924) / Photo: Szaynok Family Archive Since 1916, the founders of the capital-connected companies, namely the Natural Gas Plant of Eng. M. Wielezynski and Gazolina Ltd. decided to transfer part of their shares to their employees as well. This was not only due to the desire to raise capital, but also to the ideas and views they had held since their youth so Marian Wieleżyński, as well as Władysław Szaynok. The first comprehensive proposal to regulate the position of Gazolina's permanent employees was implemented by a decision of the General Assembly of Members held on February 25, 1922. The document created, was called the „agreement with permanent employees” and was regularly updated. N/z document of the agreement with permanent employees of Gazolina S.A. dated 1927 / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesJulian Ginda, Gazolina's top fitter. After more than 20 years as a foreman at the company, Julian Ginda held about 1% of Gazolin's capital - with a value equal to about $400,000 in 2020 terms. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesFranciszek Busz (standing on the right), the famous Gazolina driller, to whom belonged the „lucky strike” in the „Pilsudski” shaft, discovering the Daszawa natural gas basin in 1921 / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesThe route of the gas pipeline run by Gazolina S.A. from Dashava, through Stryi, to Lviv (1929). / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesConstruction of a gas pipeline from Dashava to Lviv by the Gazolina S.A. company. (1929). Transporting seven-inch pipes in a Ford truck. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesMarian Wieleżyński talks with Gazolina workers distributing pipes for the construction of a gas pipeline from Daszawa to Lviv (1929). / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesLaying seven-inch pipes of the gas pipeline to Lviv. Gazolina employees and a team of welders hired from Kozlovsky company from Lviv. The Stryi-Lviv gas pipeline with a diameter of 175 mm was built in about three months. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesWelding of a gas pipeline. A team of welders and helpers hired by Gazolina from Kozlovsky Company of Lviv. The gas pipeline from Dashava to Lviv was made of seamless steel pipes, completely butt-welded, with anti-corrosion insulation. Construction involved some natural challenges. The most difficult were crossing the Dniester and Stryi rivers. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesConstruction of a gas pipeline from Dashava to Lviv. Gazolina workers and a team of welders hired from Kozlowski company from Lviv (1929). / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesRunning a gas pipeline from Dashava to Lviv. Building a bridge to cross the Dniester River - from a raft, 7-8 meter holes are drilled for the pillars of the rope bridge (1929). / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesRunning a gas pipeline from Dashava to Lviv. Building a bridge to cross the Dniester River - from a raft, 7-8 meter holes are drilled for the pillars of the rope bridge (1929). / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesRunning a gas pipeline from Dashava to Lviv. Building a bridge to cross the Dniester River - from a raft, 7-8 meter holes are drilled for the pillars of the rope bridge (1929). / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesCompressor room of one of the natural gas compressor stations on the route of the gas pipeline from Daszawa to Lviv (1929). / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesConstruction of a gas pipeline from Dashava to Lviv. Rope bridge for suspension of gas pipeline on the Dniester River near Rozvadov (1929). / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesWheel burners with natural gas supplied by Gazolina S.A. to heat materials for the forge at the steel mill. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesThe „Gazolina I” shaft in Przeclaw on the lands of Count Stanislaw Rey on the Vistula River in the area of the Central Industrial District. In the second half of the 1930s, Gazolina S.A. also began to invest heavily in natural gas exploration outside the Borysław-Drohobych Basin, drilling in the vicinity of Debica, Gorlice and Krosno. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesEng. Jozef Kowalczewski, who headed the work in Daszawa for many years, played a unique role in the development of Gazolina S.A. The sites in Dashava turned out to be a particularly valuable acquisition for the company. When the first shaft named „Pilsudian I” was drilled to a depth of 394 meters in the fall of 1921, it turned out, That gas production of a steady 10 m3 per minute was obtained. Later, already in 1924, after the shaft was deepened to 753 meters, huge deposits were reached natural gas. At the time, these were the largest gas fields in Poland. N/z Standing from right: Dr. Bronislaw Wojciechowski and Eng. Józef Kowalczewski, 2×NN. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesPresentation of innovative rotary drilling, from left: 3×NN, Dr. Bronislaw Wojciechowski, Eng. Józef Kowalczewski (in charge of Gazolina S.A. drilling operations), 8×NN, 1930s / Photo: Brwinów Archive
Gazolina S.A.'s 100-zloty share from 1930 / Photo: Brwinów Archives
„Vladislav” mine - An oil and gas production shaft named after Wladyslaw Szaynok, a partner of the Gazolina company who died in 1928. / Photo: Brwinów Archives„Chodowice I” shaft and the experimental iron sponge smelter „Gazostal”. Since the early 1930s, work was carried out at Gazolin on the method of processing iron ores. Gazolin engineers and technicians, under the direction of Marian Wielezynski, developed an innovative way of reducing iron ores with natural gas (or with the help of gas decomposition products, i.e. hydrogen and carbon) by heating the gas to an appropriate temperature. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesMeeting of the Board of Directors of Gazolina S.A., 1930s. Lviv. Seated from right: Marian Wieleżyński, Eng. Jozef Kowalczewski - member of the Board of Directors, technical director of Gazolina, Dr. Bronislaw Wojciechowski - financial director of Gazolina, NN chairman of the Gazolina Employees Club. / Photo: Brwinów Archives
One of the drilling shafts of the Gazolina S.A. company under construction, late 1920s / Photo: Brwinów Archive
Ignacy Wieleżyński in the villa „Gazolina” in Gdynia, 1930s. The limited liability company established under the leadership of Ignacy Wieleżyński (the eldest son of Marian). „Zaklad Gazowni w Gdyni” carried out the gasification of Gdynia using the innovative „two-gas” technology, combining natural gas (delivered in liquid form, by railroad tank cars) with that obtained from burning coal. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesDawna siedziba „Gazoliny” S.A. w Gdyni Chyloni. / Fot. Wiki; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gdynia,_ Chylo%C5%84ska _112_a.JPG [author: bright63, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 EN].The Wielezynskis at the home of the President of the Republic of Poland, Professor Ignacy Moscicki (1933). From left: Marian and Ignacy Wieleżyński, Prof. Ignacy Moscicki and Leszek and Zbyszek Wieleżyński. / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesMarian Wieleżyński with associates; 25th anniversary of Gazolina S.A. company; Lviv 1937. Photo: Collection of the Oil and Gas Industry Museum Foundation in BóbrkaAdvertising poster of Gazolina S.A., 1930s / Photo: Brwinów Archives
Marian Wieleżyński with his three-year-old granddaughter Ala (Jadwiga Jamróz), ca.1933 / Photo: Brwinów Archive
Baltic cruise aboard the family yacht „Nike II”. Jadwiga Wieleżyńska is seated, Marian Wieleżyński with Nika and Rys on his lap, Hala Wieleżyńska (wife of Ignatius) stands, (1937) / Photo: Brwinów ArchivesThe production head of one of the most efficiently producing Dashava wells, drilled in 1925 by Gazolina S.A. on the grounds of the Congregation of Fathers Salesians and operated continuously until World War II and beyond. / Photo: Brwinów Archives
![Dawna siedziba „Gazoliny” S.A. w Gdyni Chyloni. / Fot. Wiki; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gdynia,_ Chylo%C5%84ska _112_a.JPG[autor: Jasny63, lic. CC BY-SA 3.0 PL]](https://gazolina.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/A_61_Gdynia_siedziba_LR_WWW-1-1024x668.jpg)
