Alfred von Niezychowski
Lieutenant Alfred von Niezychowski aboard the German liner Kronprinz Wilhelm
Alfred political candidate for public office.
Childhood
Niezychowski was born near
Nieżychowski (1851-1897) and Lucia (Łucja) Taczanowska
(1862-1917).
Niezychowski's father died when he was nine years old. Two years later, his mother, now 37 years old, married the 29-year-old Count
Polish Army.[2]
Career
As an adult, Niezychowski joined the German
Prinzess Irene in 1914, before being transferred to his most famous assignment, the German passenger liner Kronprinz Wilhelm, where he held the rank of lieutenant. He was later promoted to lieutenant commander in the German naval reserve and became second in command. The ship was one of the fastest in the world, having won the Blue Riband
a few years earlier for the fastest-ever Atlantic crossing, in 5 days, 11 hours, and 57 minutes.
Germany entered
US Navy. Renamed the USS Von Steuben, she was turned into a troopship
.
American citizenship
Despite officially being a prisoner of the United States, Niezychowski was evidently quite a popular storyteller among influential Americans, partially because he was the nephew of Baron
Washington DC, where he was welcomed into diplomatic and society circles.[4] He was also president of the Polish American Navigation Company of New York.[1]
In October 1923, Niezychowski became engaged to marry Nanine H. Ulman (1896-1972), a
Green Spring Valley, and great grandniece of President Thomas Jefferson.[1]
Having renounced his European titles, Niezychowski became an American citizen in January 1926; the affianced couple married on December 27, 1927, with Admiral
best man.[5]
After their wedding, Niezychowski and his wife moved to
Detroit, Michigan, where he entered the business world;[5] He first worked as a salesman with a printing and advertising company, and later with the Seldon & Johnson real estate firm. In 1928, he published a book about the Kronprinz Wilhelm's 251-day adventure, and gave lectures on the subject.[6] He was known for signing autographs with green ink, and one of his lecture taglines was that of all of the ships that had been sunk during the ship's wartime duty, it had never caused the loss of a single human life. The capturing and sinking had been done in a very civilized, even courteous, manner. Passengers who had been taken aboard from a captured vessel were often given first class accommodations aboard the ex-passenger-liner/commerce-raider (members of the crew[vague
] until they could be transferred to another ship).
In 1932, while in the investment brokerage business, Niezychowski ran as a
Michigan First District. He was a staunch Democrat, and wanted to fight for the immediate repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, as well as lowering tariff laws to restore foreign trade. However, he lost in the primary election to George G. Sadowski.[7]
Niezychowski and Nanine had no biological children, though Niezychowski did become guardian for the children of his half-brother Count
, to obtain visas so that the orphaned children could enter the United States in the 1940s. They were:- Count Stanley Dunin, who later participated in a NASA project, launching the world's first geosynchronous communications satellite
- Countess Magda Dunin Hirata, who later married Japanese-American scientist Arthur Hirata
- Countess Christine Dunin Zika, later the mother of noted botanist Peter Zika
In 1964, Niezychowski died in Michigan, and was buried in Mount Elliott Cemetery in Grosse Pointe.
Works
- Count Alfred von Niezychowski, The Cruise of the Kronprinz Wilhelm, 1928, Doubleday & Company, with introductions by Admiral Walter McLean (commandant of the Virginia Norfolk Navy Yard where the Kronprinz Wilhelm was interned), and Count Felix von Luckner.
Notable relatives
- hrabia (Count) and listed in the Polish Biographical Dictionary, a Who's Whoof Poland.
- Baron Ladislaus Hengelmüller von Hengervár, longtime Austro-Hungarian ambassador to the United States, was Alfred's uncle by one of his father's sisters.
- Alfons Taczanowski, hereditary member of the Prussian House of Lords, was Alfred's great-uncle on his mother's side.
- Edward Werner, Polish vice-Finance Minister, was the father-in-law of Alfred's brother, Antoni Dunin.
- Antoni Dunin, Alfred's younger half-brother, was a Polish army officer killed in 1939, and recipient of the Virtuti Militari award (similar to the American Medal of Honor).
References
- ^ a b c d e "Engaged to Count Von Niezochowski". The New York Times. October 30, 1923. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Alfred Niezychowski, 75, Served on German Raider" (PDF). www.elonka.com. June 17, 1964. Retrieved January 22, 2017. Image of a page from The New York Times.
- ^ Frederick Wallis at genealogyimagesofhistory.com[dead link]
- ^ a b "Miss Ulman Weds Count". The New York Times. December 28, 1927. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ "Count Alfred von Niezychowski : in his thrilling lecture". sdrcdata.lib.uiowa.edu. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2017.]
- ^ "Nicholson-brown to Nile". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (May 2012) |
- Time. January 9, 1928. (subscription required)
- Review of The Cruise of the Kronprinz Wilhelm[permanent dead link] in The Nation, Volume 130, Issue # 3365, January 1, 1930.[dead link]
- (in Portuguese) Grandes Guerras - Os grandes conflitos do seculo XX. Archived March 23, 2005, at the Wayback Machine (Major conflicts of the 20th century)
- "Polish Nobleman, W.W. I Sea Raider, Dies", June 16, 1964, Detroit Times
- "We Congratulate . . .", June 28, 1941, Detroit Free Press
- Obituary, June 1964, Grosse Pointe News
- "Former Nobleman Runs for Seat in Congress", July 27, 1932, Detroiter
- "Alfred Niezychowski". Chicago Tribune. June 16, 1964.
External links
- Family tree maintained by great-niece Elonka Dunin.
- "Capital District Kiwanis History", Baltimore, Maryland, 1930 (includes a mention of Niezychowski in the annual minutes, listing him as "second in command" of the Kronprinz Wilhelm). Archived February 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- Alfred Niezychowski's male line of ancestors (Polish surname was Nieżychowski)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
Categories:
- Michigan Democrats
- German sailors
- Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I
- German people of World War I
- Counts of Germany
- 20th-century Polish nobility
- People from the Province of Posen
- Military personnel from Poznań
- German people of Polish descent
- 1888 births
- 1964 deaths
- Polish emigrants to the United States
- Businesspeople from Detroit
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- 20th-century American male writers