Stefan Tyszkiewicz

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Stefan Eugeniusz Tyszkiewicz
Stetysz, 1st Krechowce Uhlan Regiment, Polish Red Cross, Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Tyszkiewicz Family Crest
Landwarów

Stefan Eugeniusz Tyszkiewicz, in Polish, Stefan Eugeniusz Maria Tyszkiewicz-Łohojski z Landwarowa,

Polish National Council
in London. He was an internationally feted inventor to the end of his life.

Background

Lentvaris Manor, Lithuania

Stefan was the first born son, and second child of four, of Count Władysław

Oxford University
.

World War I and the Russian Revolution

He was in Poland, during his first summer vacation from Oxford, when World War I was declared. He was never to return to the dreaming spires, but volunteered instead for the Russian branch of the

St Petersburg. From late 1916 he was adjutant to Gen. Grand Duke Nikolay Romanov, commander-in-chief of the Caucasus Army. He met the step-daughter of Grand Duke Nikolay, who was herself related to several royal houses of Europe, Princess Elena of Leuchtenberg (1892–1971). She was the daughter of George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg and Princess Anastasia of Montenegro. They married in Yalta in July 1917.[2] The couple had one surviving child, Countess Natalia Tyszkiewicz (1921–2003), who was to spend much of her later life in Switzerland.[3]

Tyszkiewicz and his wife were in

Lloyd George
, to rescue them.

1920s

After a brief stay in Italy, the Tyszkiewicz returned to their Lentvaris Manor in 1919. Shortly after, the Polish–Bolshevik war broke out and Tyszkiewicz volunteered for the cavalry in the

Ecole centrale des arts et manufactures
on automotive technology.

Ralf Stetysz

Main article: Ralf-Stetysz
Advert for the Stetysz car from 1928.

In 1924 he began working on a project to design a car with the idea of developing motorised road transport in Poland. He founded a partnership for the purpose in Boulogne-Billancourt, a Paris suburb. He named it Automobiles Ralf Stetysz (a contraction of his name with the acronym in Polish of: Rolniczo Automobilowo-Lotnicza Fabryka Stefana Tyszkiewicza, translating as: the 'Agricultural-Aero-Automotive Factory of Stefan Tyszkiewicz'). His prototype vehicle used an American engine of the Continental Motors Company. The aim was to construct an all terrain passenger carrier adapted to a very poor road infra-structure and easy to maintain and repair. In 1925 he succeeded in producing two models:

  • The model TC with a 6-cylinder engine of 2760 cm³ capacity and 42 horsepower
  • The model TA with a 4-cylinder engine of 1500 cm³ capacity and 20 horsepower.[4]

The car was exhibited at both the 1926 and 1927 international

Catherine the Great
.

On 11 February 1929, the Warsaw factory was destroyed by fire. Six completed cars were lost and 27 nearing completion. One or two were saved. Tyszkiewicz intended to restart production at his estate in Lentvaris, but failed to convince the shareholders of the 'Stetysz' company. In all, 200 Ralf Stetysz vehicles had been produced. So after the fire, Tyszkiewicz resigned himself to importing

Motorisation
in Poland.

World War II

The outbreak of war in 1939 found him and his family on the territory of the Lithuanian republic, where he was involved in converting petrol engines into gas-powered ones, owing to the petrol shortage. Thanks to his contacts with the Italian legation in Lithuania, he helped Poles escape the conflict. After the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union in June 1940, Tyszkiewicz was arrested and taken to Moscow where he was invited to collaborate with the

Italian units fighting on the Allied side. During the Italian campaign he was director of the Red Cross in Anders' Army.[6] During the buildup to the Battle of Monte Cassino, he invented a mechanism for discovering and destroying non-magnetic anti-personnel mines. His regiment was awarded the Virtuti Militari
Order.

Post-War years

Having reached the UK with Anders' army after the cessation of hostilities, Tyszkiewicz settled in London. In 1949, with

Wilno – 'Lviv and Vilnius', a campaigning publication following the Soviet annexation of these two ethnically diverse cities in the Second Polish Republic and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of their residents, some of whom had found refuge in Britain.[7] His war time alliances drew him to the Poles settled in the UK, but his wife preferred to live in Rome where he visited often. Meanwhile, his daughter chose to live in Geneva and Broż reports that when they met, they conversed in Russian. The family had a villa in Antibes.[8]

In the 1950s Tyszkiewicz did a stint in

Geneva Motor Show
in 1974.

Tyszkiewicz had a long-standing interest in aeronautics and collaborated with the former European Launcher Development Organisation, on load-bearing rockets, and was later connected to the European Space Research Organisation and European Space Agency projects.

He belonged to the Polish National Council. which advised the Polish Government in exile. He was a

Knight of Malta and was elected on three occasions to its Grand Council.[10] Stefan Tyszkiewicz died in London in 1976 and was buried in the family plot at London's Brompton Cemetery
.

See also

References

  1. ^ Jerzy Minakowski, Marek. "Stefan Eugeniusz hr. Tyszkiewicz-Łohojski z Landwarowa h. Leliwa".
  2. ^ Robinson, Paul (2014). Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. Supreme commander of the Russian Army. De Kalb, Illinois: NIU Press.
  3. ^ Durand, Nicolas. "Profil d'un personnage – Société Genevoise de Généalogie".
  4. ^ http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k605534p.texte Report on the car in the Paris daily, 'Le Petit Parisien'.
  5. ^ "Automobilia". Toutes les voitures françaises 1927 (Salon [Paris, Oct] 1926). Nr. 78s. Paris: Histoire & collections: 57. 2006. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  6. ISBN 83-229-2566-2
    , Signatur der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin: 3 A 128733-2 1a: 3 A 128733-2, p. 527 - the Journals of President Raczkiewicz, 1939-1947.
  7. ^ http://ebuw.uw.edu.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=7370&from=publication from the Warsaw University Library, showing Tyszkiewicz as editor in 1949.
  8. ^ Broż, Adam. Nasza Gazeta, ZPKM, 2000: http://archiwum2000.tripod.com/526/malta.html access date 22 August 2016. Author's personal reminiscences, in Polish, about the Knights of Malta and specifically about S.Tyszkiewicz
  9. ^ "STEFANO TYSZKIEWICZ".
  10. ^ Broż, Adam. Nasza Gazeta, ZPKM, 2000: http://archiwum2000.tripod.com/526/malta.html

[1] http://www.tygodnik.lt/200951/bliska5.htm[permanent dead link] Narkowicz Liliana 'Uchodźca i bezpaństwowiec', access 2012-04-14, review: Tygodnik Wileńszczyzny vol. 51 (483) December, 2009

Bibliography

External links
  1. ISBN 9788361184805.[permanent dead link
    ]
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