Where Is Poland? | Famous emigrants

Chapter 5

Famous emigrants

Given the situation in the Polish lands, many Poles sought employment and a better life abroad. Some of them enjoyed considerable success , becoming important figures in their new homelands. Still, many of them never forgot where they came from.

Stop-motion animator Władysław Starewicz. Photo: Se-ma-for Film Production

Finding success abroad

Due to the unfavourable conditions in the Polish territories, throughout the nineteenth century many of the most talented individuals opted to leave. Through extraordinary determination, many of them proved their talents in their new homes, becoming outstanding researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, new-technology pioneers, and inventors.

In South America, the geologist Ignacy Domeyko laid the foundations of modern geology and reformed higher education in Chile. The engineer Ernest Malinowski connected the railways of Ecuador and Peru, working as the main designer of the Central Trans-Andean Railway. In the United States, Kazimierz Stanisław Gzowski built the International Railway Bridge over the Niagara River – the longest bridge in America.

Polish inventors also went abroad in search of better working conditions. In 1839, Antoni Patek, who emigrated to Geneva after the November Uprising, set up a watch manufacturing company – Patek Philippe, still renowned today. Stefan Drzewiecki first worked on submarine designs in Vienna, then ultimately made those designs a reality for the Tsar in St. Petersburg. In the United States, Kazimierz Żegleń made the first effective bulletproof vest. In France, Julian Ochorowicz developed innovative solutions for the remote transmission of images (television) and sound (improving upon Alexander Graham Bell's telephone). A little later, also in France, Kazimierz Prószyński, the inventor of the pleograph, competed against the Lumière brothers to be the frontrunner in the field of cinematographic technology.

Due to the limited possibilities in the Polish lands, Poles also pursued careers elsewhere in the Russian Empire. In Azerbaijan, Witold Zglenicki revolutionised the production of oil in the region of Baku, and Polish architects had a significant influence on the face of the city. In the early twentieth century, Władysław Starewicz, a Pole born in Kaunas and living in Russia, started making the world’s first stop-motion animations.

At the same time, emigrants from the Polish territories, mainly of Jewish background – including Samuel Goldwyn, the Warner brothers, Louis B. Mayer, Al Jolson, Billy Wilder, and Paul Muni – joined the film industry overseas, laying the foundations of Hollywood.