Gdynia Maritime University GMU

Lieutenant Commander Antoni Garnuszewski, MSc(Eng)

Director of The Maritime School in Tczew, 1920-1929 and 1947-1948

Educated in Odessa and St Petersburg

Organiser and first director of The Maritime School in Tczew. Born on 26th March 1886 in Warsaw. After finishing high school in Warsaw, in August 1903, he was accepted into the Faculty of Navigation of the Odesa Maritime Academy, from which he graduated with a gold medal in 1906.

Having qualified as a Lieutenant Mariner in the Russian merchant navy, he began further studies at the Faculty of Ship Building at St Petersburg University of Technology,  graduating in May 1912 with a first-class degree in marine engineering.

First Years at Sea

Beginning in 1912, he served in the Russian Navy and was given the rank of Lieutenant in 1913. He reached the rank of captain and became chief hull engineer, before ending his service in 1918. During WWI, he worked in the Danish port of Svendborg, overseeing the construction of new warships, and managing the technical office and the docks.

Return to Poland

In April 1918, Antoni Garnuszewski returned to Poland, where he co-founded the Association of Workers for the Development of Sailing under the Polish Flag. [Stowarzyszenia Pracowników na Polu Rozwoju Żeglugi Bandera Polska] He was named director of the Faculty of the Polish Vistula Sailing Movement. In March 1920, he was drafted to the Navy as an aid to the head of the Economic Section of the Department for Maritime Affairs in the Ministry of Military Affairs.

The Maritime School in Tczew

LtCdr Antoni Garnuszewski was charged with the task of founding a Maritime School in Tczew. He served as director of the School from 1st June 1920 until 30th July 1929, when at his request he was transferred to the Maritime Office in Gdynia, taking up the roles of head of the Department of Marine Administration and the Office's deputy director.

In February 1921, he was promoted to the rank of navy captain and in December 1921 confirmed as lieutenant commander, before being drafted into the navy reserves.

As director of the Maritime School in Tczew, despite what was a difficult period for the development of Polish maritime education, he was able to recruit an outstanding team of lecturers, instructors, and auxiliary staff. He also lectured on vessel construction and theory,  on which he wrote textbooks. In 1923, he sailed onboard the Lwów to Brazil.

WWII

In 1939, he was evicted from Gdynia by the German occupier and worked in the village of Tartak near Puława, as well as the K. Szpotański Electric Equipment Factory in Warsaw. After the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, he was displaced to the Kielce district, where he worked on a farm in the village of Cierno.

In January 1945, he was tasked with forming an operational group for the organisation of the maritime economy. In April 1945, he arrived with the Maritime Operational Group in Gdansk, where he soon took up the post of head of the Department of Shipping of the General Maritime Office. Amongst other things, he organised the receipt of ships allocated to Poland as part of the reparations for damages incurred during the Second World War.

Post-WWII

From 1st August 1947 until 31st December 1948, LtCdr Antoni Garnuszewski once again served as Rector of The State Maritime School in Gdynia, before returning to work in the Gdansk Maritime Office, this time in Gdynia, and from 1955 he was contracted as senior ship inspector for the Gdynia Maritime Office.

Beginning in 1947, he was actively involved in the work of the Polish Register of Shipping in Gdansk, of which he was also a member of the Supervisory Board.

Following his retirement, on 1st July 1958, he taught vessel theory and shipbuilding at The State Maritime School in Gdynia. In 1959, in recognition of the studies he undertook in Tsarist Russia, the dean's office of the Gdansk University of Technology's Faculty of Ship Building issued a certificate proclaiming that "In addition to a bachelor of engineering degree, Antoni Garnuszewski also has a Master's Degree in Ship Building”.

Decorations and Merits

He was the author of a great number of articles in the publications “Ship Building” and “Maritime Technology and Economy”.

Some of the awards he received during his lifetime include the Gold Cross of Merit, awarded by the President of the 2nd Republic of Poland, and the Komandorski Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

He died on 17th August 1964 in Gdynia and was buried at the Powązkowski Cemetery in Warsaw.

The M.S. Antoni Garnuszewski

In 1974, a Polish Ocean Lines training cargo ship, chartered to Gdynia Maritime Higher School, was given the name M.S. Antoni Garnuszewski.