Mieczysław Dębicki (January 1, 1905 - June 21, 1977) was a Polish professor of mechanical engineer and a

car designer Automotive design is the process of developing the appearance (and to some extent the ergonomics) of motor vehicles, including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans. The functional design and development of a modern motor ...

. He served as the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and as the Vice-Rector for Science at Gdańsk University of Technology.

Early life and education

Dębicki was born on January 1, 1905, in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, to the poet and journalist Zdzisław Dębicki and Zofia (née Wierzbicka). He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Maritime School in

Tczew Tczew (, formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). It is the capital of Tczew County and the largest city of the ethnocultural region of Kociewie within th ...

, in 1924. After graduating, he took an apprenticeship as a ship's mechanic's assistant North-Atlantic line of the Danish Shipbuilding Company "Det Ostasiatyske Co". A year later, Mieczysław was admitted to the School of Mechanical Engineering of the

Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology () is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors (including 145 titular professors). The student body ...

, but he interrupted his studies in 1928 to return to merchant ships, this time in the French shipbuilding company "Chargeurs Rennis". In the years 1929-1932 he continued his mechanical studies, this time at the Lviv University of Technology where he graduated with a diploma in mechanical engineering with distinction.

Career

After graduation, Dębicki worked as a deputy manager of car workshops, then moved to the Technical Office of the

Škoda Works The Škoda Works (, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century. In 1859, Czech engineer Emil Škoda bought a foundry and machine factory in Plzeň, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary that had been established ten ye ...

aircraft engine factory. From 1934 until the outbreak of World War II, he worked as a designer at the Study Office of the State Engineering Institute in Warsaw on several projects, including the PZInż 703. In 1936 he began lecturing at the State Aviation and Automotive Technical School. During the war, he was involved in small-scale trade and production, and was also a member of the

Kedyw ''Kedyw'' (, partial acronym of ''Kierownictwo Dywersji'' ("Directorate of Sabotage") was a Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish World War II Home Army unit that conducted active and passive sabotage, propaganda and armed operations ...

, where he was responsible for automotive matters such as transporting supplies and ammunition, as well as providing driving lessons. After the liberation of Poland, he worked in state-owned plants and was responsible for their organization. At the same time, he was employed at the

Gdańsk University of Technology The Gdańsk University of Technology (Gdańsk Tech, formerly GUT; ) is a public research university in Gdańsk, Poland. Founded in 1904 and re-established in 1945, it is the oldest university of technology in modern-day Poland. It is consisten ...

, where he organized the Department of Mechanical Vehicle Construction at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in April, 1945. Dębicki became an associate professor in 1949, and was promoted to a regular professor in 1962. He served as the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from 1951 to 1954 and as the Vice-Rector for Science from 1956 to 1959. During this time, several projects were undertaken under his supervision. This includes his work alongside

Stanisław Panczakiewicz Stanisław Panczakiewicz was a pioneering Polish car body designer and engineer. Career Panczakiewicz attended Staszic junior high school in Warsaw. After the outbreak of World War I, he interrupted his studies in 1916 to join the Polish Legions ...

Jerzy Werner Jerzy Werner (22 April 1909 Krosno, Galicia – 8 October 1977 Łódź) was a professor at the Technical University of Lodz, the constructor of the first Polish lorries A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, ...

, and Jan Werner on the

FSC Star Fabryka Samochodów Ciężarowych "Star" (FSC Star), also known simply as Star, was a Polish truck manufacturer. The name comes from the City of Starachowice, where the factory is located. Their first vehicle was the ''Star 20'' in 1948. The mo ...

Star 20, which was based on the PZInż 713. Mieczysław published 24 articles and an academic textbook titled "Car Theory: Theory of Movement".

Personal life

Mieczysław married Stanisława Szalitówna in 1938. They had two children, Piotr (born in 1941) and Joanna (born in 1944).

Death

Mieczysław Dębicki died on June 21, 1977, in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

. He was buried at the Srebrzysko Cemetery in Gdańsk (area IX, professors' quarters, row 2, grave 33).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dębicki, Mieczysław 1905 births 1977 deaths Polish mechanical engineers Polish automobile designers Academic staff of the Gdańsk University of Technology Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland Recipients of the Medal of the 40th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland