Alfred Niezychowski
Encyclopedia
Graf
Graf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...
von Niezychowski (July 28, 1888 – June 13, 1964) was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
noble
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
, a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Count
Graf
Graf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...
, a Lieutenant Commander of a German commerce raider ship during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, an author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
, and a Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
political candidate for public office.
Childhood
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, (Poznań), Province of Posen
Province of Posen
The Province of Posen was a province of Prussia from 1848–1918 and as such part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The area was about 29,000 km2....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the fourth child out of six to Stanisław Nieżychowski (1851-1897) and Lucia (Łucja) Taczanowska
Taczanowski
Taczanowski is the surname of a Polish szlachta family from Poznań bearing the Jastrzębiec Coat of Arms and the motto: Plus penser que dire. They took their name from their estate Taczanów in the 15th century and by the 19th century were among the leading magnates in partitioned-Poland...
(1862-1917).
Niezychowski's father died when he was nine years old. Two years later, his mother, now thirty-seven years old, married the 29-year-old Count Rodryg Dunin
Rodryg Dunin
Rodryg Dunin was a Polish noble , a hrabia , and an industrialist and agriculturalist. His work in agricultural industry, including pioneering new techniques, earned him recognition among the farming circles of early 20th century Greater Poland.- Biography :Rodryg Dunin was born in Marszewo,...
, and had four more children. They lived on the Granówko estate, near Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
. Niezychowski was educated at the German military school at Wahlstadt, Silesia
Province of Silesia
The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th...
, and at the naval schools at Danzig (Gdańsk) and Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
. His oldest brother Count Josef von Niezychowski initially attained high rank in the German Army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
, but at the outbreak of World War II changed his allegiance and served as a General in the Polish Army. http://www.umsl.edu/%7Emuns/elonka/nyt19390926p10.pdf
Career
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
. 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
Blue Riband
The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. Under the unwritten rules, the record is based on average speed...
a few years earlier for the fastest-ever Atlantic crossing, in 5 days, 11 hours, and 57 minutes.
Germany entered World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in August 1914, while the ship was in port in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and the Kronprinz Wilhelm was ordered into service with the Imperial German Navy as an auxiliary cruiser. She left port and rendezvoused with the to have deck guns installed, and then spent the next 251 days capturing and sinking commercial vessels off the coast of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, while simultaneously evading capture by the Allies
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
. The ship eventually ran out of supplies, and dozens of the men in her crew had become sick with beri-beri from the restricted diet on the long voyage. Her captain headed for Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and successfully evading the British ships guarding the port, entered safe harbor at Newport News, in 1915. At the Norfolk Navy Yard, the ship and crew were originally interned as neutrals by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, until that country entered the war in 1917. At that time, Niezychowski and the rest of the crew became American prisoners of war and the ship was officially seized by the US Navy. Renamed the USS Von Steuben, she was turned into a troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
.
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 Ladislaus Hengelmüller von Hengervár, who had been Austro-Hungarian ambassadorAmbassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to the United States for decades, until retiring in 1913. Niezychowski was known as the "jolly Polish count" and after his release from Fort McPherson, Georgia in August 1919, he moved to Washington DC, where he was welcomed into diplomatic and society circles. http://www.genealogyimagesofhistory.com/images2/Frederick%20A%20Wallis.jpg He was also President of the Polish American Navigation Company of New York.
In October 1923, Niezychowski became engaged to Nanine H. Ulman (1896-1972), a Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
and Colonial Dame
The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1750, and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Period." The national headquarters of the society is at...
, daughter of Jacob A. Ulman of Helmore Farms in Green Spring Valley, and great grandniece of President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
. Niezychowski renounced his European titles, became an American citizen in January 1926, and married on December 27, 1927. Admiral Walter McLean
Walter McLean (Admiral)
Rear Admiral Walter McLean was the American commander of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard from November 25, 1915 until February 4, 1918...
, commander of the Norfolk Navy Yard where his ship had been interned ten years earlier, was his best man.
After his wedding, Niezychowski and his wife moved to Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, where he entered the business world. First he 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. http://sdrcdata.lib.uiowa.edu/libsdrc/details.jsp?id=/vonniezychowski/1 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 (members of the crew, received second class cabins), until they could be transferred to another ship.
In 1932, while in the investment brokerage business, Niezychowski ran as a Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidate for the Michigan First District. He was a staunch Democrat, and wanted to fight for the immediate repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...
, as well as lowering tariff laws to restore foreign trade. However, he lost in the primary election to George G. Sadowski
George G. Sadowski
George Gregory Sadowski was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Sadowski was born in Detroit, Michigan, where he attended Ferry School. He attended high school in Foley, Alabama, and then returned to Detroit, where he graduated from Northeastern High School in 1920 and from the law...
.http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/nick-nikka.html#0AG1F091H
Niezychowski and Nanine had no biological children, though Niezychowski did become guardian for the children of his half-brother Count Antoni Dunin
Antoni Dunin
Antoni Dunin was a Polish nobleman , a Hrabia , and an army officer who received the Virtuti Militari award.- Biography :...
, after both Antoni and his wife Zofia Werner Dunin (daughter of Polish vice-Finance Minister Edward Werner
Edward Werner
Dr. Edward Henryk Werner was an economist, judge, industrialist, and politician. He was best known as Vice-Minister of Finance in the Second Polish Republic.- Life :...
) had been killed in 1939, during the German offensive in the Invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
. According to the Detroit News, Alfred worked with Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Homer Ferguson of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, to obtain visas so that the orphaned children could enter the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the 1940s. They were:
- Count Stanley Dunin, who later participated in a NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
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 Mt. Elliott Cemetery in Grosse Pointe
Grosse Pointe
Grosse Pointe refers to a coastal area in Metro Detroit, Michigan, United States that comprises five adjacent individual communities. From southwest to northeast, they are:*Grosse Pointe Park, city*Grosse Pointe, city*Grosse Pointe Farms, city...
.
Works
- Count Alfred von Niezychowki, 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 LucknerFelix von LucknerFelix Graf von Luckner was a German nobleman, navy officer, author and noted sailor who earned the epithet Der Seeteufel -- and his crew that of Die Piraten des Kaisers -- for his exploits in command of the sailing commerce raider SMS Seeadler in...
Notable relatives
- Rodryg DuninRodryg DuninRodryg Dunin was a Polish noble , a hrabia , and an industrialist and agriculturalist. His work in agricultural industry, including pioneering new techniques, earned him recognition among the farming circles of early 20th century Greater Poland.- Biography :Rodryg Dunin was born in Marszewo,...
, Alfred's stepfather, was a "hrabia" (Count) and listed in the Polish Biographical DictionaryPolish Biographical DictionaryPolski słownik biograficzny is a Polish-language biographical dictionary, comprising an alphabetically arranged compilation of authoritative biographies of some 25,000 notable Poles and of foreigners who have been active in Poland – famous as well as less well-known persons, from Popiel, Piast...
, a Who's WhoWho's WhoWho's Who is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on a particular group of people...
of Poland - Baron Ladislaus Hengelmüller von Hengervár, longtime Austro-Hungarian ambassadorAmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, was Alfred's uncle by one of his father's sisters. - Alfons Taczanowski, hereditary member of the Prussian House of LordsPrussian House of LordsThe Prussian House of Lords was the first chamber of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1850-1918. The second chamber was the Prussian House of Representatives . The House of Lords was created on January 31, 1850 with the adoption of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Prussia...
, was Alfred's great-uncle on his mother's side. - Edward WernerEdward WernerDr. Edward Henryk Werner was an economist, judge, industrialist, and politician. He was best known as Vice-Minister of Finance in the Second Polish Republic.- Life :...
, Polish vice-Finance Minister, was the father-in-law of Alfred's brother Antoni DuninAntoni DuninAntoni Dunin was a Polish nobleman , a Hrabia , and an army officer who received the Virtuti Militari award.- Biography :...
. - Antoni DuninAntoni DuninAntoni Dunin was a Polish nobleman , a Hrabia , and an army officer who received the Virtuti Militari award.- Biography :...
, Alfred's younger half-brother, was a Polish army officer killed in 1939, and recipient of the Virtuti MilitariVirtuti MilitariThe Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
award (similar to the American Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
).
External links
- Family tree maintained by great-niece Elonka DuninElonka DuninElonka Dunin is an American game developer at Simutronics Corp. in St. Louis, Missouri, where she has worked since 1990. She is Chairperson Emerita and one of the founders of the International Game Developers Association's Online Games group, has contributed or been editor in chief on multiple...
. - "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)
- Alfred Niezychowski's male line of ancestors (Polish surname was Nieżychowski)