Engineer Leonard Szutkowski – Manager of the State Quarries in Janowa Dolina in Volhynia

An in-depth analysis of Leonard Szutkowski’s biographical documents shows that he was an outstanding patriot who devoted most of his professional life to the economic development of Poland. He was born into a landowning family, did his military service in the tsarist army, and escaped from Bolshevik captivity. In independent Poland, he did not continue his military career but worked in the state administration as an engineer responsible for road works. He continued his engineer’s work during the Polish-Bolshevik war. Later, he managed the quarries in Janowa Dolina in Volhynia and made them a model enterprise on a European scale. He paid the highest price for his attitude to life. Until now many aspects of his activity have been unknown. Only the archive search in Ukraine made it possible to gain knowledge about views and details of his socio-political activity. The research employed a biographical method based on the analysis of personal documents. Scientific studies on particular topics related to Leonard Szutkowski were also taken into account. The research was supplemented by an analysis of press materials from the period in question.