Antoni Weynerowski

Antoni Weynerowski (12 June 1864 – 29 November 1939) was a Prussian-born Polish entrepreneur. He was founder of the firm Leo in Bydgoszcz, renamed Kobra, one of the largest shoe manufacture in Poland in the interwar period.

Biography Antoni was born on 12 June 1864, in Bromberg, as Bydgoszcz was named under Prussian rule. His mother was Joanna, née Olesek. His father, Wiktor Weynerowski, was the founder of a small felt shoe business: the pairs, produced at home, were sold by Weronika, Antoni's sister, peddling in the streets to find a buyer. With the growth of the industry, a factory was acquired, today non-existent, at the crossing of Swiętej Trojcy street and Jagiellońska street.

After graduation from gymnasium, he worked in his father's company, located on two sites: Kastanien Allee (today's Kącik street) and Albert straße (Garbary Street). He took over management of the firm in 1891, which for this occasion was rebranded "W. Weynerowski and son Shoe Factory" . In 1906, he had a new workplant built at Sedan Straße (today's Chocimska street), where about 300 people worked. a villa at 165 Toruńska Street; a tenement at 61 Gdańska street, which also housed the furniture shop. In 1920, Antoni Weynerowski, purchased a large property estate in Myślęcinek , a wooden district on the north of Bydgoszcz. This property was mainly used by the family as a place for hunting and recreation. Its management was given to Mr. Jaranowski, the husband of Leokadia's sister.

In the 1920s, the newly-wed couple lived in several places in Bydgoszcz: at 21 Swiętej Trojcy street, then at 14 Schiller straße (present day 12 Paderewskiego street) and at 50 Toruńska street.

At the time of the rebirth of Polish state in 1920, Antoni became a temporary counselor at the Bydgoszcz town council, as an honorary member.

At the end of the 1930s, the Weynerowskis bought an area of land in the vicinity of Kraków, planning to build a factory and family houses for workers there, but the outset of WWII thwarted their scheme.

When German troops entered Bydgoszcz in September 1939, Antoni fled with his family to the east. During the occupation, the "LEO" factory was taken over by Nazis, while the sawmill machines and devices were dismantled and taken to Piła. On its stead, the Germans organized car workshops using the remaining buildings and halls.

The Weynerowskis reached Warsaw then Red Army-occupied Brest on the Bug river.

Leokadia and Antoni regularly attended charity balls for the displaced students and families from Eastern Borderlands.

Besides, in June 1934, the "LEO" sports club was established at the factory, with different sections, among others: women's sports, table tennis, boxing, cycling and football. It depicts the history of the factory and its importance in the city at the time.

"LEO" (renamed "KOBRA") company

In memoriam of Antoni's wife, Leokadia, and their first son Leon, the name "Leo" was chosen for the branding of the shoe company in the late 1920s.