Stefan Ciszewski

Stefan Ciszewski (1886-1938) was a Polish electrical engineer who pioneered national home appliance manufacturing. He was the founder in 1923 of Bydgoska Fabryka Artykułów Elektrotechnicznych (today Schneider Electric Elda S.A.), one of the oldest electrotechnical firms in Poland.

Biography Youth and studies Stefan Ciszewski was born on 11 November 1886 in Warsaw, then in Congress Poland. His father, Aleksander Ciszewski, was an engineer and a well-known industrialist in Warsaw.

In 1905, he graduated from the secondary school in the same city. He was a talented and diligent student, as evidenced by the award he received for excellent academic results and impeccable conduct.

After WWI, Poland regained independence: as a result, Stefan returned to Warsaw and in 1919, he became associated with Kazimierz Szpotański in his electrical engineering company. Both men knew each other from studiying together in Mittweida and at Berlin's branch of AEG.

Szpotański had established a few months earlier (November 1918), the Fabryka Aparatów Elektrycznych K. Szpotański i Spółka , producing light switches. Ciszewski was primarily interested in mass production of small plumbing equipment, which, on the other hand, did not quite fit in Szpotański's vision for his firm. After four years, Ciszewski left the Fabryka Aparatów Elektrycznych, together with his friend Władysław Gwiazdowski, to settle in Bydgoszcz.

In 1920, Kazimierz Szpotański and Stefan Ciszewski took part in the Polish-Soviet War.

Social and private life Ciszewski was one of the founders of the Bydgoszcz branch of the Association of Polish Electrical Engineers and a long-time member of the Association of Polish Technicians , serving as chairman of the Audit Committee.

Engineer Stefan Ciszewski was an extraordinary man, a social activist in numerous institutions and associations. He belonged to the Bydgoszcz Rotary Club. He was a man of the world, knew foreign languages, and visited many European countries.

Stefan Ciszewski's wife was a young widow, Władysława Ustinowicz, mother of a young daughter, Hania. The family lived in a four-room apartment on the first floor at 6 Śląska Street, on the corner of Długosza Street. The funerals in the city were followed by a thousand people (officials, family and workers). The management of his company was then successively taken over by his partners Władysław Gwiazdowski and Janusz Zambrzuski till the outset of WWII.

Bydgoska Fabryka Artykułów Elektrotechnicznych

In the beginning, production was limited to fuses, insulating elements, lamp hangers and porcelain plugs and sockets, but before long the activity flourished, thanks to the boom associated with the fast pace of electrification of the country.

After WWII, the company was nationalized and in 1956, its name was changed to Eltra. In 1959, the firm produced the first Polish transistor radio (Eltra "MOT-59").

In 1997, part of the plant became in turn the property of "Tyco International" and Lexel A/S (1998). In 2003, it was set up as a joint-stock company, "Elda-Eltra Elektrotechnika", belonging to the international group Schneider Electric. It operates today as Schneider Electric Elda S.A.

Decorations Stefan Ciszewski was awarded the Polish Silver Cross of Merit on 11 November 1936.

Commemorations A street in the Fordon district of Bydgoszcz was named after Stefan Ciszewski in 1997. On this occasion, a series of lectures were on 25 October 2024, in the buildings of the Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz.