Jan Obrąpalski

Jan Obrąpalski was a Polish power engineer and professor, described as a pioneer of Polish technical thought in energy in Upper Silesia and the Dabrowa Basin. Born in Warsaw in 1881, he graduated from the Technological Institute in St Petersburg in 1904 and studied electrical engineering and thermodynamics in Berlin. As head of the electromechanical department of the Saturn mining company at Czeladz, his team designed and built the Jowisz colliery power station, then one of the largest and best designed industrial power plants. He directed the Silesian steam boiler inspection association, served as president of the Association of Polish Electricians in 1934 to 1935, and during the war helped prepare a plan for the electrification of Poland. After 1946 he organised the first chair of power engineering in Poland, at the Silesian University of Technology. He died in 1958. He is included here for his work on industrial power plants and national electrification.