Witold Zglenicki

Witold Zglenicki
Витольд Згленицкий
Born(1850-06-01)June 1, 1850
DiedJuly 6, 1904(1904-07-06) (aged 54)
Resting placeWola Kiełpińska near Warsaw, Russian Empire
(now Poland)
NationalityPolish
Alma materWarsaw Main School
Mining Institute in Petersburg
Occupationgeologist
Known forexplorer of rich oil pools in the Caucasus
pioneer of oil extracting from the bottom of the sea
AwardsOrder of the Lion and the Sun

Witold Leon Julian Zglenicki (Russian: Витольд Згленицкий; January 6, 1850, in Stara Wargawa near Kutno – July 6, 1904, in Baku, buried in Wola Kiełpińska near Warsaw) was a Polish scientist, geologist, and philanthropist who worked in Azerbaijan. He was the first to propose extracting oil from the seabed of the Caspian Sea.  

For his contributions, he was awarded the rank of Collegiate Assessor by Tsarist Russia and honored with the "Order of the Lion and the Sun" by Qajar Shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar. After his death, he bequeathed his entire fortune to scientific and charitable funds. Due to his philanthropic activities, he was referred to as the "Polish Nobel."  Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar

The main philanthropist of Polish science - donor of the then Kasa im. Mianowskiego (liquidated in 1951, reactivated in 1991) and the University of Warsaw.