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Polish immigrants contribute to the world


Monia
30 Apr 2011   #1
There are so many Polish immigrants or UK or USA citizens having Polish ancestry , who contributed to the world in science , art or literature over the ages . But you can`t read about them in newspapers or watch on TV . Instead of it, it is rather very common to hear about Polish people derogatory essays.

No one can deny that there is a lot of bad press these days in UK or US which stereotypes Polish people as having strange habits to which english or American people are not accustomed to.

They seem to forget that stereotyping in media is the most harmful of all instruments , similar to spreading "Polish jokes "in USA over the decades.

As a first example of such contributors I want to recall:

Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak (born August 11, 1950) He has Polish ancestry.[2] By 1975, Wozniak withdrew from the University of California, Berkeley and came up with the computer that eventually made him famous and some have compared to a work of art since the hardware, circuit board designs, and operating system was the work solely of Wozniak.

co-founded Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.) with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne. His inventions and machines are credited with contributing significantly to the personal computer revolution of the 1970s. Wozniak created the Apple I and Apple II computers in the mid-1970s.[1]

Can you name others ?

For Canadian Polish diaspora , more known contributor should be Sir Kazimierz Stanislaus Gzowski,

Sir Kazimierz Stanislaus Gzowski, Gzowski was born in Saint Petersburg to a noble Polish father who served with the Russian military. KCMG (March 5, 1813 - August 24, 1898), was an engineer who served as acting Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1896 to 1897.[1]

He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1890, and, as a personal friend of Sir John A. Macdonald, was linked to the Conservative Party, even acting as an interim Lieutenant Governor before Oliver Mowat took office in 1897. He died in 1898 in Toronto.
Casimir Gzowski Park, Toronto's waterfront, commemorates him.

z_darius  14 | 3960
30 Apr 2011   #2
known contributor should be Sir Kazimierz Stanislaus Gzowski,

His son, Peter en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Gzowski
is still probably the biggest name in history of Canadian broadcasting and journalism. There was barely a day on CBC radio without his name and the weight of his influence on Canadian media being mentioned by, among others, one of his disciples, Andy Barrie.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Barrie

Barrie left the US to avoid the Vietnam mess and chose Canada as his new home.
OP Monia
30 Apr 2011   #3
I think he is a grandson of Sir Casimir Gzowski .

He was one of the most prominent Canadian media personality.

Peter Gzowski, CC (July 13, 1934 - January 24, 2002) was a Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter, most famous for his work on the CBC radio show Morningside.

For your further information there are other Polish world wide known contributors , as an example I recall some :

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henryk_Zygalski

I am aware of the fact that there was a british movie called Enigma and there was not even mentioned that thanks to Zygalski Enigma code was solved . It is a pity that the movie was a total fiction misleading viewers about real facts .

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_%282001_film%29

Critical reviews were largely positive, although there was criticism of the largely fictional storyline which does not mention the real codebreaker Alan Turing, nor the Polish cryptanalysis foundation on which subsequent British codebreaking was dependent for its successes.

valpomike  11 | 194
30 Apr 2011   #4
And many more great Polish to come.

Mike
poland_
20 Jul 2011   #5
I am aware of the fact that there was a british movie called Enigma and there was not even mentioned that thanks to Zygalski Enigma code was solved . It is a pity that the movie was a total fiction misleading viewers about real facts .

Hollywood is Hollywood, we don't take films as a source of history. There are four film I know of that lay claim to the Enigma story:

Enigma is a 2001 British film about the Enigma codebreakers of Bletchley Park in World War II. The film, directed by Michael Apted, stars Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet. The film's screenplay was by Tom Stoppard, based on the novel Enigma by Robert Harris. This was the final film to be scored by John Barry.

U-571:A German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners trying to capture their Enigma cipher machine.
All the Queen's Men: A mismatched team of British Special Services agents led by an American must infiltrate, in disguise, a female-run Enigma factory in Berlin and bring back the decoding device that will end the war.

Sekret Enigmy:Three Polish mathematicians are the first to crack the sophisticated Enigma code used by the Germans just before the Second World War.
Wroclaw  44 | 5359
20 Jul 2011   #6
Enigma is a 2001 British film about the Enigma codebreakers of Bletchley Park in World War II

and is on tvn at this very moment. i'm watching it.
guesswho  4 | 1272
20 Jul 2011   #7
No one can deny that there is a lot of bad press these days in UK or US

I can tell you so much that there's nothing on TV about Poland, nothing at all. Our local NC media doesn't say anything about you guys either. People don't talk about Poland or Poles (no Polish jokes whatsoever).

Maybe in Chicago or New York you still hear this or that, I don't know.
isthatu2  4 | 2692
20 Jul 2011   #8
i'm watching it.

the shady foreigner did it..............
Barney  17 | 1672
20 Jul 2011   #9
What about music.

The Polish American Pee Wee King who co wrote the Tennessee Waltz with an unmistakable mazurka feel.

listen to the end of this cover version for the mazurka.

youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JlJL1h5MHHk

Lejzor and Fiszel Czyż Brothers from Częstochowa founded Chess records [/url]a rival to Motown.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_Records

Edit

Our local NC media doesn't say anything about you guys either

They dont play C+W below the smith and wesson line?
tarniusmusic.com/Country/MichaelLonstar/WhatsThisCountryThing

Lonstar is the only Polish artist to date to have ever appeared on stage the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, in 1989 and again in 1990. That year he also sang at the Summer Lights Festival at the invitation from the Nashville Songwriters Association and hosted the New Country Seminar at the Lone Star Roadhouse in New York City, sharing stage with Kevin Welch and Mary-Chapin Carpenter.

Heres something a bit naff........but in a military state........no Lonstar.

PS Hate this kind of C+W.
OP Monia
20 Jul 2011   #10
and is on tvn at this very moment. i'm watching it.

Which TV channel is it on ?
isthatu2  4 | 2692
20 Jul 2011   #11
You do realise its a film based on a novel dont you? before you start getting all predictably indignant...................but Im waiting with baited breath for your review.........
Wroclaw  44 | 5359
20 Jul 2011   #12
Which TV channel is it on ?

it's just finished. i wrote tvn

the shady foreigner did it..............

don't say that. there were Polish at bletchley

all related to katyn... interesting
OP Monia
20 Jul 2011   #13
before you start getting all predictably indignant...................but Im waiting with baited breath for your review.........

You know, that I am a very well balanced person and never criticize without a cause .

it's just finished. i wrote tvn

I haven`t got time to watch it , so how was it ? All fiction ?
Wroclaw  44 | 5359
20 Jul 2011   #14
one wouldn't learn much from it. for the most part it was fiction
szarlotka  8 | 2205
20 Jul 2011   #15
I am aware of the fact that there was a british movie called Enigma

Just a movie. He and the other Polish mathematicians are remembered and honoured at the one place that really counts - Bletchley Park. They hold an annual Polish Day.
OP Monia
20 Jul 2011   #16
Ahh, it is a pity . I prefer movies based on facts, unless it is total fiction and no one expects anything, but interesting fictional movie .
Seanus  15 | 19666
20 Jul 2011   #17
Ah, lest I forget youtube.com/watch?v=oFhO3fGAUlM a truly classy immigrant ;) ;)

On a more serious note, Poles have made some important contributions but, like the Enigma cracking, they often go unnoticed :( :(
szarlotka  8 | 2205
20 Jul 2011   #18
like the Enigma cracking, they often go unnoticed :( :(

see my post above - in this case the efforts are recognised fully (but not by film makers);)
OP Monia
20 Jul 2011   #19
exploits in intelligence and sabotage missions to Nazi-occupied Poland and France

I was not aware of that fact . Thank you for your information .
Marynka11  3 | 639
21 Jul 2011   #20
I think I've read something about a Pole inventing the flat packing that IKEA uses. Does anyone remember/know the story?
Alien  24 | 5724
21 Sep 2023   #21
Poles are still very sought-after employees on the German labor market. The only problem is the lack of knowledge of the German language among Poles, but other emigrants have the same problem, only they get language courses for free and Poles do not.
Novichok  5 | 7885
21 Sep 2023   #22
Germany and Poland should switch to American. Problem solved.
Lyzko  41 | 9604
21 Sep 2023   #23
Kazimir ("Casimir") Funk pioneered uses of the vitamin supplement.
Alien  24 | 5724
22 Sep 2023   #24
Problem solved.

Knowledge of American among the older generation of Germans is minimal. Polish caregivers of German elderly people must speak German to them, at least until they develop dementia or deafness. Then Polish is enough.
Novichok  5 | 7885
23 Sep 2023   #25
Then Polish is enough.

I feel so sorry for the Germans with good hearing.
Lyzko  41 | 9604
23 Sep 2023   #26
Why, Rich?
Novichok  5 | 7885
23 Sep 2023   #27
Only Chinese sounds worse. It's painful to hear either.
Once you heard American, French, and Italian, all others are a cacophony bordering on torture.
Lyzko  41 | 9604
24 Sep 2023   #28
Ethnocentric bilge! All language is relative and cannot be quantified subjectively in terms of "ugly" vs. "pretty", "dumb" etc..Your opinions are simply a mirror of your own true feelings, all colored by (negative) personal experience.

You're merely reading into a language how you personally wish to read into it.

To each his own, I suppose.
Ron2
10 Sep 2024   #29
When a Polish immigrant becomes very affluent or famous in a foreign country, they usually don't want to associate with being Polish. It's a sad reality, but equally applies to other Eastern-European nations too. To a much less extent to Western nations.
Novichok  5 | 7885
10 Sep 2024   #30
they usually don't want to associate with being Polish.

...because there is no upside.

The downside is clinging to the "mother" language longer and be a starnger to your grandkids. My MiL did just that...


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