Alfons Grotowski (; 23 February 1833 – 18 September 1922) was a Polish sanitary engineer, who co-designed the waterworks and sewage network of the city of Warsaw, Poland.
History Alfons Grotowski was born on 23 February 1833 in the village of Żarnowiec, a village, then located in the Kingdom of Poland, within the Russian Empire, and now forming a part of Silesian Voivodeship, Poland.Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994. ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish)
He graduated from the Higher Real School in Kielce, Poland (now the 1st General Education High School).A. Massalski, J. Szczepański: Słownik biograficzny zasłużonych nauczycieli i wychowanków. I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Stefana Żeromskiego w Kielcach. Kielce, 2010, p. 88. (in Polish) From 1850, he worked for the Warsaw Transit Administration, and in 1868, he designed the waterworks network in Praga, an area of the city of Warsaw, which operated from 1869 to 1892.Marian Gajewski: Urządzenia komunalne Warszawy. Zarys historyczny. Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1979, p. 90. ISBN 83-06-00089-7. (in Polish)
Grotowski led the committee, which in 1874, hired William Lindley to design and manage the construction of the waterworks and sewage network of Warsaw. From 1887 to 1889, he was the senior engineer of the city, and from 1881 to 1889, he was a member of the Sewage and Waterworks Construction Committee, which oversaw the development of the aforementioned network. Later, he became an assistant of William Heerlein Lindley, overseeing and reporting to him on the construction of the waterworks and sewage network.
In 1897, Grotowski was one the co-founders of the Warsaw Hygienist Society. He was also a member of the Society for the Support of Russian Industry and Trade, and the Association of Technicians. Together with architect Józef Orłowski, he designed a fountain, which was unveiled in 1866 on Kraków Suburb Street.Jarosław Zieliński: Atlas dawnej architektury ulic i placów Warszawy. Tom 1. Agrykola–Burmistrzowska. Warsaw: Biblioteka Towarzystwa Opieki nad Zabytkami, 1996, p. 90. ISBN 83-902793-5-5. (in Polish) Following several relocations, it currently stands in front of the Muranów Cinema at 5 Anders Street.Beata Chomątowska, Grzegorz Piątek, Katarzyna Uchowicz: MUR. Ilustrowany atlas architektury Muranowa. Warsaw: Centrum Architektury, 2022, p. 38. ISBN 978-83-961764-7-9. (in Polish)
In 1906, Grotowski survived an assassination attempt on his life in Warsaw, sustaining a head injury from gunfire."Zamach na inżyniera", [in:] Nowości Ilustrowane, no. 23/1906, p. 14-15. Kraków, 9 June 1906. (in Polish) He died on 18 September 1922 in Warsaw at the age of 89, and was buried at the Powązki Cemetery within the city.
Legacy In 1936, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Lindley Filters, a garden square named after Grotowski, was opened at the nearby Starynkiewicz Square.Grażyna Kieniewiczowa, Alina Sokołowska (editors): Od Agrykoli do Żywnego. Mały słownik patronów ulic warszawskich. Warsaw: Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza, 1968, p. 64. (in Polish)
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