Karol Jaroszyński
Karol Jaroszyński | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 13, 1877 |
| Died | September 8, 1929 (aged 51) |
| Other names | Karol Lucjan Jan Jaroszyński, Карл Иосифович Ярошински, Charles Jaroszynski |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, financier, benefactor |
| Known for | Wealthiest Pole of his time; supporter of Tsar Nicholas II's family in exile; co-founder of Catholic University of Lublin |
Karol Jaroszyński, also known as Karol Lucjan Jan Jaroszyński, Карл Иосифович Ярошински, or Charles Jaroszynski (December 13, 1877 – September 8, 1929), was a prominent Polish-Russian entrepreneur, financier, and benefactor. He played a significant role in supporting the family of Tsar Nicholas II during their exile in Siberia.
Biography
Born to Józef Klemens Jaroszyński and Karolina Borsza-Drzewiecka, he completed his studies at the Moscow Real School’s Department of Commerce in 1899. Originating from a Polish noble lineage in Podolia and aligned with the Allied powers, he possessed vast landholdings such as Antopol, Krzyżopol, and Wapniarka. Often referred to as the Russian Vanderbilt, by 1916 his liquid assets were valued at over 26 million rubles, with additional property and debt holdings surpassing one billion rubles. This positioned him among the wealthiest individuals in imperial Russia and established him as the richest Pole of his time.
Jaroszyński had controlling interests or partnerships in 53 sugar production facilities and refineries, alongside ownership stakes in a dozen banks including:
- Commercial and Industrial Bank (St. Petersburg),
- Russian Foreign Trade Bank (St. Petersburg),
- Russo-Asiatic Bank (St. Petersburg),
- Saint Petersburg International Commercial Bank,
- Private Commercial Bank (Kiev),
- United Bank (Moscow),
- Siberian Commercial Bank (Yekaterinburg).
His business empire also encompassed mining operations, steel manufacturing plants, railway companies, river shipping enterprises on the Dnieper, oil corporations such as Russian Nafta and Ter Akopov, insurance firms, metalworking and machinery factories (including two located in Kiev), textile and cement production facilities, upscale hotels in Kiev, as well as media organizations like Novoye Vremia and Birżewyje Viedomosti. The administration of these diverse assets was overseen by a council featuring distinguished figures including former Prime Minister Vladimir Kokovtsov and police chief Alexei Lopukhin. This management body was based at Kiev’s Grand Hotel during 1917–1918.
Jaroszyński owned multiple residences throughout Eastern and Western Europe, including palatial estates in Antopol and Saint Petersburg; urban homes in Kiev, Odessa, London, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Monte Carlo, Warsaw; along with numerous tenement properties in Kiev and St. Petersburg.
As a principal participant in the so-called "Banking intrigue," he sought to provide financial backing to anti-Bolshevik factions amid the Russian Civil War. After relocating to London in 1919, he subsequently evacuated Crimea in 1920 before settling in Paris. Between 1921 and 1923 while residing in Warsaw, he served as director of Bank Rosyjsko-Polski SA and chaired Bank Zjednoczonych Przemysłowców SA; additionally, he held a majority ownership (56%) of Bank Towarowy SA.
A member of the freemasonry community and an active philanthropist, Jaroszyński notably acquired Senator Połovtsov’s residence to establish dormitories for Polish students in St. Petersburg. He was also instrumental in co-founding the Catholic University of Lublin through substantial financial contributions.
He passed away at Warsaw’s Hospital of the Holy Spirit and was interred at Powązki Cemetery.