Karol Olgierd Borchardt

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Karol Olgierd Borchardt (25 March 1905 – 20 May 1986)^[1] was a Polish writer and captain in the Polish Merchant Navy.

Although born abroad, his mother, Maria Borchardt, née Raczkiewiczówna, decided to raise him in Poland by the time he was of schooling age.^[2][3] She brought him to Vilnius, which was then Poland but is now Lithuania.^[3]

Borschardt's first application to the maritime school in Tczew was denied for medical reasons in 1924, but he was accepted the next year.^[2] After training, he attended a reserve officer course at the Navy Cadet School in Toruń, but he later resigned due to an injury he had sustained in the Polish-Soviet war, which he had participated in at the age of 15.^[2][3]

Borchardt gained a place in the history of the Polish Merchant Marine as an officer on transatlantic liners and training sail ships. During World War II, he served on two Polish liners converted into troop transports (the m/v "Piłsudski" and the m/v "Chrobry")^[2] and survived the sinkings of both. After the war, he trained two generations of Polish officers. While demanding, he had a reputation as a sympathetic and understanding teacher, as well as a knowledgeable lecturer^{[citation needed]}.

He also became famous as a writer and chronicler of Polish passenger liners. Borchardt was an athletic man and continued to practice sports into his later years. Borchardt died and was buried in Gdynia in 1986.^[2]

Borschardt wrote short stories with maritime themes, first published in magazines and later collected into books.^[2]

His book Znaczy Kapitan, a collection of short stories published in 1960, was inspired by Captain Mamert Stankiewicz. In it, Borschardt describes his time on the ships "Lwów" and the "Dar Pomorza" and various aspects of the Polish Navy.^[4]

He wrote a book on two 'cradles' of Polish seadogs, the two sail-training vessels, "Lwów" and the "Dar Pomorza". There are many schools named after him, which is a evidence that Karol Olgierd Borchardt is still remembered as a hero of Gdynia^{[citation needed]}.

The book Szaman morski tells the tales about Eustazy Borkowski. The title is a nickname of this notable sea captain, translating as "sea shaman".^{[citation needed]}

In his lifetime, Borchardt was awarded:

• Cross of Valour (1920 and 1941)
• Cross of Merit (1957)
• Medal of Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Poland (1970)
• Gdynia's President Prize (1974)

Borchardt's published works include Znaczy kapitan (1960), Krążownik spod Somosierry (1963) and Szaman Morski (1968). Two books were published posthumously: Pod czerwoną rózą and Kolebka nawigatorów.^[2]

Kapitan Borchardt, a Polish sail training three-masted gaff schooner, in service since 2011, is named after Karol Olgierd Borchardt.^[5] The Karol Olgierd Borchardt Foundation was founded in the same year and has been a Public Benefit Organisation since 2014.^[6]

• Biography and several short stories
• Website of the eponymous schooner
• Polish-language documentary on Borchardt