Piotr Bąblewski (Kielce) Franciszek Ernest Giertych (1868–1938) – life and work Franciszek Ernest Giertych, was born on 9 October 1868 in Cukrownia Ostrowa to Leopold (1840 – 1915) and Ludwika Maria, née Gejlert (1844 – 1907/8). He was an outstanding Polish organizer of industry, an economic activist and the progenitor of a well-known family of national politicians. In his youth, Giertych took part in a series of apprenticeships in various industrial plants. He travelled around Europe and North America, visiting the largest sugar refineries. Then, he worked in France and North Africa constructing sugar refineries and drying plants. In the years 1893 – 1900, 1906 – 1914 and 1921 he was a director of a plant and mines in Poręba. From 1900 to 1906 he held the position of a branch manager of Fitzner and Gamper plant in Sielec near Sosnowiec. In the years 1914 – 1917 he was a commercial assistant to a shipyard director in Tallinn but practically it was him who managed it. In 1918 Giertych became the director of a metal plant in Donieck. In 1922, he founded Kielce Foundry Joint Stock Company where he held the position of director general. He was also the author of a series of articles, including On Educating Apprentices in Machine Factories published in 1913 in Przegląd Techniczny, issue 2, On the Possibilities, Tasks and Organization of Small Industry in Poland, Petrograd, 1918 or Can Inflation Be Avoided?, Warsaw, 1932. In 1902, Franciszek Giertych married Janina Albrecht. They had two children together – Jędrzej Giertych (1903 – 1992) and Janina Giertych (1905 – 1988). He died on 30 January 1938 and was buried at Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw. Key words: Franciszek Giertych, Jews, antisemitism, Kielce, Gavrilov, metal industry, Wiktor Jaroński, Bronisław Markowski, Tallinn