Jerzy Tumaniszwili Warsaw Poland September03 2009 Fot Mariusz Kubik 04

Jerzy Tumaniszwili ( ka, გიორგი თუმანიშვილი, Giorgi Tumanishvili) (June 21, 1916 – December 9, 2010) was a Polish naval commander of a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

aristocratic descent. A

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

veteran and later an émigré to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, he received the rank of

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

from the

government of Poland The Government of Poland takes the form of a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. However, its form of government has also been iden ...

in 2008. Jerzy Tumaniszwili was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

in 1916. His father Prince Paul Toumanoff ( Tumanishvili, 1872–1935) served as Marshal of Nobility of Georgia in the last years of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. His mother, Jadwiga Szyszko, was a daughter of the Polish general Cezary Szyszko, a commander in

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative ...

. After the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

, the family moved to Georgia, which they fled, following the country's takeover by the Bolsheviks in 1921. The family eventually settled in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, where Paul Toumanoff headed a local Georgian émigré committee from 1924 to 1930. In 1935, Jerzy Tumaniszwili, through the recommendation of General Alexander Zakariadze, a Georgian in the Polish service, was enrolled in the

Polish Naval Academy The Polish Naval Academy (PNA) " Heroes of Westerplatte" is a naval university supervised by the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland, with the history, uninterrupted by World War II, dating back to 1922. At present the PNA provi ...

. In 1938 Tumaniszwili received the rank of second lieutenant of the Polish navy. During World War II, he served as an artillery officer on the ORP ''Burza'', OF ''Ouragan'', ORP ''Krakowiak'', and ORP ''Piorun''. He participated in various combat missions, including the Norwegian Campaign, the Battle at Calais, the

Atlantic Convoys A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

, the actions in the Bay of Biscay, and the D-Day operations. He was wounded in combat in 1942 during battle with enemy torpedo boats. In 1944, Tumaniszwili was promoted to captain of the Polish navy.Ceremony in Portland
Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, D.C. June 2, 2009. In 1950, Tumaniszwili left

Communist Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

for the

, where he ran an enterprise, producing disposable needles.Adm. Jerzy Tumaniszwili died Dec 9, 2010
Seattle Polish News. December 16, 2010. He also wrote for the local Polish press and participated in the émigré Polish organizations, including the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

-based Józef Piłsudski Institute of America. In 1990, the president of Poland in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, gave him a promotion to

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

. In 2008 he received the honorary rank of rear admiral from President

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he pre ...

.Jerzy Tumaniszwili, 92, of Portland promoted to admiral in Polish navy
US Fed News Service, Including US State News. July 16, 2009 (

HighBeam Research HighBeam Research was a paid search engine and full text online archive owned by Gale, a subsidiary of Cengage, for thousands of newspapers, magazines, academic journals, newswires, trade magazines, and encyclopedias in English. It was head ...

). He was decorated with

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King St ...

Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

and other orders. Tumaniszwili died at age 93 in Florida in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tumaniszwili, Jerzy 1916 births 2010 deaths Polish Navy admirals Polish military personnel of World War II People of World War II from Georgia (country) Emigrants from Georgia (country) to Poland Recipients of the Virtuti Militari (1943–1989) Polish emigrants to the United States American people of Georgian (country) descent