Anna Demchenko exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
Baku residents of Polish origin contributed a lot to the culture and architecture of Azerbaijan’s capital – Józef Gosławski, Casimir Skurewic, Jozef Plosko. The name of Pawel Potocki stands apart – he was an engineer who managed to cope with a very difficult task of producing oil from the bottom of the sea.
Pawel Potocki was born in St. Petersburg in 1879. His father Nikolai Potocki was Russified Polish, general of infantry, professor of Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy. Father wanted to see his son a military and put him to one of the most prestigious military college of the time – the Page Corps. However, Pawel dreamed about engineering, and after graduation from the Corps with honors, he entered the Institute of Railways.
In 1901 Potocki graduated and went to Paris to the World Exhibition where he worked on the exposition of the Ministry of Railways, devoted to the Trans-Siberian Railway. After the end of the exhibition, the young engineer went to Holland where he studied hydraulic equipment. Returning to motherland, the engineer was invited to take part in construction of a canal the outfall of the Dnepr River. He had been working there till 1910.
In the late 19th and the early 20th century Witold Zglenicki studied the oil fields of Azerbaijan. He called the Bibi-Heybat Harbor one of the most promising fields, as its bottom was rich with oil. However, Zglenicki died before draining the harbor, and the work went on very slowly. But in 1910 Potocki was invited by oil businessmen to head the works. Dredgers were ordered, but the order was fulfilled only in 1916, and the machines were immediately sent to the Baltic region for military necessities. It led to another delay. It seemed the project was doomed to fail – in 1919 Potocki went blind in one eye, and in 1920 – in another eye. Treatment in Moscow appeared to be ineffective. Potocki thought that it would prevent him from further working. When he came back to Baku, he changed a flat and didn’t communicate with old friends.
The new government demanded much oil. It appreciated the professional skills of the engineer and proposed Potocki to be the technical head of drainage the Bib-Heybat Harbor in 1921. The engineer knew the harbor so well that even his blindness didn’t disturb him in exploring the harbor. His daughter helped him, if it was necessary.
Baku oil producers respected Potocki so much that called him Commander. Common workers, engineers, and the leadership loved him. One of workers wrote about Potocki: “In the trek to the sea bottom we were led by blind engineer Potocki. He can fight the sea! Potocki keeps in mind all papers, schemes, and plans which he cannot see…” Potocki’s whole life went near the harbor; he even lived nearby.
The harbor’s drainage project was adopted by a solid vote. In 1922 the first drill well was founded on the drained territory; it began working on May 13th, 1923. That’s how oil production from the Caspian Sea’s bottom began. Potocki died in 1932 and was buried on the sea cost.
