Antoni Bura

Antoni Bura was an independence activist in the Cieszyn Silesia region, which was part of Austro-Hungary and later split between Poland and Czechoslovakia. In World War I he was a member of the secret Polish Military Organisation, the intelligence and sabotage arm of the Polish Legions. Participating in the Polish-Soviet War, Bura was awarded the Cross of Valour. At St. Moritz in 1928, Bura was a member of the officers’ crew that represented Poland in the 5-man bob. In 1934 he graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Lvov (now Lviv).

Subsequently, Bura worked as an apprentice and machine foreman in Silesian coal mines. From 1938 until the outbreak of World War II, he was an employee of a mining and smelting company in the former Czechoslovakian region of Zaolzie. During the occupation, he lived in Krakow. From 1945-49 he was director of a factory of electrical machines in Cieszyn. In 1950 he joined the Ministry of Mining and Energy and simultaneously worked at the School of Engineering in Krakow. In 1957, he published the book Maszyny i urządzenia górnicze (Machines and Mining equipment). Bura retired in 1968.