Official Website of JAN CZOCHRALSKI, Forefather of The Silicon Era
A Legacy Beyond a Lifetime
Educating, inspiring, and giving rightful recognition to one of history’s most influential scientific minds.
The JanCZ Project is a global initiative led by Jan Czochralski's descendants, Fred Schmidt and Sylwester Czochralski, in partnership with Dr. Pawel Tomaszewski, under the auspices of the Jan Czochralski Remembrance Foundation, established in 2025 in the United States and Poland. Its mission is to restore and widely celebrate the legacy of Jan Czochralski.
The project aims to educate, inspire, and ensure Czochralski receives his rightful place among history’s most influential scientific minds.
The websites at JanCZ.org (English) and JanCzochralski.org (Polish. other languages) are the only official media of the Czochralski family, created and maintained by family members.
The core team
Fred Schmidt
The grandson of Jan Czochralski
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is the grandson of Jan Czochralski. He was born with the name Klemens Jan Borys Czochralski, in the same Kcynia Poland home designed by JanCZ and where he last lived. Based out of Austin Texas, Fred has worked on the business side of technology (PC games) for most of his career, both in the U.S. and in Europe,. He has dedicated the remainder of his years to promoting the story of JanCZ in the West, and to advancing relationships and business opportunities between Poland and the State of Texas. (In the photo: Fred with a monument of JanCZ in front of the Czochralski Elementary School in Kcynia.
Sylwester Czochralski
The great grand nephew of Jan Czochralski.
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is the great grand nephew of Jan Czochralski. He is based in Warsaw and has long worked in finance for a series of Scandinavian technology companies. Sylwester became aware of the importance of his surname around 2010, at the same time as the first efforts to restore Jan Czochralski's legacy in Poland began to finally take hold within academia and the government. He hacked together the first ever website dedicated to his famous ancestor at janczochralski.com, which he continues to maintain alongside his co-founding role in The JanCZ Project. (In the photo: Sylwester at the inauguration of the “Superhero” Jan Czochralski Intercity locomotive at Katowize Rail Station.)
Dr Pawel Tomaszewski
The official biographer of the Jan Czochralski.
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is the official biographer of the Jan Czochralski story based in Wroclaw. Having family roots in the same North Central Poland region as JanCZ, and also being a physics scientist, provided Dr. Tomaszewski with the personal motivation to research the history of JanCZ. From his earliest discoveries about this man and his scientific contributions, he was hooked. This dedication and painstaking documentation has now been going on for over 40 years, resulting in the authorship of multiple books and academic papers, as well as collaborations in support of films, exhibits, and other commemorations. (In the photo: Dr. Tomaszewski, right, with Sylwester Banaszkiewicz, left, at the 2014 Camerimage Film Festival)
Associate & Support Team
Nofiction LLC
Journalists
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of New York and Texas (ace journalists Alex Hannaford and Rob D'Amico) - Content writing and editing. General promotion and press relations.
Webchefs
Software company
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Webchefs and Authentic-Studio of Krakow Poland and London UK (Kamil Zawadzki, Kuba Olech, Sabina Francuz, Dawid Klyta, Aleksandra Zieba) -- JanCZ website concept, design and programming.
Jakub Nowak
Graphic Designer
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of Austin Texas and Kcynia Poland -- Graphic designer and member of a longtime family friendship between the Nowak's and Czochralski's. He created the JanCZ logo and various graphic images used in the website.
Karol Wyszynski, Marek Oleksicki, Ewa Kwasniew
Journalists
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Co-creators of the contemporary Jan Czochralski "as superhero" artwork, initially used for the Polish Academy of Superheroes media universe, and now incorporated into the JanCZ website under license and into other applications.
Peak Legal
company
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of Warsaw and Texas -- Wojciech Jarosinski and Dominic Kisielewski who have prepared the structure for the Jan Czochralski Remembrance Foundation in the USA and in Poland.
Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz
Polish-American Chamber of Commerce in Texas
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of the Polish-American Chamber of Commerce in Texas
Justyna Orlowska
Res Futuro Foundation in Warsaw
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of Res Futuro Foundation in Warsaw, who provide invaluable ongoing promotional and strategic support
Shelley Meyer & Brandon Schmidt
The familly
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(Fred Schmidt's wife) - Photographer, editor, and constant companion in the JanCZ mission and on many promotional travels between the U.S., EU and Poland. And Brandon Schmidt, (Fred's son and JanCZ great grandson) who is just beginning to understand this unique aspect of his history and will (hopefully, no pressure) be a successor to the mission.
Special Acknowledgements
The Czochralski Family of Kcynia
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Hanna Zielinska (JanCZ granddaughter) and Ewa Halas (great granddaughter) who have long been the official family spokespersons in Kcynia and for Poland. Thank you for your decades of tireless service to keeping the memory of Jan Czochralski alive and relevant!
City of Kcynia
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Gminia Kcynia) - The local officials who have embraced the JanCZ legacy through commemoration as "Kcynia - The The Home Of Jan Czochralski" in signage, brochures, exhibits, bonds, building and plaza dedications, walking tours, and more: The Honorable Mateusz Stachowiak (current Mayor), The Honorable Piotr Hemmerling (former Mayor), Anna Duda-Nowicka (marketing), Justyna Makarewicz (historian). Also, Michal Poczobutt, retired Headmaster of the Czochralski Elementary School in Kcynia who established a JanCZ Memorial Room of memorabilia and materials at the school and long championed the story.
State/Province of Kujawsko-Pomorskie
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This is the region in which Kcynia and Torun are located. Officials there, too, have long been champions of promoting JanCZ by naming an Old Town Torun square after him, commissioning the 2018 JanCZ graphic novel, and advocating for the naming of not just one, but two, institutes of advanced science studies after JanCZ. Piotr Calbecki is the Marshal of the region.
Dr. Karol Nawrocki
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A historian who was instrumental in advancing awareness of JanCZ across Poland and beyond in his role as President of the Institute of Polish National Remembrance (IPN). He filmed and posted a video on Twitter/X in 2024 that has had nearly 50,000 views. In August 2025, Dr. Nawrocki ascended to the Presidency of the Republic of Poland.
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Copyright 2025 by the Jan Czochralski Remembrance Foundation (JCRF), Texas USA and Warsaw Poland. All rights reserved worldwide. No parts of this website may be copied or reproduced without the expressed written permission of JCRF.
