Childhood & youth

Lechosław Franciszek Ciupik was born in 1949 in Zielona Góra, into a family of repatriates from the Eastern Borderlands. His parents, Roman and Franciszka, arrived in 1946 from Monasterzyska to the Recovered Territories – first to Oława, and then to Zielona Góra, where they started a new life in post-war Poland. Lechosław (Leszek) grew up with his two sisters, Anita and Elżbieta, in a home where work, resourcefulness and independence were part of everyday life.

From an early age, he helped out on the smallholding. His daily duties began very early, often before dawn. These experiences quickly fortified his character and developed a sense of responsibility, respect for work, perseverance and a practical approach to life.

At the same time, he developed an interest in technology. He was able to make tools, repair equipment, and disassemble and reassemble mechanisms all by himself. A workshop, a saw, a hammer, and a vice became his first “laboratory.” Even then, a trait that would accompany him throughout his life was already apparent—the need to understand how things work and the conviction that there is always room for improvement.

He attended Primary School No. 9 and High School No. 1 in Zielona Góra. During his school years, he was interested in sports, especially basketball. Physical activity was not only his passion, but also a way to develop discipline and endurance. Health problems in his youth interrupted his sports career and at the same time directed him towards another area – technical studies and intellectual pursuits.

His childhood, spent in a post-war reality marked by hard work and the need to adapt to difficult conditions, played a key role in shaping his personality. It was then that the foundations were laid for his later engineering mindset: practical, responsible and consistent — based on experience rather than theory.