The life of the brilliant engineer Ernest Malinowski hides many mysteries. There was even debate about his place and date of birth: was it Seweryny, or Różyczno in Podolia? Was he born in 1805, 1815, or perhaps 1818? It was finally established that it was likely Różyczno, the estate of his parents, Jakub and Anna, where on January 5, 1818, she gave birth to a son named Adam, Stanisław, Hipolit, Ernest, Nepomucen.
Another debate—did Ernest Malinowski participate in the November Uprising or not? Probably not, as he was only 13 years old at the time. However, his older brother Rudolf did participate in the uprising, and their father was even a deputy in the uprising’s parliament, which forced the family into exile.
Ernest received his first education at the renowned Krzemieniec Lyceum, and continued his studies in Paris, where the patriotic family had settled. First, it was Lycée Louis-le-Grand, then École Polytechnique, and finally, the excellent École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, the School of Bridges and Roads, from which he graduated alongside his brother Rudolf.
National Hero He was very talented, but in France, where those born outside its borders did not have the same opportunities as native citizens, he could not expect a satisfying professional future. For fourteen years, he worked in both France and Algeria on railway, road, and port construction, regulating rivers, but a prestigious place in the famous Corps of Engineers of Roads and Bridges was not for him. In such a situation, it was no surprise that the ambitious and phenomenally talented engineer accepted in 1852 the offer of a government engineer position in Peru, where—according to the contract—he was to design road, drainage, and construction projects. To get there, he embarked on a two-month sea journey with two French colleagues, traveling around Cape Horn, as the Panama Canal did not yet exist. I don't envy him the passage through the "Roaring Forties."
In Peru, he first dealt with various projects: modernizing the national mint in Lima, designing beautiful pavements for the streets and squares of Arequipa, overseeing their execution, and designing and supervising the unfinished construction of the Pisco-Ica and Chimbote-Huaraz railway lines.
It is unknown whether he would have had the chance to realize his further, fantastic plans if not for the war with Spain in 1866, when he was appointed chief engineer at the port of Callao. There, he fortified the San Felipe fortress with cannons from American Civil War surplus, which supposedly gained new technical capabilities thanks to him, as they became rotatable, enhancing their effectiveness. Despite Spain's numerical superiority—without Peru defeating its fleet—Malinowski became a national hero, receiving a diploma, a medal, and honorary citizenship of the country; his image and name were placed on a monument in Lima. This likely facilitated his professional negotiations.
In 1859, Ernest Malinowski submitted an extraordinary project for a railway line through the Andes that could transport the wealth extracted from the mountain mines to the port of Callao. The project was rejected as completely unrealistic.
And it would never have been realized, wrote Stefan Bratkowski, one of the first researchers of Ernest Malinowski's legacy, in "Continents," if not for two other madmen.
The President and the Speculator Let's start with the speculator, although it would be more elegant to call him an investor. He was Henry Meiggs, an American. Born in New York, he eventually moved to California, where he started lucrative businesses that eventually led to debts and forgery. He had imagination: when he faced bankruptcy and prison, he allegedly invited friends to the port for champagne, then boarded a ship and sailed south to Latin America. He reached as far as Chile, where his extradition was refused, and—undoubtedly skilled in business—he began to make a career there. Adopting the name Manuel Enrique Torres de la Merced, he engaged in pioneering railway construction. His business initially went well; he even built himself a palace and paid off some American debts. But what he earned, he spent, and he had troubles again. In 1868, he arrived in Peru, penniless.
The president of Peru at that time, the first civilian president, was Manuel Pardo, whom Stefan Bratkowski called the "Peruvian Staszic." Although silver revenues were already very low, a new source appeared: guano, an excellent natural fertilizer. Pardo decided to use it for the country's development, placing his hopes in the spreading railway. Peru had great mineral wealth in the Andes, around Cerro de Pasco, but it needed to be transported to the Pacific coast, to the port, from where it would travel the world. The best way was by rail, as proposed by Henry Meiggs. It was he who, in 1869, commissioned the project and cost estimate from the best Peruvian engineer at the time, Ernest Malinowski. And he began raising funds for its realization. His luck ran out—guano soon depleted, and the great reformer Manuel Pardo was assassinated in 1878.
Henry Meiggs died a year earlier
But before that happened, on January 1, 1870, during a splendidly organized ceremony, the cornerstone was laid, and work began on a truly monumental project. It was a challenge beyond human measure, it seemed. Already in 1825, another visionary, the liberator of South America, Simón Bolívar, had allegedly conceived the idea of connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic. Ernest Malinowski's project was close to this, as the railway line he planned was initially intended to extend to the Amazon, from where goods transported by train could flow down the river to the Atlantic coast. But for now, financial and technical realities corrected these dreams.
The railway was to ascend from sea level to almost five thousand meters, higher than anywhere else in the world. The project called for the construction of 63 tunnels with a total length of over six kilometers (the "Galera" tunnel was 1177 meters long and was then the highest in the world at 4781 meters above sea level) and over 30 bridges and viaducts. Malinowski ensured the best materials; even the wood for the sleepers—California pine—was imported from the United States because it was supposed to be twice as durable as the local material. To deliver this material to the required height, paths had to be carved out of the rock. Over 10,000 workers were employed in the construction, half of whom were specially brought in from China, whose descendants today form the Chinese community in Lima. Malinowski also employed Chileans and Peruvians, including Indians, who best withstood the working conditions in the thin air at high altitudes.
Malinowski did not spare himself either: when necessary, he would descend into the Andean abysses on ropes or climb to the peaks to personally inspect the work. He also personally supervised the quality of materials, managed accounting, and maintained contact with suppliers. Tools and materials were delivered on the backs of pack animals, of which several reportedly died daily.
Thousands of workers died due to harsh working conditions and the verruga epidemic, which was stopped by a young medical student, Daniel Carrión: he subjected himself to an experiment, inoculating himself with the bacteria of the so-called Oroya fever, to prove that it was nothing other than the already known verruga peruana, Peruvian wart, or bartonellosis, a debilitating disease caused by the Bartonella bacilliformis bacteria. He died, but contributed to defeating the plague, which today bears his name, just like the technically impressive viaduct, 175 meters long and 77 meters high, probably the highest in the world at the time, built in extreme conditions across a vast gorge with the help of ropes and sailors.
The Indians, who knew how to build suspension bridges, were also useful. Thanks to their skills, two tunnels between the Matucana and San Mateo stations were connected by bridges, in work so dangerous that the gorge was named "Infernillo"—"Little Hell." To allow the train to climb the height, eleven switches had to be built. No wonder that the Central Trans-Andean Railway and its creator were written about in professional—and not only—newspapers worldwide.
War—and After the War Already in 1874, Peru experienced an economic crisis, but the construction of the railway continued, funded by Meiggs and Malinowski, who at that time did not receive any salary for his work: the most important thing for both of them was the realization of the highly innovative, beloved project. Unfortunately, in 1879, war broke out with Chile, the so-called "War of the Pacific," in which Bolivia lost its access to the sea, Peru lost the nitrate-rich Tarapacá province, and Malinowski's home in Chosica was ruined by Chilean looters. No one had any money anymore, and it seemed that the Central Trans-Andean Railway would never be completed.
Ernest Malinowski went to Ecuador, where he also worked on railway projects. He returned to Lima in 1886. He felt good in this city, known as the "Pearl of the Spanish Crown." He participated in its scientific and cultural life: he was one of the founding members of the Geographical Society and the National Club, worked in the Charity Society, contributed to the publication of the multi-volume work of the eminent Italian geographer Antonio Raimondi "El Peru," wrote articles, and substituted for the director of the School of Engineers, Edward Habich, whom he himself had brought to Peru, along with several other Polish engineers. He was a notable figure. He occupied an apartment in the exclusive, now non-existent hotel at Portal de Botoneros 52, where he held elegant receptions with the help of his French cook. He also organized train trips for Peruvian and foreign guests. Handsome, educated, fluent in several languages, refined, he did not start a family, reportedly due to unfulfilled love in France.
He worked on the construction of the Tarma-La Merced railway line, but the beloved Central Trans-Andean Railway lay fallow, with only the 141-kilometer section from Callao to Chicla, completed in 1878, in operation. Work resumed only in 1890, when The Peruvian Corporation was formed with a majority of British capital. Thanks to this, the railway reached La Oroya in 1993, and then it crossed the Ticlio Pass, its highest point. It was only at the beginning of the 20th century, after the death of its brilliant creator, who died of a heart attack on March 2, 1899, that it was extended to Cerro de Pasco. It is 331 kilometers long. Currently, it does not have regular services, mainly serving freight transport, but tourist trips can also be arranged.
This excerpt comes from Elżbieta Dzikowska's book "Tam, gdzie byłam. Część 2," published by Bernardinum. Elżbieta Dzikowska. Born in Międzyrzec Podlaski. Art historian, sinologist, director and operator of documentary films, traveler, author of many books, television programs, radio broadcasts, journalistic articles, and modern art exhibitions. Together with her husband, Tony Halik, she made around 300 films from all continents for Polish Television and hosted the popular travel television program "Pieprz i wanilia."
