From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Józef Daniel Garbień (December 11, 1896 — May
3, 1954), was a Polish football striker who played for both Pogoń Lwów and
the national team. He was
part of the legendary Pogoń forwards, who in the early 1920s were
superior to all opponents in the country.
Garbien was born in Łupków (near Sanok). Apart from playing football, he was a
physician, a 1924 graduate of Lwów's Jan Kazimierz University.
His career started on Pogoń Stryj. In 1916 he moved to Pogoń
Lwów, where remained until 1928 (then, until 1933, he played for
Oldboye Lwów, a team of veteran players). With Pogoń, he was
multiple champion of Poland (1922, 1923, 1925, 1926); he also
played 8 games on the National Team. Garbien's nickname "Tank"
fully reflected his physique and style of play. He was strong and
dynamic, but some sources claim that he could be too selfish on the
field. After retirement from playing, in 1933 he moved to Chrzanów, where he was
director of the hospital.
A member of Józef Piłsudski's Polish Legions,
he fought on the Italian
Front in World War
I, then was severely wounded in 1919, during the conflict with Ukraine over Lwów. He participated in the
Polish
September Campaign as an officer of the Polish Army. During the
Nazi occupation of Poland
he was an active member of the underground,
was captured by the Gestapo,
and spent several months in the Gestapo's notorious prison on
Montelupi Street in Kraków.
After World War
II he was captured by the Communists and incarcerated for his
alleged anti-Soviet attitude. Released, he settled in Chorzów, where until 1949
he was director of the hospital. He died in Cieszyn.