Shanyavsky Karol (Karol Szaniawski) was born in 1891 in Ukraine, Cherkassy district, Rotmystrovtsi. His father was a family doctor. He graduated from high school in Yelyzavethrad (now Kirovograd) and in 1909 was enrolled to the mechanical department of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. He held his practices at metallurgical plants Dnepropetrovsk and Krivoy Rog, as well as the weapons factory at Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd). After graduation in 1917 he became an assistant at KPI and then a teacher.

In 1918, Karol Shanyavsky moved to Poland. There he became a director of the Warsaw factory of private cars and concrete products, and in 1923 he became a head of rifle production machining factory in Warsaw. In 1925, as a production manager at the factory in Radom, he launched the production of Mauser 98 rifle type. In 1929 he returned to Warsaw at the former factory and became deputy director and a head of the research department. With the help of his work the factory began producing machines and hand guns, sporting rifles and typewriters. In 1932 he moved to ammunition factory in the Skarżysko-Kamienna town and became its deputy director. The development studies of ammunition for a high initial velocity anti-tank weapons conducted in subordinate office. In 1936 Carol Shanyavsky was transferred to the State arms factory in Warsaw to design new weapon plants in the Central Industrial District. In 1937 he became the director of the new gun production plant at Steel Plant Stalowa Wola. Before the war, the plant produced weapons of several sizes.

After the annexation of Poland by the Germans K.Shanyavskyy moved to Warsaw and began working as a technologist in the Parovoz factory, where he worked until the Warsaw Uprising.

After the liberation of Poland in 1945 he became the chief engineer at Mechanical Plant Stalowa Wola, where in 1950 he moved to Warsaw Office of presses and hammers building, where he became the chief engineer. Since 1952 he had worked at the design and construction of industrial plants PROZAMET in Warsaw, where he worked as a chief designer until retirement (1958). Meanwhile he designed line treatment of heavy parts, such as gears for large gears, turbines, parts for shipbuilding, as well as lines for plastic processing. This man was a well-known specialist in mechanical and plastic processing machines, an expert on the European market, so he often went to business trips to Western countries as part of official government delegations.

K.Shanyavskyy was an active figure in engineering organizations, especially the Association of Polish Engineers and Technicians Mechanical (SIMP, part of the Main Technical Organisation) where he was in the main board. He received Cavalry Cross of the Order of Poland's rebirth.

He died in 1961 and was buried at Warsaw Povonzkovsky cemetry.