August Chełkowski

August Chełkowski (, 27 February 1927 – 31 October 1999) was a prominent

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

and politician. Born in the small village of Telkwice, then in

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

(then a part of

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

) he was a son of Franciszek Chełkowski, a wealthy landowner and prominent activist of the Polish community in Prussia and his wife Emilia (maiden name Mieczkowska). He was related to a number of other Polish activists by his maternal side. He was a 1948 graduate of the prestigious

Karol Marcinkowski Karol Marcinkowski (23 June 1800 in Posen, Kingdom of Prussia, today Poznań in Poland–6 November 1846) was a Polish physician, social activist in the Greater Poland region (also called the Grand Duchy of Posen), supporter of the basic educa ...

Lycee in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

(commonly known as ''Marcinek'') and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. He earned his MSc degree (''magister'') in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

in 1952 and his PhD (''doktorat'') in 1958. Although he was a Poznanian, he relocated permanently to Katowice in 1967, together with a number of other scientists from Poznan. In 1968, when the University of Silesia was established, Chelkowski, along with other scientists from Poznan, established that University's Physics Institute, which was named after him in 2000. He went to become a professor of the

University of Silesia in Katowice The University of Silesia in Katowice ( pl, Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach, UŚ) is an autonomous state-run university in Silesia Province, Katowice, Poland. The university offers higher education and research facilities. It offers undergrad ...

in 1973 and a higher ranking professor (''professor zwyczajny'') in 1990. He served as the

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the University of Silesia in Katowice from 1 September 1981 until 12 January 1982, when he was dismissed by the then minister of higher education for political reasons. He was an author of a number of works on physics. In 1980 he became a member of the Solidarity and an active figure of the opposition. He was the only president of any Polish university to be arrested during the

Martial Law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

. After the fall of communism, he was elected to the Senate from the Solidarity list and served until his death. He served as a Senate Marshal during Senate 2nd term (23 December 1991 – 16 October 1993.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chelkowski, August 1927 births 1999 deaths Senat Marshals University of Silesia in Katowice alumni Members of the Senate of Poland 1989–1991 Members of the Senate of Poland 1991–1993 Members of the Senate of Poland 1993–1997 Members of the Senate of Poland 1997–2001 20th-century Polish physicists