Hjalmar Frederik Karl Uggla (March 17, 1908 – March 13, 1983) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

soil scientist Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the ...

, professor, and head of the Department of Soil Science at the Higher Agricultural School in Olsztyn (later renamed to the Academy of Agriculture and Technology, now

University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn was established on 1 September 1999, in accordance with the new Statute of Sejm signed by Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, as well as Minister of Education Mirosław Handke, in August of th ...

). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was a member of a Polish resistance movement. He was also awarded the

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...

prize. Hjalmar Uggla was born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in an

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...

family from the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...

residing in the nineteenth century in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, which at that time was part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. The professor's ancestors were sent by the tsarist authorities as empire officials to the

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

. After two generations, the family Polonized and during the wars clearly defined its Polish national identity. He was the father of Andrzej Nils Uggla, a literary studies professor at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

Education and scientific career

H. Uggla studied at the Faculty of Forestry at the

Warsaw University of Life Sciences The Warsaw University of Life Sciences ( pl, Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego, lit=Main School of Rural Homestead, SGGW) is the largest agricultural university in Poland, established in 1816 in Warsaw. It employs over 2,600 staff including ...

(SGGW) from which he graduated in 1933. By 1929, he started working as an assistant at the Department of Soil Science at this university. Between 1935 and 1939, he was working as a soil classifier in

Polesia Polesia, Polesie, or Polesye, uk, Полісся (Polissia), pl, Polesie, russian: Полесье (Polesye) is a natural and historical region that starts from the farthest edge of Central Europe and encompasses Eastern Europe, including East ...

and

Kuyavia Kuyavia ( pl, Kujawy; german: Kujawien; la, Cuiavia), also referred to as Cuyavia, is a historical region in north-central Poland, situated on the left bank of Vistula, as well as east from Noteć River and Lake Gopło. It is divided into three t ...

. In the years between 1940 and 1945, he was employed on the farm of the Central Experimental Silk Station in

Milanówek Milanówek is a town and a seat of a separate gmina, commune in Poland. Located next to the Grodzisk Mazowiecki County near Warsaw, it is often considered an outlying suburb of the capital of Poland but is in fact an independent entity administr ...

. After the war, he returned to academic work at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. After defending his doctoral

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

in 1950, he became the organizer and director of the Department of Soil Science at the newly founded Higher School of Agriculture in

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

. He studied mainly hydrogenic soils and forest soils, among others on

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

and soil classification,

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

and

soil protection Soil conservation is the prevention of loss of the topmost layer of the soil from erosion or prevention of reduced fertility caused by over usage, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination. Slash-and-burn and other unsu ...

. He was perceived as one of the creators of the ecological direction in pedology. He was an author of over 130 scientific publications and 5 academic textbooks and organizer and active member of the Olsztyn branch of

Soil Science Society of Poland The Soil Science Society of Poland (SSSP) ( pl, Polskie Towarzystwo Gleboznawcze), is a scientific and professional society of Polish soil scientists. The society was founded in 1937 on the initiative of Feliks Terlikowski, Jan Włodek and Tadeus ...

Wartime activities

From the beginning of World War II, Hjalmar Uggla was an active member of the resistance movement – first in the

Union of Armed Struggle Związek Walki Zbrojnej ( abbreviation: ''ZWZ''; Union of Armed Struggle;Thus rendered in Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'', vol. II, p. 464. also translated as ''Union for Armed Struggle'', ''Association of Armed Strug ...

, and then of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...

. He belonged to the platoon of the "Mielizna" center under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"Sowa" ("Owl") as a paramedic in the rank of an older shooter. He took an active part in

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

operations and taking over air discharges. Using documents of his Swedish origin and fluent knowledge of German, he intervened many times with the occupation authorities on the release of detained members of the resistance movement and other people. After the end of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

, he hid escapees (civilians, insurgents, Jews, and nuns) from a burning Warsaw in his home in Milanówek. At the end of 1944, about 50 people were hiding at the same time at the Uggla house in Milanówek. The whole family was threatened with the death penalty for this activity. Among the rescued was Kazimierz Lewartowicz, a Jew currently living in the US, together with his mother Zofia, a concert pianist, who were kept in a secret hiding place prepared specifically for this purpose. At the request of Kazimierz Lewartowicz, the Yad Vashem Memorial Institute in Jerusalem gave the title Righteous Among the Nations posthumously, Hjalmar Uggla and his wife Ludwika Uggla on May 6, 2007.

Awards and decorations

* Gold Award of the Polish Society of Soil Science * Gold Award of the Polish Forest Society * The award of the Meritorious Teacher of the Polish People's Republic * Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

* Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta * Righteous Among the Nations (2007) * The Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uggla, Hjalmar 1908 births Polish people of Swedish descent People from Olsztyn Polish soil scientists 20th-century Polish scientists Home Army members Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989) Polish Righteous Among the Nations Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta 1983 deaths