Leonard Jaczewski, Леонард Антонович Ячевский, Leonard Yachevsky (1858–1916) 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 ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. He was one of the pioneers in the study of

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

Biography

After graduating from high school 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 ...

Jaczewski began his studies at the St. Petersburg Mining Institute, graduating in 1883. Following this, he worked in

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...

, taking part in an expedition to the summit of

Mönkh Saridag Mönkh Saridag (also spelled as Munku-Sardyk; Mongolian: Мөнх сарьдаг, ''lit. "eternal aiguille"'') is the highest mountain in the Sayan Mountains of Asia. It is tall and is on the international border between Mongolia and Russia. It ...

and acting as an expert in to the

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface ...

industry in

Transbaikal Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia. The steppe and ...

. He is credited with discovering and naming several

glaciers A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

, as well as making many

geomorphological Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

and

meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

observations. In addition to this he spent time studying the geology of the shores of

Lake Khövsgöl Lake Khövsgöl is the largest freshwater lake in Mongolia by volume and second largest by area. It is located near the northern border of Mongolia, about 200 km (124 mi) west of the southern end of Lake Baikal. It is nicknamed the "Younger siste ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

. Jaczewski is noted as one of the first researchers in the world to discover the relationship of the thickness of snow cover to the depth of a layer of permafrost. He also clarified the location of the southern boundary of the permafrost in Siberia. Until 1890 he took part in the classification of deposits (

bituminous Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

coals, for example) in the

Semipalatinsk Semey ( kk, Семей, Semei, سەمەي; cyrl, Семей ), until 2007 known as Semipalatinsk (russian: Семипала́тинск) and in 1917–1920 as Alash-kala ( kk, Алаш-қала, ''Alaş-qala''), is a city in eastern Kazakhst ...

area, the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...

, and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, then moved to the

Yenisei The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat language, Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan language, Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas language, K ...

, where he was hired by Jenisejskim District Operation Gold. From 1893 to 1894 Jaczewski worked in a group of geologists and engineers alongside Charles Bohdanowcza, on the Achinsk - Baikal stretch of the Trans-Siberian railway. At the same time he investigated the area for mineral deposits and water. Jaczewski was co-author of a geological map of the areas adjacent to this section of the railway. In the years 1895 - 1898 Jaczewski set out individually to look for jade, and in 1896 he discovered riverside deposits. In 1905, he was head of a geological expedition in the region of

Minusinsk Minusinsk (russian: Минуси́нск; kjh, Минсуғ) is a historical types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. Population: 44,500 (1973). Geography Minusinsk marks the center of the Minusinsk Hollow ...

(Tuva). In 1908, he was requested by the authorities to develop the first Russian Geological Survey in Siberia, which was founded in 1918. In 1913 Jaczewski was elected as a member of the St. Petersburg Committee of Geology. Towards the end of his life he became professor of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

at the School of Mining in

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

in the Urals, where he became the chair of mineralogy. He published mainly in Russian, but also in Polish as he liked to strongly emphasize his Polishness, and was known for his criticism of the

tsarist regime 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 ...

.Leonard Jaczewski

Literature

Obituary
— ''Spencer L. J.'' Biographical Notices of Mineralogists Recently Deceased. (Second Series.) Mineralogical Magazine. 1924. N 20. P. 252-275.

Links

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biography *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaczewski, Leonard 1858 births 1916 deaths Deaths from stomach cancer Cartographers from the Russian Empire People from Poddębice County People from Kalisz Governorate Polish engineers Polish explorers Polish geographers 19th-century Polish geologists Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Russian geologists Saint Petersburg Mining University alumni