Gabriel Rzączyński (6 July 1664 – 12 November 1737) was a Polish

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, naturalist, geographer, and writer. He published several works in Latin on the natural history and folklore of Poland. Rzączyński was born in

Podlasie Podlachia, also known by its Polish name Podlasie (; ; ), is a historical region in north-eastern Poland. Its largest city is Białystok, whereas the historical capital is Drohiczyn. Similarly to several other historical regions of Poland, e.g ...

, from a family bearing the

Ślepowron coat of arms Ślepowron is a Polish heraldry, Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the fifteenth century, the descendants of the Ślepowron family began to use names taken fro ...

, and joined the Jesuit order in 1682 and became a grammar teacher from 1687 at Lublin. In 1692 he taught theology at Kraków, still later rhetoric and philosophy at Toruń, Lublin and Poznań, and Łuck. After 1717 he became a prefect of Gdańsk schools and from 1721 rector at Ostrog. Following his wide travels he wrote on the curiosities of natural history in his ''Historia naturalis curiosa Regni Poloniae, Magni Ducatus Litvaniae, annexarumque provinciarum, in tractatus XX divisa'' (1721). In 1745 was published posthumously his '' historiae naturalis curiosae Regni Poloniae, Magni Ducatus Lithvaniae, annexarumque provinciarum, concinnatum''. Aside from fauna, flora and geography, he wrote on contemporary myths and beliefs. In his 1721 work, he included descriptions of beliefs in vampires and walking corpses. Since the late 1710s, Rzączyński collaborated with naturalists from

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

(Germ. Danzig) - Johann Philipp Breyne and

Jacob Theodor Klein Jacob Theodor Klein (nickname ''Plinius Gedanensium''; 15 August 1685 – 27 February 1759) was a German people, German jurist, historian, botanist, zoologist, mathematician and diplomat in service of Polish King August II the Strong. Life Klein ...

- providing them, among other things, with natural specimens from the eastern territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

References

External links

Historia naturalis curiosa Regni Poloniae
(1721) ** Alternate scanned edition
PolandMunich

Auctuarium historiae naturalis curiosae Regni Poloniae, Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae, annexarumque provinciarum
(1745) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rzączyński, Gabriel 1664 births 1737 deaths Polish naturalists 17th-century Polish Jesuits 18th-century Polish Jesuits