Józef Wierusz-Kowalski (16 March 1866 – 30 November 1927) was a Polish

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 cau ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. He discovered the phenomenon of progressive

phosphorescence Phosphorescence is a type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence. When exposed to light (radiation) of a shorter wavelength, a phosphorescent substance will glow, absorbing the light and reemitting it at a longer wavelength. Unlike fluor ...

. He served as Rector of the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

, and helped to establish the section for physics at the reopened

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. After Polish independence was established, he served as the Polish ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, the Netherlands, Austria and Turkey.

Early life and education

Józef Wierusz-Kowalski was born to Dr. Tadeusz Wierusz-Kowalski (1841–1904) and Juliet Wasilewska, in Pulawy,

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

, then part of

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

on 16 March 1866. His father owned property in Olbięcin from 1869 to 1904. Józef married Leonia Wierusz-Kowalska (born Rostworowska) in 1900, at age 33. Leonia was born in 1870. They had 5 children: Tadeusz Wierusz-Kowalski, Marie-Angèle (Aniela) Mallet (born Wierusz-Kowalska) and 3 other children. Initially, Józef Wierusz-Kowalski studied law at the Imperial University of Warsaw, but after a year he moved to the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, where he studied physics. He studied the properties of

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

, including its strength, and in 1889 presented his doctoral thesis, "Untersuchungen über die Festigkeit des Glases". After working in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

and the Technical University in Zurich, Wierusz-Kowalski studied physics and physical chemistry at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

. In 1894, he accepted a faculty position in mathematics and natural sciences at the

in Switzerland. In 1894, he introduced

Pierre Curie Pierre Curie ( ; ; 15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906) was a French physicist, Radiochemistry, radiochemist, and a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. He shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, ...

and Maria Skłodowska. As the chair of physics, he established the physics department. During the academic year 1897–1898, he served as rector of the university. He remained at Fribourg until 1915.

Scientific and diplomatic career

In 1897, Wierusz-Kowalski hired Ignacy Mościcki as his assistant. Mościcki created an electric arc method for fixing nitrogen, and he and Wierusz-Kowalski set up an experimental plant around 1903, trading nitric acid as the Société de l'acide nitrique. Wierusz-Kowalski's major fields of study were

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

and

electrical discharge In electromagnetism, an electric discharge is the release and transmission of electricity in an applied electric field through a medium such as a gas (i.e., an outgoing flow of electric current through a non-metal medium).American Geophysical U ...

luminescence Luminescence is a spontaneous emission of radiation from an electronically or vibrationally excited species not in thermal equilibrium with its environment. A luminescent object emits ''cold light'' in contrast to incandescence, where an obje ...

and

. Wierusz-Kowalski examined mixtures of

rare-earth The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths, and sometimes the lanthanides or lanthanoids (although scandium and yttrium, which do not belong to this series, are usually included as rare earths), are a set of ...

metal compounds such as

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...

under the influence of

ultraviolet radiation Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of t ...

, studying the phosphorescence of rare-earth compounds and organic compounds. In 1910, he discovered the phenomenon of progressive phosphorescence in the phosphorescence spectra of organic molecules. For his work in this field he was distinguished in 1912 by Harvard University. He was actively involved in the

Warsaw Scientific Society Warsaw Scientific Society (Polish: ''Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie''; TNW) is a Polish scientific society based in Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city o ...

, which was founded in 1907. He served as a member of the editorial board of a Polish encyclopedia, the United universal encyclopedia, published in Switzerland. During World War I he worked with the Committee in Support of Victims of War in Poland, founded by

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as The Trilogy, the Trilogy series and especially ...

Vevey Vevey (; ; ) is a town in Switzerland in the Vaud, canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Leman, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the Vevey (district), district of the same name until 200 ...

. The early 1900s were a time of great unrest in Polish politics and education. In 1912 Kowalski became a member of the Academy of Sciences and Letters in Kraków. In 1915, Józef Wierusz-Kowalski was one of the lecturers of physics at the Physics & Mathematics Faculty of the TKN, a secular “free university” which later became Wolna Wszechnica Polska ( Free Polish University). In 1916 he was a member of the Board of the Association of Polish Education. The

was reopened on 15 November 1915 as a Polish institution. A Section of Experimental Physics was opened in 1916 as part of the Department of Philosophy, under Wierusz-Kowalski's leadership. In January 1919 Józef Wierusz-Kowalski helped to found the Warsaw Physical Society. In 1919 Józef Wierusz-Kowalski entered the diplomatic service of Poland, and was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the

on 1 July 1919. On 19 October 1921 he was appointed deputy of Poland at The Hague, where he remained until 1 December 1924. He was a member of the

International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation The International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, sometimes League of Nations Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, is an advisory organisation for the League of Nations which promotes international exchange between scientists, researche ...

of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

. He then became the Polish ambassador in

Vienna, Austria Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, holding the position until 30 September 1926. On 21 October 1926 he became a representative of the Republic of Poland in Ankara, Turkey, where he died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wierusz-Kowalski, Jozef 1866 births 1927 deaths 19th-century Polish physicists 20th-century Polish physicists Ambassadors of Poland to Austria Ambassadors of Poland to Turkey Ambassadors of Poland to the Netherlands Ambassadors of Poland to the Holy See Rare earth scientists People from Congress Poland

Early life and education

Scientific and diplomatic career

See also

References