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Jędrzej Śniadecki (archaic Andrew Sniadecki; ; 30 November 1768 – 11 May 1838) was a Polish writer (essayist and satirist), physician,
chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...
,
biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
and
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. His achievements include being the first person who linked
rickets Rickets, scientific nomenclature: rachitis (from Greek , meaning 'in or of the spine'), is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children and may have either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stun ...
to lack of sunlight. He also created modern Polish
terminology Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, Compound (linguistics), com ...
in the field of chemistry.


Life and work

Åšniadecki was born in
Żnin Żnin (; , 1941–45: ) is a town in north-central Poland with a population of 14,181 (June 2014). It is in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (previously Bydgoszcz Voivodeship) and is the capital of Żnin County. The historical town, initially es ...
(
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...
region) in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
where his father Jędrzej and mother Franciszka née Giszczyński ran a farm. He went to a convent school in Trzemeszno and after the death of his father he was taken care of by paternal uncle Jan who was a professor at the Krakow Academy. He went to the Nowodworskie Gymnasium where he graduated with a gold medal for diligence which was presented at a ceremony by King Stanislaw. After briefly considering engineering (influenced by his brother Jan Śniadecki), he changed his mind and went to study medicine at the University of Krakow. His teachers included Wincenty Szaster and Jan Szaster. After completing his university studies at the Chief Crown School in
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
, he resided for some time in Pavia,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. He had been especially interested in the work of Galvani, Volta,
Spallanzani Lazzaro Spallanzani (; 12 January 1729 – 11 February 1799) was an Italian Catholic priest (for which he was nicknamed Abbé Spallanzani), biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to the experimental study of bodily function ...
and
Antonio Scarpa Antonio Scarpa (9 May 1752 – 31 October 1832) was an Italian anatomist and professor. Biography Scarpa was born to an impoverished family in the frazione of Lorenzaga, Motta di Livenza, Veneto. An uncle, who was a member of the priesthood, g ...
. In Edinburgh he was influenced by John Duncan, James Gregory and Alexander Monro Secundus. In 1797, he was appointed to the Chair of Chemistry in the Medicine Faculty at the Main School in
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
(Wilno, Vilna), which in 1803 was renamed the Imperial University of Vilna. One of his students was Ignacy Domeyko. Śniadecki was also one of the main organizers, along with Johann Peter Frank, and head of the recently created Wilno Medical-Surgical Academy. In 1806–1836 he headed the local Medical Scientific Society, one of the premier scientific societies in the region. In 1830 his wife and brother Jan died. Śniadecki's most important book was ''Początki chemii'' (The Beginnings of Chemistry), the first Polish-language chemistry textbook, prepared for the
Commission of National Education The Commission of National Education (, KEN, ) was the central educational authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created by the Sejm and King Stanisław August Poniatowski, Stanisław II August on October 14, 1773. Because of its ...
. It was considered one of the best Polish scientific textbooks of the age and was used in Polish universities well into the 1930s. Śniadecki was also known as a writer of less serious works; a co-founder of ''Towarzystwo Szubrawców'' (The Wastrel Society), he contributed articles to its satirical weekly, ''Wiadomości Brukowe'' (The Pavement News). He also wrote copiously in ''Wiadomości Wileńskie'' (The Vilnius' News), the largest and most prestigious daily in
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
. In 1807, Śniadecki announced he had discovered a new metal in platinum and called it "vestium". Three years later, Académie de France published a note saying that the experiment could not be reproduced. Discouraged by this, Śniadecki dropped all his claims and did not talk about vestium anymore. Nevertheless, there have been speculations that this new element was
ruthenium Ruthenium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ru and atomic number 44. It is a rare transition metal belonging to the platinum group of the periodic table. Like the other metals of the platinum group, ruthenium is unreactive to most chem ...
, found 37 years later by Karl Klaus. However, they are not accepted by modern sources. Jędrzej was the father of . He died in
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
and is buried at the Horodnyki Cemetery in Ashmyany district in Belarus.


References


Further reading

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External links


Works by Jędrzej Śniadecki
in digital library
Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sniadecki, Jedrzej 1768 births 1838 deaths Polish biologists Enlightenment philosophers Academic staff of Vilnius University 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian writers 18th-century chemists 19th-century Polish scholars Ruthenium 19th-century Polish male writers 19th-century Polish chemists People from Żnin County 18th-century male writers Burials at Rasos Cemetery 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian philosophers 19th-century Polish philosophers Polish Enlightenment