Paweł Czenpiński (1755 – 1793) was a Polish physician,

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. He was among the earliest followers of Linnean binomial system in Poland where he coauthored one of the first zoology textbooks written in Polish, ''Zoologia czyli Zwierzętopismo, dla szkół narodowych'', published in 1789.

Life and work

Czenpinski went to study medicine in 1772 and graduated in 1780 from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

then known as Rudolphina. He defended a doctorate in 1778 titled ''Dissertatio inauguralis zoologico-medica, sistens totius regni animalis genera, in classes et ordines Linnæana methodo digesta, præfixa cuilibet classi terminorum explicatione, quam annuente inclyta facultate medica in antiquissima ac celeberrima Universitate Vindobonensi publicæ disquisitioni submittit Paulus de Czenpinski, nobilis Polonus Varsoviensis. Disputabitur in universitatis palatio. Die mensis Aprilis anno''. This publication dedicated to Prince Adam Czartoryski (1734–1823) included a description of the beetle species '' Gibbium psylloides''. In Vienna, medical education was being reformed by Gerard Van Swieten (1700–1772) from Leiden and it is possible that Czenpinski was influenced by another Leiden naturalist Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727–1817). Linnaeus and von Jacquin corresponded heavily and it was possibly through this connection that Czenpinski adopted the Linnean system for his thesis. Together they travelled in the Alps. It is thought that he travelled through Europe after his dissertation and in September 25th, 1779, Czenpiński was elected correspondent member of the Société Royale de Médecine (Royal Medical Society) in Paris. In 1782, he went on a scientific expedition with John Dominic Peter Jaskiewicz (1749–1809) to make zoological, botanical and geological observations of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

. After returning to Poland became an employee of the

Society for Elementary Books The Society for Elementary Books ( Polish: ''Towarzystwo do Ksiąg Elementarnych''; 1775–92) was an institution formed by Poland's Commission of National Education (''Komisja Edukacji Narodowej'') in Warsaw in 1775. The Society's mandate was t ...

(established in 1775 and empowered to develop programs and school textbooks) and was a member of the National Education Commission. He became deeply involved in developing curricula and textbooks. In 1789, he and Krzysztof Kluk (1739–1796) wrote the zoology textbook for schools titled ''Zoologia czyli Zwierzętopismo, dla szkół narodowych.'' This was based on an earlier textbook written in Latin by Michał Krzysztof Hanow (1695–1773)''.'' This text made use of the Linnean system of nomenclature and involved a teaching that began with an "ascending order" of anatomical complexity in life forms. He examined many zoological collections including that of

Anna Jabłonowska Princess Anna Paulina Jabłonowska née Sapieha (22 June 1728, Wołpa - 7 February 1800) was a Polish magnate and politician. She was known for her remarkable activity on her estates, in which she introduced social inventions as well as indust ...

(1728–1800) in Siemiatycze to help in this work. Together with Walenty Gagatkiewicz he founded the Warsaw School of Anatomy and Surgery (1789).

References

External links

Czenpiński Paweł

Zoologia czyli zwierzętopismo dla szkół narodowych pierwszy raz wydane
(1789)
Botanika dla szkół narodowych
(1785) Polish entomologists 18th-century Polish botanists 1755 births 1793 deaths {{Poland-scientist-stub