Prof Władysław Szafer PAS H

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(July 23, 1886 – November 16, 1970) was a Polish

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 ...

, palaeobotanist, quaternary geologist and professor of

botany 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 ...

at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

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 was a world pioneer in nature conservation. Many streets and public buildings in Polish towns and cities are named after Szafer.

Life

He was born in

Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Metropolis GZM municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industrial Re ...

on 23 July 1886. He studied Science at the Universal School in

Mielec Mielec () is the largest city and County seat, seat of Mielec County. Mielec is located in south-eastern Poland (Lesser Poland), in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Województwo Podkarpackie). The population of Mielec in December 2021 was 59,509. ...

. He then studied Botany under Prof Wilhem Friedberg in

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

, graduating Junior High School in 1905. This allowed him to study botany at 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 ...

under Prof Richard Wettstein. Winning a scholarship from the Vienna Ministry of Education he did practical studies at the Biological Research Station in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. He then undertook postgraduate studies at the

University of Lviv The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

, gaining his first doctorate (PhD) in 1910. He then did further studies in

pedology Pedology (from Greek: πέδον, ''pedon'', "soil"; and λόγος, ''logos'', "study") is a discipline within soil science which focuses on understanding and characterizing soil formation, evolution, and the theoretical frameworks for modelin ...

and

dendrology Dendrology (, ''dendron'', "tree"; and , ''-logia'', ''science of'' or ''study of'') or xylology (, ''ksulon'', "wood") is the science and study of woody plants (trees, shrubs, and lianas), specifically, their taxonomic classifications. There ...

at the universities of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Vienna 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. ...

before returning to

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

to lecture at the Higher School of Forests. In the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he joined the Polish Eastern Legion as an NCO. In 1917 he returned to academia as a lecturer at the

, becoming a full professor in 1920. He served as Rector of the university 1936 to 1938. In 1919 he married Janina Jentys. They had three children: Tadeusz Szafer, a professor of architecture; Anna Szafer, a teacher and artist; and Stanislaw Szafer. He was founder and first chairman of the

branch of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

(PAS). He died in Kraków on 16 November 1970. He is buried in

Rakowicki Cemetery Rakowicki Cemetery (English: ; ) is a historic necropolis and a cultural heritage monument located on 26 Rakowicka Street in Kraków, Poland. It lies within the Administrative District No. 1 ''Stare Miasto'' meaning "Old Town" – distinct from ...

National Parks founded or caused by Szafer

* Pieninski * Bialowieski * Swietokrzyski * Babiogorski * Tatrzanski * Ojcowski

Main publications

*''Polish Flora'' *''Outline of Botany'' (1947) *''Outline of Plant Geography'' (1949) *''Outline of Palaeobotany'' (1952) *''Polish Plants'' (1953) *''Secrets of Flowers'' (1956) *''Flowers in Nature and Art'' (1958) *''Protected Plant Species in Poland'' (1958) *''The History of Botany in Kraków'' (1964) ---- With Bogumił Pawłowski he edited and distributed the

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

''Rośliny Polskie wydawnictwa rozpoczętego przez M. Raciborskiego Seria II. Plantae Poloniae exsiccatae ab Instituto et Horto Botanico Universitatis Jagellonicae edita'' (1930-1939). This series is the continuation of ''Flora Polonica exsiccata. Rośliny Polskie'' (1911), issued by Marian Raciborski.

Botanical reference

References

1886 births 1970 deaths People from Sosnowiec Academic staff of Jagiellonian University 20th-century Polish botanists 20th-century Polish geologists Burials at Rakowicki Cemetery Rectors of the Jagiellonian University {{Poland-botanist-stub