Historia Pamiętnika Fizjograficznego

Liana, Anna

doi:ISSN 1643-8965

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Title: Historia Pamiętnika Fizjograficznego

Abstract:

During the second half of the nineteenth century in the so-called Congress Kingdom of Poland established in the Russian partition, the situation of science and higher education was tragic. After two following national insurrections Uniwersytet Warszawski (Warsaw University) and Szkoła Główna (Main School) were closed down, all learned societies dissolved, many university lecturers and students victimized. The persecution of teachers and students meant that they were banned from lecturing, relegated from colleges, even incarcerated or deported to Siberia. In the Russian partition Polish scientists conducted hardly any studies, no polish scientific journals were published. The death of Józef Mianowski in 1879 paradoxically became a stimulus to reintegration of Warsaw scientific circles. Mianowski had been the rector of Szkoła Główna and the main advocate of the Warsaw trend of Positivism. A comittee for commemorating Mianowski was organized and considerable funds were collected. After due consideration of various proposals it was decided that promotion of activities aimed at revival of scientific studies and the development of science would be the best way of paying tribute to Mianowski’s memory. The initiative to publish a journal called Pamiętnik Fizjograficzny was one of the fruits of these activities. At the head of the editorial comittee formed in 1880 were: Eugeniusz Dziewulski, a physicist and former university teacher, and Bronisław Znatowicz, a chemist and former lecturer. Znatowicz’s editorship of Pamiętnik was the longest and lasted for over twenty years. Later, the committee also inculed, among others, the following: Tytus Chałubiński, a botanist, Jan Trejdosiewicz, a geologist, Antoni Slósarski and August Wrześniowski - zoologists. The first volume of Pamiętnik Fizjograficzny came out in 1881, had 460 pages and was divided into five sections: Meteorology and Hydrography, Geology and Chemistry, Botany and Zoology, Anthropology and Miscellanea. Such was the division practically to the end, although in some volumes there were fewer sections. The articles were in Polish but the table of contens provided titles in Polish and in French. There was one exception, though two papers by Tytus Chałubiński on bryophytes were published in Latin. Several meteorological works appeared in two languages: Polish and French. Moreover, in some cases the titles of the articles and the legends to the tables and figures were given in French.
Pamiętnik Fizjograficzny was published from 1881 to 1922, and there were 27 volumes in all. Originally, it was to be a yearly publication, but volume VII came out in 1888 instead of 1887. Such delays occured several times and were longer and longer; e. g. volumes XVII, XVIII, XXIII appeared in a two-year cycle, volumes XIX, XX, XXI in a three year cycle. The delays were due mainly to financial problems. It had been assumed that subscription would provide enough money to bear the expense of Pamiętnik yet even at the very beginning the large number of subscribers could not cover all costs of the publication. Problems were partly solved thanks to the generosity of patrons of science such as Prince Władysław Lubomirski and Tytus Chałubiński or scientists such as Benedykt Dybowski; and many authors and the editors contributed by getting no fees. In order to raise money lectures open to the public were organized in the so- called Resursa Obywatelska (Civic Club). Eventually, a request was made for a subsidy from Kasa im. Józefa Mianowskiego (Józef Mianowski’s Found) and volumes IX to XXV of Pamiętnik, i. e. up to 1918, were financed from this source. The next two volumes were published thanks to a subsidy from the Ministry of Religious Persuasion and Public Enlightenment. But volume XXVII (in 1922) was the last to come out.[...]