Wojciech Jastrzębowski (19 April 1799 – 30 December 1882) was a Polish scientist, naturalist and inventor, professor of
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
, physics, zoology and horticulture at Instytut Rolniczo-Leśny in
Marymont in
Warsaw, and insurgent of the
November Uprising. He was one of the fathers of
ergonomics
Human factors and ergonomics (commonly referred to as human factors) is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Four primary goals of human factors learnin ...
.
Biography
Jastrzębowski was born in
Szczepkowo-Giewarty,
Janowo parish, near
Mława
Mława (; yi, מלאווע ''Mlave'') is a town in north-east Poland with 30,403 inhabitants in 2020. It is the capital of Mława County. It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship.
During the invasion of Poland in 1939, the battle of Mława w ...
, on 19 April 1799. He was a member of a Polish noble family that originated from the village of Janowiec-Jastrząbki in the
Janowiec Kościelny on Pobożany parish, under the coat of arms of
Pobóg. His father, Maciej Jastrzębowski, married Marianna Leśnikowska, heiress of part of Szczepkowo-Giewarty. Soon after the wedding he moved to his wife’s estate.
Jastrzębowski passed his maturity examination at the
Warsaw Lyceum
The Warsaw Lyceum ( pl, Liceum Warszawskie; german: Königlich-Preußisches Lyzäum zu Warschau) was a secondary school that existed in Warsaw, under the Kingdom of Prussia and under the Kingdom of Poland, from 1804 to its closing in 1831 by Imper ...
. He participated in the
November Uprising. He was the creator of the sundial at Warsaw Lyceum as well as the creator of “Jastrzębowski Compass” – a device that allows sundials to be set in any place under any circumstances.
He was a pioneer of ergonomics.
Jastrzębowski became a member of the
Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning
The Warsaw Society of Friends of Science ( pl, Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, ''TPN'') was one of the earliest Polish scientific societies, active in Warsaw from 1800 to 1832.
Name
The Society was also known as ''Warszawskie Królewskie Towarzyst ...
, as well as a member of the
Cracow Science Society, the Agricultural Society in Kielce and Lvov Agricultural Society. He was the honorary member of the
Poznań Society of Friends of Learning
The Poznań Society for the Advancement of Arts and Sciences ( pl, Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, ''PTPN'') is a learned society in Poznań, Poland, established in 1857, of scholars and scientists in all branches of learning. It has ...
.
He was the creator of Zakład Praktyki Leśnej, the first institution for the improvement of professional performance of woodsman and gamekeepers, in Feliksów near Brok. In 2004 a monument in Jastrzębowski's honour was erected in
Brok.
Jastrzębowski married Aniela z d’Cherów and had five daughters and two sons. His grandson, also named Wojciech Jastrzębowski (1884-1963), was an artist, senator of the
Second Polish Republic, and professor. Jastrzębowski died in
Warsaw on 30 December 1882.
About the everlasting peace between the nations
During the
battle at Olszynka Grochowska in defence of Warsaw in 1831, Wojciech Jastrzębowski formulated a document which may be described as a project of the first constitution of Europe united as one republic without internal borders, with unified judicial system and institutions consisting of representatives of all nations. The document was named ‘About the everlasting peace between the nations’ („O wiecznym pokoju między narodami”), and consisted of 77 articles. It was published on 3 May 1831 on the anniversary of the
Constitution of 3 May
The Constitution of 3 May 1791,; lt, Gegužės trečiosios konstitucija titled the Governance Act, was a constitution adopted by the Great Sejm ("Four-Year Sejm", meeting in 1788–1792) for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a dual mo ...
1791. In his text he suggested that all nations should renounce their freedom and become enslaved with the laws, all monarch should be henceforth the guardians and executors of these laws and should not be referred to with no other title than fathers of nations.
Commemorations
In Mazovian Voivodeship one may find a cycling path named after Jastrzębowski. It stretches from
Ostrów Mazowiecka
Ostrów Mazowiecka is a town in eastern Poland with 23,486 inhabitants (2004). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Ostrołęka Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Ostrów Mazowiecka County.
History
Os ...
to Brok.
Selected writings
* ''Rys ergonomji czyli nauki o pracy, opartej na prawdach poczerpniętych z Nauki Przyrody'' (The Outline of Ergonomics, i.e. Science of Work, Based on the Truths Taken from the Natural Science) (1857).
* ''Traktat o Wiecznym Przymierzu Miedzy Narodami Ucywilizowanymi - Konstytucja dla Europy'' (The Treatise on the Eternal Union between the Civilized Nations - the Constitution for Europe) (1831).
See also
*
List of biologists
This is a list of notable biologists with a biography in Wikipedia. It includes zoologists, botanists, biochemists, ornithologists, entomologists, malacologists, naturalists and other specialities.
A Ab–Ag
*John Jacob Abel (1857– ...
*
Ergonomics
Human factors and ergonomics (commonly referred to as human factors) is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Four primary goals of human factors learnin ...
External links
Ergonomia-polska.comWebsite of Akademia Rolnicza in Szczecin devoted to ergonomyPersonal description of Wojciech JastrzębowskiImage of Olszynka Grochowska
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jastrzebski, Wojciech
1799 births
1882 deaths
19th-century Polish inventors
November Uprising participants
Polish biologists
19th-century Polish botanists
19th-century Polish zoologists
Burials at Powązki Cemetery