Jędrzej Śniadecki (archaic ''Andrew Sniadecki''; ; 30 November 1768 – 11 May 1838) was a Polish writer, physician,

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

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, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize ...

and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

. His achievements include being the first person who linked

rickets Rickets is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children, and is caused by either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stunted growth, bone pain, large forehead, and trouble sleeping. Complications ma ...

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 word, or multi-wo ...

in the field of chemistry.

Life and work

Jędrzej Śniadecki 2018 stamp of Lithuania

Śniadecki was born in

Żnin Żnin (german: Znin, 1941-45: Dietfurt) 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 ...

(

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest cit ...

region) in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. After completing his university studies at the Chief Crown School in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

, he resided for some time in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. In 1797, he was appointed to the Chair of Chemistry in the Medicine Faculty at the Main School in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...

(Wilno, Vilna), which in 1803 was renamed the

Imperial University of Vilna Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow an ...

. One of his students was

Ignacy Domeyko Ignacy Domeyko or Domejko, pseudonym: ''Żegota'' ( es, Ignacio Domeyko, ; 31 July 1802 – 23 January 1889) was a Polish geologist, mineralogist, educator, and founder of the University of Santiago, in Chile. Domeyko spent most of his life, a ...

. Śniadecki was also one of the main organizers 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. 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 ( pl, Komisja Edukacji Narodowej, KEN; lt, Edukacinė komisija) was the central educational authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created by the Sejm and King Stanisław II August on October 1 ...

. 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

. 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 with the 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 inert to most other chemical ...

, found 37 years later by Karl Klaus. However, they are not accepted by modern sources. Jędrzej was the brother of Jan Śniadecki and father of Ludwika Śniadecka. He died in

and is buried at the Horodnyki Cemetery in Ashmyany district in Belarus.

References

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 Polish chemists Enlightenment philosophers Academic staff of Vilnius University 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian writers 18th-century chemists 19th-century Polish scholars 19th-century chemists Ruthenium 19th-century Polish male writers 19th-century Polish scientists People from Żnin County 18th-century male writers Burials at Rasos Cemetery 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian philosophers 19th-century Polish philosophers Polish Enlightenment

Life and work

See also

References

Further reading

External links