Stanisław Chełchowski (February 27, 1866, in Chojnowo near

Przasnysz Przasnysz (; yi, פראשניץ, russian: Прасныш) is a town in north-central Poland. Located in the Masovian Voivodship, about 110 km north of Warsaw and about 115 km south of Olsztyn, it is the capital of Przasnysz County. It ...

– March 23, 1907, in

Ciechanów Ciechanów is a city in north-central Poland. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Ciechanów Voivodeship. Since 1999, it has been situated in the Masovian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, it has a population of 43,495. History The ...

) was a Polish naturalist ( botanist and mycologist),

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

and activist (social, educational and political). Founder and activist of various educational and agricultural organizations, author of many works from areas of mycology, agriculture and ethnography.

Biography

Stanisław Chełchowski was born on February 26, 1866, in Chojnowo near

into a Polish nobility family. He studied in

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 was ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

; in his schools he was a member of various secret Polish educational societies, and headed a secret library of Polish literature (prohibited by the partitioners). Since he was 14 years old, he started writing, and his description of his home villages was published in ''Dictionary of Polish Geography'', a magazine published by Polish geographer, Filip Sulimierski. In 1887 he graduated, with a Golden Medal, from Physics and Nature Department of the

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

; his dissertation was in the field of mycology. Over the next years he continued his research, particularly concentrating on the ethnography of Masovia region and the Kurpie folk. He published several ethnographic works in the 1880s; among his most famous work is ''Folk tales and stories from Przasnysz'' (''Powieści i opowiadania ludowe z okolic Przasnysza'') from 1889 to 1890, collecting 86 local folk tales written in local dialect. He also gained fame as a mycologist, having discovered several species of mushroom and authoring the first Polish atlas of mushrooms. He also published several works related to agriculture in the 1890s, particularly after he took over his father's farm in 1891 (the same year he got married). He helped organize and publish results on the survey of agricultural plants diseases. He sponsored the creation of the first Polish academic journal in the field of agriculture, ''Rocznik Nauk Rolniczych''. In 1899 he declined an offer to teach agriculture at the Jagiellonian University, stating that he preferred to work in Congress Poland (then Kraków, where the university was located in Austro-Hungary) and at the same time, Russian government which controlled Privislinsky Krai gave permission for locals to create and take part in agricultural societies. Chełchowski became involved in activities of several of them and in the 1900s he was an activist in various organizations related to education and agriculture, the most prominent of which included Museum of Industry and Agriculture in Warsaw, Polska Macierz Szkolna and Flying University. Founder and chairman of Centralne Towarzystwo Rolnicze (1907). He was also active on a political scene. He was a deputy to Russian Duma from Płock Governorate (in 1906), and he became an activist and supporter of ''endecja'' faction. He was also a friend of Polish politician Roman Dmowski. Stanisław Chełchowski died in

on March 23, 1907, on his way to Płock meeting of local Nature Society, where he was to give a lecture. He was buried in the village that was his residence for many years, Czernice Borowe.

References

Stanisław Chełchowski - rolnik, naukowiec, organizator
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chelchowski, Stanislaw 1866 births 1907 deaths People from Przasnysz County People from Płock Governorate National-Democratic Party (Poland) politicians Members of the 1st State Duma of the Russian Empire Polish independence activists 19th-century Polish botanists Polish mycologists 20th-century Polish botanists People from Congress Poland

Biography

Further reading

References