Eugeniusz Mikołaj Romer (3 February 1871 in

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 ...

(, ) – 28 January 1954) was a distinguished Polish

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

, cartographer and geopolitician, whose maps and atlases are still highly valued by experts.

Life and career

Eugeniusz Romer was the son of Edmund Romer and Irena Kördvelessy de Asguth. He came from a noble family of German origins that had settled in Poland since the 15th century and had been the heirs of the village of Bieździedza since the late 16th century. Eugeniusz's grandfather, Henryk, lost the family estate due to his participation in the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

. His son, Edmund, along with his brother Władysław, took part in the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

. Later, as a graduate of Vienna's Theresianum and an Austrian official, he underwent partial Germanization and did not particularly cultivate Polish national traditions in his family home. Eugeniusz Romer graduated from a high school in Nowy Sącz and studied history, geology, geography and meteorology 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 ...

, also attending courses in Lwów and Halle (Saale). In 1894, Romer earned a doctorate in philosophy at University of Lviv. He was a president of Polish Copernicus Society of Naturalists (1910–11). In final years of the 19th century, he went to

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. ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

to broaden his knowledge of glaciology, geology and meteorology. Romer also went to

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, to study tectonics and morphology. In 1911 he became professor of Lwów University (in 1946 also of Jagiellonian University), later he was named ''professor honoris causa'' at the universities in Lwów,

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

and Kraków. In 1952 he became a member of

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 ...

In 1909 Romer went to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, to study Alpine glaciers. Next year, he traveled to Asia, and in 1913 to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, to the Saint Elias Mountains (where one of glaciers has been named after him). In 1916, while in Vienna, Romer started work on the ''Great Statistical and Geographical Atlas of Poland''. This atlas, published in Vienna in 1916, was crucial to establishing borders of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. He was a member of the Polish delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, helping to draw the western border of Poland. His Ukrainian rival, and the father of Ukrainian geography, Stepan Rudnytsky, was a fellow student of Albrecht Penck in Vienna. The second edition of his atlas was published in Lwów and

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1921. In 1921 in Lwów Romer founded ''Cartographical Institute''. In 1921-24 he led to a merger of two publishing companies ''Książnica'' and ''Atlas'' into ''Ksiaznica-Atlas'', which was moved to

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It still exists today. In 1929 he retired, concentrating his activities on the institute. However, he kept close ties with Lwów's Jan Kazimierz University, lecturing and examining. In 1941, when Lwów was captured by the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, he hid in a monastery at Piekarska Street, and this decision probably saved his life. Soon after, the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

decided to move him to Warsaw, from where he was to be transferred to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to work as an advisor of the Polish government-in-exile. However, doctors recommended that Romer should stay in the occupied country, as the journey was too risky for his weak health. Thus, he remained in Warsaw, using the false name Edmund Piotrowski. Romer survived the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

and a camp in Pruszków. After the war, he settled in Kraków, taking the post of director of Department of Geography at the

. Since 1899, he had been married to Jadwiga Rossknecht, daughter of co-owner of the Okocim Brewery. They had two sons: Witold Romer (1900–1967), professor of the Wrocław University of Technology and Edmund Romer (1904–1988), professor of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice. Eugeniusz Romer died 1954 in Kraków and was buried at the Salwator Cemetery.

Sources

* http://www.lwow.home.pl/semper/romer.html * http://www.pgi.gov.pl/muzeum/poczet/Eugeniusz_Romer/eugeniusz_romer.html * https://archive.today/20130415102509/http://www.muzeum-polskie.org/muzeum/w-18-21-eng.htm * http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/63522,,,,romer_eugeniusz,haslo.html

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romer, Eugeniusz 1871 births 1954 deaths Polish cartographers Polish geographers Jagiellonian University alumni University of Lviv alumni Academic staff of the University of Lviv Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Geopoliticians Burials at Salwator Cemetery Eugeniusz Geographers from Austria-Hungary Prisoners of Dulag 121 Pruszków