Jan Feliks Tur (25 August 1875 – 8 May 1942) was a Polish zoologist who specialized in embryology, mutagenesis, and teratology at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. His family belonged to the Korczak clan of nobles. Tur was born at Radziwiliszki near Grażun to landowner Jarosław Daniel and Maria née Rymkiewicz. After schooling in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship. However, Częstochowa is historically part of Lesser Poland, not Si ...

, he studied zoology at the Warsaw Imperial University under Pavel Mitrofanov and became his assistant in 1899. After receiving a doctorate from 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 ...

on avian teratology under Józef Nusbaum-Hilarowicz he went on internships to Villefranche, Roscoff, Saratov, Vimereux and Heligoland. In 1912 he began a zoological laboratory in Warsaw and gave lectures in biology. From 1915 he was involved in the revival of the Polish University of Warsaw and became a lecturer in 1916. After his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1918, he became a professor of comparative anatomy in 1919. His research was principally on abnormal development of the embryo (or teratology) and worked on cytology, embryology and comparative anatomy. He examined the effect of radiation from radium on organismic development and mutation, working with

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first wo ...

whom he had met in Paris in 1902. He took an evolutionary approach to the interpretation of mutations and believed that some mutations could demonstrate primitive developmental states. He also took an interest in the history and philosophy of science.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tur, Jan 1875 births 1942 deaths Polish zoologists Polish nobility