Kazimierz Ignacy Nitsch (1 February, 1874 – 26 September, 1958) was a Polish Slavic linguist, historian of the Polish language and dialectologist. He was one of the co-founders of the Society of Polish Language Enthusiasts and in the years 1919–1958 he edited the organ of the society "Polish Language".. In 1901, he began dialectological research in

Kashubia pl, Kaszuby , native_name_lang = csb, de, csb , settlement_type = Historical region , anthem = Zemia Rodnô , image_map = Kashubians in Poland.png , image_flag ...

. President of the

Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning ( pl, Polska Akademia Umiejętności), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of scien ...

. Son of Maximilian Nitsch, a Polish architect. He was educated at St. Anne's Gymnasium. In 1903, he obtained a scholarship from the Academy of Arts and Sciences and went to study in Prague and Paris. After his return in 1904, he began researching Pomeranian dialects. In 1908 he obtained his postdoctoral degree under the supervision of Jan Rozwadowski on the basis of the work Relationships of the Lechitic languages kinship. In 1911 he became an associate professor at the Jagiellonian University and worked alongside Jan Łoś. In 1917 he moved to the

Jan Kazimierz University The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

in Lviv and took up the independent position of professor of Polish language there, but in 1920 he returned to the Jagiellonian University to take over the position of professor of Slavic philology abandoned by Jan Łoś, and after the death of Łoś in 1928 also the chair of Polish language. He belonged to the leading Polish scientific academies, such as

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning ( pl, Polska Akademia Umiejętności), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of scien ...

(1911 correspondent member, 1924 active member),

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, 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 ...

(1952 full member),

Warsaw Scientific Society Warsaw Scientific Society (Polish: ''Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie''; TNW) is a Polish scientific society based in Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital ...

(1932 regular member). He was an expert of the Polish delegation at the Paris peace conference in 1919, dealing with geographic and ethnographic issues. In 1939 he retired. On November 6, 1939, he was arrested as part of the

Sonderaktion Krakau ''Sonderaktion Krakau'' was a German operation against professors and academics of the Jagiellonian University and other universities in German-occupied Kraków, Poland, at the beginning of World War II. It was carried out as part of the much br ...

operation, imprisoned in Sachsenhausen, from where he was released in February 1940. In the years 1946–1952 he was the president of the PAU, from 1952 he was a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, in the years 1952–1957 vice-president of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and in the years 1952–1958 a member of its presidium. After the war, he was a member of the Commission for the Determination of Place Names. He was buried at the

Rakowicki Cemetery Rakowicki Cemetery (English: ; pl, Cmentarz Rakowicki) is a historic necropolis and a cultural heritage monument located on 26 Rakowicka Street in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It lies within the Administrative District No. 1 ''Stare Miasto'' ...

in Kraków His wife was Aniela Gruszecka, a writer, daughter of Artur Gruszecki, a writer and journalist. Kazimierz's cousin was Roman Nitsch, a microbiologist, a member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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