Konstanty Roman Jelski (, February 17, 1837 – November 26, 1896) was an acclaimed Polish

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

who explored

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

. Jeski was born in Liady village, now in the Smalyavichy Raion of

Minsk Governorate Minsk Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Minsk. It was created from the land acquired in the partitions of Poland and existed from 1793 until 1921. Its territory covered th ...

(in present-day

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

), to Michał and Klotilda. He was educated at Minsk and then went to study medicine in Moscow and the natural sciences at

Kiev University The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

. He graduated in 1860. He studied the anatomy of the mollusc ''Lithoglyphus naticoides'' to obtain a master's degree. In between studies he accompanied Karol Kessler on an expedition into Crimea. 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 ...

led to Jeski leaving Russia to Turkey. Here he received help from Rustem Bey (of Polish descent) and took part in a government effort to explore geological resources. He found that all they wanted were superficial reports and he then moved to France and came in contact with the natural history specimen traders Maison Verreaux and Deyrolle. While in France he received assistance from his friends Adrian Baraniecki (1828–1891) and Józef Sowiński. He made a trip to French Guiana and then worked as an apothecary assistant. In 1868 he went to collect natural history specimens in Peru for

Władysław Taczanowski Władysław Taczanowski (; 17 March 1819, in Jabłonna, Lublin Voivodeship – 17 January 1890, in Warsaw) was a Polish zoologist and collector of natural history who explored the Russian Far East and northern Africa. He specialized mainly in orn ...

and received some support from Count Branicki. He explored

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

until 1875. Jan Sztolcman (1854–1928) also travelled in Peru with him. Although mainly interested in zoology, he also examined plants and ecology. He noted the importance of old dead trees in the forest and noted how rapidly the forest recovered taking over abandoned plantations. Unable to pay for food, he often depended on fruit from such abandoned plantations during his travels. He worked as a curator of the museum of Antonio Raimondi (1824–1890) in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

from 1873 to 1878, and returned to Poland in 1880 becoming a curator of the Natural History department of Academy of Learning in

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 ...

. Jelski married Helena née Korsak in 1883 and they had four children, two died young while a son and daughter were killed by the Soviets in 1939. Jelski died at Kraków and is buried at the Rakowicki Cemetery.

References

External links

Les histoires naturalistes populaires d'un séjour en Guyane française et en partie au Pérou (1865-1971)
(2007) n Polish {{DEFAULTSORT:Jelski, Konstanty 1837 births 1896 deaths People from Smalyavichy district People from Igumensky Uyezd Polish ornithologists 19th-century Polish zoologists Belarusian biologists 19th-century explorers from the Russian Empire Naturalists from the Russian Empire