Maksymilian Siła-Nowicki (9 October 1826 – 30 October 1890) was a Polish

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

professor and pioneer conservationist in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. His major studies were on the beetles and lepidoptera of eastern Galicia. Later in life, he was involved in the conservation of the fauna of the Tatra Mountains. He was the father of the poet Franciszek Nowicki and a brother-in-law of Franciszek Kasparek, law professor and rector at

Kraków University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the wor ...

Life

Nowicki was born in Jabłonów in eastern Galicia. He attended the local gymnasium (secondary school) and entered the

University of Lwów The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1848 to study law, but political problems forced him to quit those studies. He then taught in the

countryside In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically describ ...

of eastern Galicia (1852-63) at

Brody Brody (, ; ; ; ) is a city in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr, Styr River, approximately northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv. Brody hosts the administrati ...

, later in Płotycz near

Tarnopol Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret (river), Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia (Central Europe ...

, then found an opportunity to do research at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

and in 1863 received a doctorate from the

University of Lviv The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

and became a professor of

(1863–90). In 1873 he collected specimens for the Dzieduszycki museum in Lviv and was inducted into the

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 ...

-based

Academy of Learning Academy of Learning (; AU) was a primary Polish scientific institution during the annexation of Poland established in 1871. It was founded in Kraków as a continuation of the ''Kraków Scientific Society'' (''Towarzystwo Naukowe Krakowskie''). Th ...

. Also in 1873, he co-founded the Tatras Society ('' Towarzystwo Tatrzańskie''). In 1879 he founded the National Fishing Society ('' Krajowe Towarzystwo Rybackie'') and through it worked on fishing zones, fishing regulations, and stocking of game fishes."Nowicki-Siła, Maksymilian," ''Encyklopedia powszechna PWN'', vol. 3, p. 312. His greatest academic achievements were in

entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

ichthyology Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

and

ornithology 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 ...

. Nowicki sought to give a practical bent to his research. He wrote: "In the interest of

husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...

in this country, it is appropriate to develop a knowledge of

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

s that are harmful to husbandry... and of animals that are useful to t" It was chiefly thanks to him that the Galician

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

in 1868 passed a law protecting

chamois The chamois (; ) (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope native to the mountains in Southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra Mountains, Tatra to the Carpa ...

marmot Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, w ...

s and

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s in the Tatra Mountains. Nowicki was the initiator of, and driving force behind, the Physiographic Commission (''Komisja Fizjograficzna'') of the

, and was a member of many other learned societies.

Notes

References

* "Siła-Nowicki, Maksymilian," ''

Encyklopedia Polski This is a list of encyclopedias by language. Albanian Encyclopedias written in Albanian. * '' Albanian Encyclopedic Dictionary'' (): published by Academy of Sciences of Albania; ** First Edition (1985; ''FESH'') ** New Edition (2008/09; ''Botim ...

'' (Encyclopedia of Poland),

, Wydawnictwo Ryszard Kluszczyński, 1996, , pp. 615–16. * "Nowicki-Siła, Maksymilian," ''Encyklopedia powszechna PWN'' (PWN Universal Encyclopedia), Warsaw,

Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe'' - ''National Scientific Publishers PWN'', PWN) is a Polish book publisher, founded in 1951, when it split from the Wydawnictwa Szkolne i ...

, 1975, vol. 3, p. 312. * "Nowicki-Siła, Maksymilian," ''Encyklopedia popularna PWN'' (PWN Popular Encyclopedia), Warsaw,

, 1962, p. 711. *Evenhuis, N. L., 1997 ''Litteratura taxonomica dipterorum'' (1758-1930). Volume 1 (A-K); Volume 2 (L-Z). - Leiden, Backhuys Publishers 1; 2 : VII+1-426; 427-87 Volume 2: 562–563, Portrait and Schriftenverzeichnis

External links

Polish Ethological Society article, in Polish, giving extensive details of Maksymilian Nowicki's adventurous, inspiring life.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nowicki, Maksymilian 1826 births 1890 deaths People from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Scientists from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria 19th-century Polish zoologists Polish entomologists Polish ornithologists Polish ichthyologists Conservationists

Life

See also

Notes

References

External links