Wictor Godlewski (30 December 1831 – 17 November 1900) was a Polish nobleman, explorer, and naturalist. After spending time in Siberian labour camps following his participation 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 ...

, he began to study the natural history of the Siberian region. Many species of birds and other animals are named after him including

Godlewski's bunting Godlewski's bunting (''Emberiza godlewskii'') is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae. It is named after the Polish collector Victor Godlewski who obtained a specimen of which on the basis of which it was described by Taczanowski. Distr ...

Life and work

Godlewski was born to Aleksander and Anna Karolina daughter of Józef Ciołkowski in in the Polish noble clan Gozdawa. After the death of his father in 1848 he moved to work in the

Brulino-Koski Brulino-Koski is a part of the village Brulino-Piwki in the administrative district of Gmina Czyżew-Osada, within Wysokie Mazowieckie County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. In 1975-1998, the village belonged administratively to ...

estate of his cousin Józef Wincenty. He took an interest in hunting and collecting bird specimens and collaborated with

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 ...

. In 1863, he was punished for taking part in the

and sent to labour in Siberian mines for 12 years. From 1864, he worked for a while in Pietrowska Mine in

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

. Along with another inmate Alfons Parvex, he studied the Daurian fauna. His sentence ended in 1877 and he managed estates for sometime and then bough some land. After release he began to collaborate with

Benedykt Dybowski Benedykt Tadeusz Dybowski (12 May 183331 January 1930) was a Polish naturalist and physician. Life Benedykt Dybowski was born in Adamaryni, within the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire to Polish nobility. He was the brother of naturalis ...

to study the Siberian fauna and flora between 1864 and 1877. Along with Dybowski, they were the first to measure the depth of the

Baikal Lake Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Republic of Buryatia to the southeast. At —slightly larger tha ...

. They collected bird specimens that were used by Taczanowski in his ''Fauna ornithologique de la Siberie Orientale'' published in the ''Journal für Ornithologie''. They were also assisted in the Siberian region by the Polish exile

Michał Jankowski Michał Jankowski or Mikhail Ivanovich Yankovsky (September 24, 1842 – October 10, 1912) was a Polish szlachta nobleman who settled in the Russian Far East after serving a sentence in Siberia for participating in the January Uprising of 1863. Aft ...

. By 1890 he bought Smolecha estate near Ostrów Mazowiecki and started a credit banking organizations including a Cooperative Bank. By 1900 he was on the hunting board for Ostrow. He died from typhus at his Smolechy estate and was buried in the Jasienica cemetery. Godlewski was awarded a gold medal in 1870 by the Russian Geographical Society. He is honoured in the names of the birds ''

Emberiza godlewskii Godlewski's bunting (''Emberiza godlewskii'') is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae. It is named after the Polish collector Victor Godlewski who obtained a specimen of which on the basis of which it was described by Taczanowski. Distr ...

'', '' Anthus godlewskii'', the fish ''Limnocottus godlewskii'', the mollusc genus ''Godlewskia'', and the polychaete ''Dybowscella godlewskii'' among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godlewski, Victor Polish naturalists 1831 births 1900 deaths Polish participants of the January Uprising