Antoni Bolesław Dobrowolski | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1872-06-06)June 6, 1872 |
| Died | April 27, 1954(1954-04-27) (aged 81) |
| Resting place | Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw |
| Alma mater | University of Liège,Belgium |
| Known for | participation in theBelgian Antarctic Expedition, studies of thecryosphere |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | geophysics,meteorology |
| Institutions | Royal Observatory of Belgium, Polish Meteorological Institute (Warsaw) |
Antoni Bolesław Dobrowolski (6 June 1872 – 27 April 1954) was aPolishgeophysicist,meteorologist and explorer.
Dobrowolski was born into an indigent family inDworszowice Kościelne, and supported himself from the age of 12 by teaching younger students while a high school student in Warsaw. His involvement in seeking Polish independence led to a conviction to three years imprisonment in the Caucasus, but after two years he escaped and started studying in Switzerland and Belgium.[1]
While still a student in biology, physics and chemistry at theUniversity of Liège he took part in theBelgian Antarctic Expedition (1897-1899) as assistant meteorologist.Henryk Arctowski, who was in charge of physical observations, was initially unsuccessfully in convincing expedition commanderAdrien de Gerlache to take him on, but when theBelgica had to return toOstend for repairs and the ship's doctor and a sailor quit, he was contracted as a sailor.
However, his substantial scientific contributions prompted de Gerlache to formally promote him in March 1898. Arctowski and Dobrowolski were the first to conduct year-round meteorological and hydrographical observations off Antarctica. In addition he studied ice crystallography and light phenomena in ice clouds. These data enabled him to write a monumental treatise on the crystallography of ice and snow.
After his return from the Antarctic he obtained a scholarship in Belgium to study his results and collaborated withGeorges Lecointe at theRoyal Observatory of Belgium.[1][2][3]
In 1907Nicholas II of Russia declared amnesty for political refugees, enabling Dobrowolski to return to Warsaw. Until 1914, he worked as a schoolteacher. During the First World War he lived in Sweden, where he studied ice and snow formation. After the war he returned to Poland, where he finished his treatise on the crystallography of ice and snow,Natural History of Ice (Historia naturalna lodu). The concept of thecryosphere can be traced back to this monogram. He also published works on pedagogy and research ethics, while teaching pedagogy at the Polish Free University in Warsaw, and was deeply involved in the organization of education in newly independent Poland. In 1924 he was appointed deputy director, and later director, of the Polish Meteorological Institute in Warsaw.[1][4]
He founded several observatories and the Society of Geophysicists in Warsaw, and actively promoted polar research in Poland. During thesecond Polar Year (1932-1933) he provided practical help and advice to the Polish expedition that overwintered onBear Island. He headed the organizing committee of the 1934 Polish expedition toSpitsbergen, and was involved with the 1938 Polish Expedition toOscar II Land. After the Second World War he pushed for further Polish scientific involvement in Polar research. He died in 1954, without seeing the implementation of his ideas in the Polish participation in theInternational Geophysical Year. His fellow Polish explorers and scientists regarded him as a "father figure", and he naturally became a center of Polar knowledge.[5][6] He died inWarsaw, aged 81.
An occasionally activePolish research station in the Bunger Hills,Dobrowolski Island,Dobrowolski Peak andDobrowolski Glacier (both onKing George Island) are named after him.[2][7]
