Stanisław Chełchowski (February 27, 1866, inChojnowo nearPrzasnysz – March 23, 1907, inCiechanów) was a Polish naturalist (botanist andmycologist),ethnographer and activist (social, educational and political). Founder and activist of various educational and agricultural organizations, author of many works from areas of mycology, agriculture and ethnography.
Stanisław Chełchowski was born on February 26, 1866, inChojnowo nearPrzasnysz into aPolish nobility family. He studied inMława andWarsaw; in his schools he was a member of various secret Polish educational societies, and headed a secret library ofPolish literature (prohibited by thepartitioners). Since he was 14 years old, he started writing, and his description of his home villages was published inDictionary of Polish Geography, a magazine published by Polish geographer,Filip Sulimierski. In 1887 he graduated, with a Golden Medal, from Physics and Nature Department of theWarsaw University; his dissertation was in the field of mycology.
Over the next years he continued his research, particularly concentrating on theethnography ofMasovia region and theKurpie folk. He published several ethnographic works in the 1880s; among his most famous work isFolk tales and stories from Przasnysz (Powieści i opowiadania ludowe z okolic Przasnysza) from 1889 to 1890, collecting 86 local folk tales written in local dialect. He also gained fame as a mycologist, having discovered several species of mushroom and authoring the first Polish atlas of mushrooms. He also published several works related to agriculture in the 1890s, particularly after he took over his father's farm in 1891 (the same year he got married). He helped organize and publish results on the survey of agricultural plants diseases. He sponsored the creation of the first Polish academic journal in the field of agriculture,Rocznik Nauk Rolniczych.
In 1899 he declined an offer to teach agriculture at theJagiellonian University, stating that he preferred to work inCongress Poland (thenKraków, where the university was located inAustro-Hungary) and at the same time, Russian government which controlledPrivislinsky Krai gave permission for locals to create and take part in agricultural societies. Chełchowski became involved in activities of several of them and in the 1900s he was an activist in various organizations related to education and agriculture, the most prominent of which includedMuseum of Industry and Agriculture in Warsaw,Polska Macierz Szkolna andFlying University. Founder and chairman of Centralne Towarzystwo Rolnicze (1907).
He was also active on a political scene. He was a deputy to RussianDuma fromPłock Governorate (in 1906), and he became an activist and supporter ofendecja faction. He was also a friend of Polish politicianRoman Dmowski.
Stanisław Chełchowski died inCiechanów on March 23, 1907, on his way toPłock meeting of local Nature Society, where he was to give a lecture. He was buried in the village that was his residence for many years,Czernice Borowe.
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