Ewa Bukowska-Marczak

The article aims to present the activities of Ludomir Sawicki (1884–1928), professor of Geography at the Jagiellonian University, with particular emphasis on his contribution to the organization of Polish science in this field. Ludomir Sawicki was born and raised in Vienna, but after graduating and defending his doctorate, he came to Krakow and started working as a junior high school teacher. Later – after obtaining his habilitation – he was a lecturer and professor at the Jagiellonian University, where he started organizing the Institute of Geography. He corresponded with Eugeniusz Romer regarding the publication of the Geographical and Statistical Atlas of Poland (Geograficzno-statystyczny atlas Polski). He actively participated in the works of many significant Polish organizations, including the collaboration with the Polish Country Lovers’ Society (PTK) in Warsaw, and was one of the founders of the Polish Geographical Society. He participated in geographic congresses in Geneva (1908), London (1911), Rome (1913) and Cairo (1925), and he organized the Second Congress of Slavic Geographers and Ethnographers, which took place in Krakow in 1927. He was also involved in expeditionary endeavors. He founded the Orbis printing house in Krakow, which published not only recognized works in the field of geography but also teaching aids for schools. His extensive activity influenced generations of students, including Wiktor Ormicki and Antoni Wrzosek.

The article aims to present the research interests of docent Wiktor Ormicki – a geographer and lecturer at Jagiellonian University. These revolved around the aspects of the eastern territories of the Second Polish Republic and manifested, among other things, in his habilitation thesis entitled Życie gospodarcze Kresów Wschodnich Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (The Economic Life of the Eastern Borderlands of the Republic of Poland, Kraków 1929) His interests comprised the migration issues in the northeastern voivodeships. Ormicki left notes from his research trips to the eastern borderland, which were an interesting source for the analysis of the socio-economic life in the eastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic. He described the daily activities and customs of the inhabitants of these regions. He listed economic facilities (including brickyards, distilleries, and sawmills) operating in the places he visited. He also paid attention to the towns and villages and the natural environment at the eastern border. Both the travel notes and Ormicki’s scientific works are a valuable source for researchers of everyday life and the economy of the eastern border of interwar Poland.