Jędrzej Śniadecki and his legacy. Extraordinary Session at the 61st Scientific Meeting of the Polish Chemical Society

The year 2018 marked the 250th birthday anniversary of Jędrzej Śniadecki (30 Nov 1768–11 May 1838), a renowned Polish chemist, doctor and columnist. Jędrzej, the younger brother of Jan Śniadecki, a Polish mathematician and astronomer, was born in Radlewo near Żnin in Greater Poland. His family and professional life was associated with Vilnius. From 1803, he was a professor of chemistry and medicine at the Principal School of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which then became the Imperial University of Vilnius. He was the author of the first chemistry textbook in Polish (1800) and an innovative work entitled Teoria jestestw organicznych (Theory of Organic Beings) (1804).

The birthday of Jędrzej Śniadecki was celebrated in the three countries to which his fate was tied: Belarus, Lithuania and Poland.

Celebrations in Poland:

The year-long celebrations in Poland started on 28 January 2018 with a concert at the Main University Auditorium of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. It was organized by the PoznańSociety of Jędrzej Śniadecki, Karol Olszewski and Zygmunt Wróblewski.

In March 2018, celebrations were inaugurated by the town of Żnin, with the event being attended by descendants of the Śniadecki family: Prof. Antonina Magdalena Śniadecki-‑Kotarska, Senator Piotr Łukasz Juliusz Andrzejewski and Krzysztof Śniadecki-Lempke. A lecture on Jędrzej Śniadecki and the Society of Rascals was delivered by Emilia Maria Iwaszkiewicz, PhD, from Vilnius University. The University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz (UTP) also commemorated the scholars it has chosen as its namesakes, that is Jan Śniadecki and Jędrzej Śniadecki. A report on the event and an article by Emilia M. Iwaszkiewicz, PhD, are available in Magazyn UTP Format 2.0 No. 3 from July 2018.

In Kraków, during the 61st Scientific Meeting of the Polish Chemical Society, a session was organized entitled “Jędrzej Śniadecki and his legacy”. During the session, five papers were delivered which presented Jędrzej Śniadecki, his academic and journalistic output and memorabilia related to him.

Celebrations in Lithuania:

On 10 September 2018, Vilnius City Hall held a conference attended by Urszula Doroszewska, the Polish ambassador to Lithuania, and Edyta Tamošiūnaitė, the Deputy Mayor of Vilnius, as well as Polish and Lithuanian scholars. On 11–13 October 2018, at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences was held the 4th Oxygenalia International Conference.

Belarus:

The memory of Jędrzej Śniadecki is also cherished in Belarus, especially in Gorodniki where he is buried and at the nearby school in Kolchuny, which houses a small museum commemorating him and other scholars with ties to this region.

The year 2018 marked the 250th birthday anniversary of Jędrzej Śniadecki (30 Nov 1768–11 May 1838), a renowned Polish chemist, doctor and columnist. Jędrzej, the younger brother of Jan Śniadecki, a Polish mathematician and astronomer, was born in Radlewo near Żnin in Greater Poland. His family and professional life was associated with Vilnius. From 1803, he was a professor of chemistry and medicine at the Principal School of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which then became the Imperial University of Vilnius. He was the author of the first chemistry textbook in Polish (1800) and an innovative work entitled Teoria jestestw organicznych (Theory of Organic Beings) (1804).

The birthday of Jędrzej Śniadecki was celebrated in the three countries to which his fate was tied: Belarus, Lithuania and Poland.

Celebrations in Poland:

The year-long celebrations in Poland started on 28 January 2018 with a concert at the Main University Auditorium of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. It was organized by the PoznańSociety of Jędrzej Śniadecki, Karol Olszewski and Zygmunt Wróblewski.

In March 2018, celebrations were inaugurated by the town of Żnin, with the event being attended by descendants of the Śniadecki family: Prof. Antonina Magdalena Śniadecki-‑Kotarska, Senator Piotr Łukasz Juliusz Andrzejewski and Krzysztof Śniadecki-Lempke. A lecture on Jędrzej Śniadecki and the Society of Rascals was delivered by Emilia Maria Iwaszkiewicz, PhD, from Vilnius University. The University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz (UTP) also commemorated the scholars it has chosen as its namesakes, that is Jan Śniadecki and Jędrzej Śniadecki. A report on the event and an article by Emilia M. Iwaszkiewicz, PhD, are available in Magazyn UTP Format 2.0 No. 3 from July 2018.

In Kraków, during the 61st Scientific Meeting of the Polish Chemical Society, a session was organized entitled “Jędrzej Śniadecki and his legacy”. During the session, five papers were delivered which presented Jędrzej Śniadecki, his academic and journalistic output and memorabilia related to him.

Celebrations in Lithuania:

On 10 September 2018, Vilnius City Hall held a conference attended by Urszula Doroszewska, the Polish ambassador to Lithuania, and Edyta Tamošiūnaitė, the Deputy Mayor of Vilnius, as well as Polish and Lithuanian scholars. On 11–13 October 2018, at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences was held the 4th Oxygenalia International Conference.

Belarus:

The memory of Jędrzej Śniadecki is also cherished in Belarus, especially in Gorodniki where he is buried and at the nearby school in Kolchuny, which houses a small museum commemorating him and other scholars with ties to this region.