My background and history of life
My parents came from Lvov, eastern Galicia. Before the I World War my father studied architecture at the Polytechnical University of Milan, Italy. Family of his room mate had a commercial bee-keeping company, not far from Milan. My father became an enthusiast of bee-keeping, and friendship with Piana family influenced strongly all his life. In 1914 he came back to Poland for his vacations. Because of the I World War he was not able to go to Milan, and he never finished architecture. After the War, by self studying, he became one of the leading bee-keepers in Poland. He organised the bee-keeping union in Lvov, and he was the editor of "Bartnik Postepowy" - the journal of bee-keeping. He published several handbooks and he was giving courses on bee-keeping at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Lvov.
After the II World War, when Poland had lost
eastern Galicia to Soviet Union, my parents together with the university staff
moved to Wroclaw - the capital city of Lower Silesia, SW Poland. Father
continued his research and teaching on bee-keeping at the Agricultural
University of Wroclaw. Although he was born in 1889, he was very active in
bee-keeping as well as in the fields of astronomy and Esperanto and IDO
international languages, till 1975.
I was born in 1947 in Wroclaw - "one hundred bridges and one hundred churches city". After having passed the final exams at the Adam Mickiewicz Grammar School in 1966, I became a geology student at the University of Wroclaw. I got my MSc degree in 1972 and from January 2, 1973 till today I have been employed at the Soil Science and Agricultural Environment Protection Department of the Agricultural University of Wroclaw. I collected my PhD degree in 1978, and after the "Solidarity" episode (1980-1989) I got DSc degree (habilitation) in 1995.
I am married; I have two daughters and a son.
As far as I can remember from my childhood, I have always been dreaming about travelling. I began with hitch-hiking through the whole of Poland when I was seventeen. My journeys abroad started in September 1968, during my vacation after the second year of my geological education. It was hitch-hiking escapade through Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia - one great adventure. It was really a great job as well, if you remember that it was closely after Soviet invasion to Czechoslovakia. The journey resulted in making some friends, especially with two guys from the Netherlands.
After having come back to Poland I got a
contact with the head of the Geological Survey from Niger, who was a Polish
geologist. Since I have got informal agreement to be employed for 9 months, I
have decided to have a 1year break in my study and to go to Niamey for geological
exploration of Niger.
Nowadays it is hard to believe, but in that time citizens of the Eastern European Countries living in a kind of a military camp had no passports in the house, and private travelling to western countries was possible only on permission of the special police department. Furthermore, to make an application for travel it was necessary to have an invitation from somebody of the country of destination. Since I had no official invitation to Niger, the plan was to go for 1 month to friends in the Netherlands, then make a jump by ship to Niger. I got the official invitation from my Dutch friends and I made the application. Everything I needed to get a passport was a positive opinion of the special police department. Finally, I should be lucky, as well.
I was young and full of optimism and I did not realise that opinion on myself would be more positive. The exit door of the Camp were slammed just in front of my surprised face, because I was involved with the students protest against politics in 1968. I was so naive that I tried to go for my vacation to Bulgaria again, and to Italy next year. All the time the decision and the reason were the same: "No. Why? .... because not."
However, I was lucky and in 1973 I went to the
Netherlands, in frame of the bilateral exchange project of Agricultural
Universities in Wroclaw and Wageningen. Furthermore, in 1974 I visited the Soil
Science Department of the Aberdeen University, Scotland, and the Rothamsted
Experimental Station, England. Yes, life can be beautiful. Shortly after
completing my PhD, Lowell Douglas from the Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA,
offered me a position of research fellow for 2 years, to investigate soil
micromorphological properties. Unfortunately, the opinion concerning myself
again would be more positive, and I had to stay in Poland. Nota bene,
the opinion was given by some colleagues from the Department - the members of
the communist party.
Any way, maybe this time the negative decision was not too bad, because I stayed home and one year latter I was elected to take the position of the president of the "Solidarity" Trade Union at the University, and a member of the Board of Lower Silesia Solidarity.
There is no doubt that 1980 and several following years were the most interesting and the most fascinating in my life. The official activity of the "Solidarity" was finished in the night of December 13, 1981, when the general in black glasses declared martial low. The same day, early morning, some students and teachers began the occupation of the University Main Building and organised a protest strike. I had an honour to be the chairman of the Strike Committee. The strike was described in details by Adam Jara in the book "Fifty Seven Hours" (in Polish). After 57 hours of protesting, when the strikes in several neighboring factories had been fought off, and it was followed by the negotiations with the army, the Committee decided to finish that form of the protest. Next day the authorities of the University allowed me to go for sabbatical leave. It was really very special one, because during the martial low I was even not able to leave the city. The sabbatical made me possible to be hidden for 9 months. In that time I was organising the underground broadcasting "Solidarity Radio of Lower Silesia". It is said, that everything pleasant in life, has its end. The authorities of the University were changed without election by communists, and consequently my sabbatical was shortened. Soon after having come back to the Department I had to learn how the prison looks like from inside. My father was right, when he used to say: "it is never to late to enrich your knowledge", and so I did. I was the resident of the Strzelin and Grodkow prisons. Since the martial low had been adjourned in December 1982, I was interned only about 1 month, and I came back to the Department. However, to enrich my knowledge quite thoroughly, during following years I visited (but only for 48 hours) local police arrests in Wroclaw several times. Ironically, mostly it was prior to May 1-st or November 11-th (the Independence Day of Poland).
After I had been the leader of the Solidarity of the Agricultural University till 1989, the "round table agreement" was signed. Then I finished my activities connected with the Solidarity and at last I have had more time to do research. Now we are going to join the European Community. And as just for my understanding we at last started live in a normal country.
