Jan Czerski
Encyclopedia
Jan Stanisław Franciszek Czerski (1845–1892) was a Polish
paleontologist (osteologist
), geologist
, geographer
and explorer of Siberia
. He was exiled to Transbaikalia for participation in the January Uprising
of 1863. A self-taught scientist, he eventually received three gold medals from the Russian Geographical Society
, and his name was given to a settlement, two mountain ranges, several peaks and other places. He authored the first map of Lake Baikal
and died during an expedition to Kolyma
.
) he was born on 3 January 1845 in Swolna, partitioned Lithuania
, then Vitebsk Governorate of the Russian Empire
(now in Belarus
). At the age of 18 as a high-school student in Vilna
(at the Instytut Szlachecki (Noble Institution)) he took part in the January Uprising
(1863); taken prisoner on 28 April 1863, he was stripped of his noble status, his lands were repossessed by another family member loyal to the Russian government, and Czerski was finally forcibly conscripted into the Russian Army
and exiled to Siberia (to Blagoveshchensk
near Amur River) by the Russian authorities. He never made it to Blagoveshchensk, and was detached to serve in the formation near Omsk
. During that time he was taken in by some other Poles (Marczewski, Kwiatkowski) living in exile in Omsk region, as well as Russia
n geographer, Grigory Nikolayevich Potanin. With their help he became interested in the natural history of the region. They provided him with literature on Siberia and natural sciences, and during his free time he self-educated himself and carried out his first research.
After release from army in 1869 he did not receive permission to return home, becoming a political exilee; he was refused the right to enter a university; his publications were rejected and his first attempt to enter the Russian Geographical Society
was rejected. For the next two years he was forced to work as a teacher in Omsk, as he was denied the right to leave the area.
In 1871 he received a permission to move to Irkutsk
; there he meet other Polish exiles turned scholars, Aleksander Czekanowski
and Benedykt Dybowski. With their help (Czekanowski is considered his mentor) he entered the Russian Geographical Society
, got a job at a local museum and took part in several expedition, gaining experience and renown. He took part in the expeditions to Sayan Mountains
, Irkut River
Valley and Lower Tunguska
River. During four expeditions (1877–1881) Czerski has explored the valley of the Selenga
river and he published a study concerning Baikal, explaining the origin of the lake and presenting the geological structure of East Siberia. Perhaps the most notable of these expeditions was the study of the geological structure of the coast of the Lake Baikal
. The result of this work was the first geological map of that coast, a map for which Czerski was decorated with the gold medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences
(he received three total during his career http://books.google.com/books?id=11MVdBYUX5oC&pg=PA316&dq=%22Jan+Czerski%22&as_brr=3&ei=32gvR-vuAZjcpgKB1sTyCQ&sig=YHDNt6QgZ4QE3dLxa1ElvBSqwTY) and for has received an international award in Bologna
, Italy. In his later work Czerski has put forward the idea of development of a relief (1878) and offered one of the first analysis of tectonics of internal Asia (1886) and pioneered the geomorphological
evolution theory.
In 1878 he married Marfa Pavlovna Ivanova, a native of Siberia region. In 1883 he was pardoned by the Russian government, and later he regained his noble status. He lived in Irkutsk
until 1886, working in the east-Siberian department of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1886 he fell ill (progressing tuberculosis
and even partial paralysis
) and was allowed to move to Saint Peterburg, where he joined the Peterburg's Science Academy; nonetheless he took time during his travel from Irkutsk to Peterburg to carefully document the geological side of the route. During that period he was appointed head of an expedition exploring the Yana
, Indigirka
and Kolyma
basins. He collected and cataloged over 2,500 of ancient bones, publishing in 1888 a large work on Quaternary Period mammal
s followed by an even larger work on the Siberian mammals relics in 1891.
He died in 25 June 1892 during an expedition to Kolyma
, Yana
and Indigirka River
s. He was buried near the Omolon River
.
His name was given to several landmarks in Siberia, including the Chersky Mountain Range
and the settlement of Chersky
in the Sakha Republic, another mountain range similarly named in Chita Oblast
, the Chersky Mountain - highest peak (2572 m) of the Baikal Range, Chersky Peak (2090 m) - one of the highest peaks of the Chamar-Daban
Range, Chersky Pass in the same mountains, Chersky Stone (728 m) - a peak in near Listvyanka, Chersky Valley and Chersky Plateau in the Sayan Mountains
, a waterfall
near the Baikal Lake, an inactive volcano in the Tunkinsk Valley, and Chersky Place - an archeological site near Irkutsk where ancient human remains were discovered. Three species were named after him: Osteolepis Tscherskii (fish
), Leperditia Czerskii (crustacean
) and Polyptchites Tscherskii (ammonite
).
The Irkutsk
-based Jan Czerski Belarusian Culture Society, an organization of the Belarusian minority in Russia
is named after Jan Czerski.
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
paleontologist (osteologist
Osteology
Osteology is the scientific study of bones. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and archeology, osteology is a detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, morphology, function, disease, pathology, the process of ossification , the resistance and hardness of bones , etc...
), geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
, geographer
Geographer
A geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
and explorer of Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. He was exiled to Transbaikalia for participation in the January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
of 1863. A self-taught scientist, he eventually received three gold medals from the Russian Geographical Society
Russian Geographical Society
The Russian Geographical Society is a learned society, founded on 6 August 1845 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.-Imperial Geographical Society:Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, it was known as the Imperial Russian Geographical Society....
, and his name was given to a settlement, two mountain ranges, several peaks and other places. He authored the first map of Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
and died during an expedition to Kolyma
Kolyma
The Kolyma region is located in the far north-eastern area of Russia in what is commonly known as Siberia but is actually part of the Russian Far East. It is bounded by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Sea of Okhotsk to the south...
.
Biography
Son of Dominik and Xenia Czerski, a family of Polish nobles (szlachtaSzlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
) he was born on 3 January 1845 in Swolna, partitioned Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
, then Vitebsk Governorate of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
). At the age of 18 as a high-school student in Vilna
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
(at the Instytut Szlachecki (Noble Institution)) he took part in the January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
(1863); taken prisoner on 28 April 1863, he was stripped of his noble status, his lands were repossessed by another family member loyal to the Russian government, and Czerski was finally forcibly conscripted into the Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
and exiled to Siberia (to Blagoveshchensk
Blagoveshchensk
Blagoveshchensk is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. Population: -Early history of the region:The early residents of both sides of the Amur in the region of today's Blagoveshchensk were the Daurs and Duchers...
near Amur River) by the Russian authorities. He never made it to Blagoveshchensk, and was detached to serve in the formation near Omsk
Omsk
-History:The wooden fort of Omsk was erected in 1716 to protect the expanding Russian frontier along the Ishim and the Irtysh rivers against the Kyrgyz nomads of the Steppes...
. During that time he was taken in by some other Poles (Marczewski, Kwiatkowski) living in exile in Omsk region, as well as Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n geographer, Grigory Nikolayevich Potanin. With their help he became interested in the natural history of the region. They provided him with literature on Siberia and natural sciences, and during his free time he self-educated himself and carried out his first research.
After release from army in 1869 he did not receive permission to return home, becoming a political exilee; he was refused the right to enter a university; his publications were rejected and his first attempt to enter the Russian Geographical Society
Russian Geographical Society
The Russian Geographical Society is a learned society, founded on 6 August 1845 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.-Imperial Geographical Society:Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, it was known as the Imperial Russian Geographical Society....
was rejected. For the next two years he was forced to work as a teacher in Omsk, as he was denied the right to leave the area.
In 1871 he received a permission to move to Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
; there he meet other Polish exiles turned scholars, Aleksander Czekanowski
Aleksander Czekanowski
Aleksander Czekanowski was a Polish geologist and explorer of Siberia.He took part in the January Uprising ; in the aftermath he was exiled to Siberia by the Russian authorities; where he took part in and later led several expeditions, surveying and mapping the geology of Eastern Siberia...
and Benedykt Dybowski. With their help (Czekanowski is considered his mentor) he entered the Russian Geographical Society
Russian Geographical Society
The Russian Geographical Society is a learned society, founded on 6 August 1845 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.-Imperial Geographical Society:Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, it was known as the Imperial Russian Geographical Society....
, got a job at a local museum and took part in several expedition, gaining experience and renown. He took part in the expeditions to Sayan Mountains
Sayan Mountains
The Sayan Mountains are a mountain range between northwestern Mongolia and southern Siberia, Russia.The Eastern Sayan extends from the Yenisei River at 92° E to the southwest end of Lake Baikal at 106° E...
, Irkut River
Irkut River
Irkut is a river in the Buryat Republic and Irkutsk Oblast of Russia; Angara's left tributary. The length of the river is . The area of its basin is . The Irkut River freezes up in late October - mid-November and stays icebound until late April - early May. The city of Irkutsk is located at the...
Valley and Lower Tunguska
Lower Tunguska
Nizhnyaya Tunguska — is a river in Siberia, Russia, flows through the Irkutsk Oblast and the Krasnoyarsk Krai. The river is a right tributary of the Yenisei joining it at Turukhansk . Settlements on the river include Tura, Yukti and Simenga...
River. During four expeditions (1877–1881) Czerski has explored the valley of the Selenga
Selenga
The Selenge is a major river in Mongolia and Buryatia, Russia. Its source rivers are the Ider River and the Delgermörön river. It flows into Lake Baikal and has a length of 616 miles...
river and he published a study concerning Baikal, explaining the origin of the lake and presenting the geological structure of East Siberia. Perhaps the most notable of these expeditions was the study of the geological structure of the coast of the Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
. The result of this work was the first geological map of that coast, a map for which Czerski was decorated with the gold medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
(he received three total during his career http://books.google.com/books?id=11MVdBYUX5oC&pg=PA316&dq=%22Jan+Czerski%22&as_brr=3&ei=32gvR-vuAZjcpgKB1sTyCQ&sig=YHDNt6QgZ4QE3dLxa1ElvBSqwTY) and for has received an international award in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Italy. In his later work Czerski has put forward the idea of development of a relief (1878) and offered one of the first analysis of tectonics of internal Asia (1886) and pioneered the geomorphological
Geomorphology
Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...
evolution theory.
In 1878 he married Marfa Pavlovna Ivanova, a native of Siberia region. In 1883 he was pardoned by the Russian government, and later he regained his noble status. He lived in Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
until 1886, working in the east-Siberian department of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1886 he fell ill (progressing tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and even partial paralysis
Paralysis
Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...
) and was allowed to move to Saint Peterburg, where he joined the Peterburg's Science Academy; nonetheless he took time during his travel from Irkutsk to Peterburg to carefully document the geological side of the route. During that period he was appointed head of an expedition exploring the Yana
Yana River
The Yana River , is a river in Sakha in Russia, located between the Lena to the west and the Indigirka to the east.It is 872 km in length. The area of its basin is 238,000 km², whilst its annual discharge totals approximately . Most of this discharge occurs in May and June as the ice on the...
, Indigirka
Indigirka River
The Indigirka River is a river in the Sakha Republic in Russia between the Yana River and the Kolyma River. It is in length. The area of its basin is 360,000 km²...
and Kolyma
Kolyma River
The Kolyma River is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. Itrises in the mountains north of Okhotsk and Magadan, in the area of and...
basins. He collected and cataloged over 2,500 of ancient bones, publishing in 1888 a large work on Quaternary Period mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s followed by an even larger work on the Siberian mammals relics in 1891.
He died in 25 June 1892 during an expedition to Kolyma
Kolyma River
The Kolyma River is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. Itrises in the mountains north of Okhotsk and Magadan, in the area of and...
, Yana
Yana River
The Yana River , is a river in Sakha in Russia, located between the Lena to the west and the Indigirka to the east.It is 872 km in length. The area of its basin is 238,000 km², whilst its annual discharge totals approximately . Most of this discharge occurs in May and June as the ice on the...
and Indigirka River
Indigirka River
The Indigirka River is a river in the Sakha Republic in Russia between the Yana River and the Kolyma River. It is in length. The area of its basin is 360,000 km²...
s. He was buried near the Omolon River
Omolon River
thumb|The Omolon flows into the KolymaThe Omolon River is the principal tributary of the Kolyma River in northeast Siberia. The length of the river is . The area of its basin 118,600 km². The Omolon River freezes up in October and stays under ice until late May - early June...
.
His name was given to several landmarks in Siberia, including the Chersky Mountain Range
Chersky Range
The Chersky Range is a chain of mountains in northeastern Siberia between the Yana River and the Indigirka River. It generally runs from northwest to southeast through the Sakha Republic and Magadan Oblast. The tallest mountain in the range is Peak Pobeda, which is 3,003 meters tall. The range...
and the settlement of Chersky
Chersky (settlement)
Chersky is an urban locality and the administrative center of Nizhnekolymsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located on the Kolyma River east of Yakutsk. Population:...
in the Sakha Republic, another mountain range similarly named in Chita Oblast
Chita Oblast
Chita Oblast was a federal subject of Russia in southeast Siberia, Russia. Its administrative center was the city of Chita. It had extensive international borders with China and Mongolia and internal borders with Irkutsk and Amur Oblasts, as well as with the Buryat and the Sakha Republics. Its...
, the Chersky Mountain - highest peak (2572 m) of the Baikal Range, Chersky Peak (2090 m) - one of the highest peaks of the Chamar-Daban
Chamar-Daban
Khamar-Daban is a mountain range near Baikal Mountains in Siberia, Russia at the Lake Baikal. The highest peak is the Utulinskaya podkova at 2396 metres....
Range, Chersky Pass in the same mountains, Chersky Stone (728 m) - a peak in near Listvyanka, Chersky Valley and Chersky Plateau in the Sayan Mountains
Sayan Mountains
The Sayan Mountains are a mountain range between northwestern Mongolia and southern Siberia, Russia.The Eastern Sayan extends from the Yenisei River at 92° E to the southwest end of Lake Baikal at 106° E...
, a waterfall
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
near the Baikal Lake, an inactive volcano in the Tunkinsk Valley, and Chersky Place - an archeological site near Irkutsk where ancient human remains were discovered. Three species were named after him: Osteolepis Tscherskii (fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
), Leperditia Czerskii (crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
) and Polyptchites Tscherskii (ammonite
Ammonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
).
The Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
-based Jan Czerski Belarusian Culture Society, an organization of the Belarusian minority in Russia
Belarusians in Russia
Belarusians are a major ethnic group in Russia. In the census of 2002 807,970 Russian citizens confirmed their Belarusian ethnicity. Major Belarusian groups live in the regions of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Karelia...
is named after Jan Czerski.
Works
Full list of Czerki's works contains 97 positions; over a hundred works have been published dedicated to him.- "Otczot o gieołogiczeskom issledowanii bieriegowoj połosy oziera Bajkała" (1886)
- "Gieołogiczeskije issledowanije Sibirskogo pocztowogo trakta ot oziera Bajkała do wostocznogo chriebta Uralskogo" (1888)
- "Dziennik podróży A. Czekanowskiego" (Czekanowski's Travel Journal)
- major work in 1891
External links
- Czerski's stamp in the Polish Post series: POLES IN THE WORLD, see larger picture here
Further reading
- Przegląd Geologiczny, nr 11, 1962.
- Sidorski D., Zielony ocean, Ossolineum, 1973.
- Twarogowski J., Poczet wielkich geologów, Warszawa 1974.
- Wójcik Z., Jan Czerski, Wydawnictwo Lubelskie, Lublin 1986.