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International Conference in Memory of Ignotas Domeika’s Legacy

17 06 2025

On 6 June, an international conference dedicated to the legacy of Ignotas Domeika (Ignacy Domeyko) was held at the Polish Geological Institute–National Research Institute in Warsaw. The event was linked to the 106th anniversary of the Polish Geological Institute (Państwowy Instytut Geologiczny, PIG). The conference motto – ‘Ignacy Domeyko: A Hero of Four Nations and Two Continents’ – attracted a large group of scientists, geologists, and science historians.


Left to right, Dariusz Obuch-Woszczatyński, Wojciech Brochwicz-Lewiński, Stanisław Wołkowicz, Krzysztof Szamałek, Algimantas Grigelis

Upon invitation, a delegation of the Lithuanian Ignotas Domeika Society, consisting of its president Academician Prof. Dr habil. Algimantas Grigelis, Dr Leonora Živilė Gelumbauskaitė-Grigelienė, a member of the board, and Prof. Dr habil. Algimantas Česnulevičius, the vice-president of the society, attended the conference. The conference was organised by Prof. Dr habil. Stanisław Wołkowicz, director of the PIG Department of Environmental Geology.


Prof. Dr habil. Algimantas Česnulevičius

The conference was opened with a welcome address by Prof. Dr habil. Krzysztof Szamałek, director general of PIG, a renowned geologist and former chief geologist of the Republic of Poland. Research papers were presented by Prof. Stanisław Wołkowicz – ‘Scientific, Educational, and Humanistic Activities of Ignacy Domeyko in the Republic of Chile (1838–1889)’, Prof. Algimantas Česnulevičius – ‘The Lithuanian Ignotas Domeika Society and Its Activities’, Dr L. Ž. Gelumbauskaitė-Grigelienė and Academician Algimantas Grigelis – ‘The Great Legacy of the Kontrimas-Domeika Family in the Lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (from 1725)’.


Conference participants, left to right: Dariusz Obuch-Woszczatyński, Algimantas Česnulevičius, Teresa Skrzecz, Jadwiga Garbowska, Leonora Živilė Grigelienė, Algimantas Grigelis

After the break, a ceremony was held in the open courtyard of the State Geological Museum to honour distinguished PIG employees – geologists and engineers. The Lithuanian delegation awarded Ignotas Domeika commemorative medals to prominent geologists from Warsaw and Krakow, researchers of Domeika's legacy, and to a fifth-generation descendant of the Domeika family from the Niedzwiadka estate in Lublin.

IGNOTAS DOMEIKA COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS WERE AWARDED TO:

  • JADWIGA GARBOWSKA, for her contributions to geological science and the history of natural sciences, for her research into the legacy of Ignotas Domeika and for promoting his name. Jadwiga Garbowska is a geologist, palaeontologist, science historian, habilitated doctor, professor, researcher of Ignotas Domeika's legacy in Poland and Belarus, author of scientific books and conference organiser, researcher at the Museum of the Earth of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.
  • ZBIGNIEW WÓJCIK, for his contributions to the science of geology and the history of science, for his detailed studies in the legacy of Ignotas Domeika, and for promoting his name throughout the world. Zbigniew Wójcik a geologist, speleologist, science historian, habilitated doctor, professor, a pioneer of contemporary research into the legacy of Ignotas Domeika, author of numerous monographs and books, and a researcher at the Museum of the Earth of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.
  • STANISŁAW WOŁKOWICZ, for his contributions to the science of geology and the history of science, for his research into the legacy of Ignotas Domeika and for promoting his name. Stanisław Wołkowicz is a geologist, geochemist, environmental scientist, habilitated doctor, professor, author and editor of scientific publications, organiser of scientific conferences, an honorary member of the Geological Society of Lithuania, and a researcher at the State Geological Institute in Warsaw.
  • ZDZISŁAW JAN RYN ( 1938–2022; posthumously), for his outstanding contributions to the history of science in the Republic of Chile, his comprehensive and detailed studies of the biography of Ignotas Domeika, preservation of his legacy, and for promoting his name around the world. Zdzisław Jan Ryn was a medical doctor, psychiatrist, habilitated doctor of medicine, professor, diplomat, publicist, high-altitude traveller, biographer and bibliographer of Ignotas Domeika, author of major monographs and books, researcher at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, and a recipient of the honorary title ‘Hero of Poland 2000’ (‘Kolos 2000’) for his high-altitude climbs.
  • ANDRZEJ TOMASZ PAULO, for his contributions to the science of geology and mining and for promoting the name of Ignotas Domeika. Andrzej Tomasz Paulo is a geologist, mining engineer, habilitated doctor, professor, high-altitude traveller, author of scientific books and conference organizer, an honorary member of the Polish Geological Society, and a researcher at the Stanisław Staszic Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Krakow.
  • EWA KOSZOWSKA, for her contributions to geological science and the history of science, for preserving the mineralogical heritage of Ignotas Domeika and promoting his name. Ewa Koszowska is a geologist, mineralogist, doctor of geological sciences, author of scientific publications, organizer of geological exhibitions, and a researcher at the Institute of Geological Sciences at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
  • DARIUSZ OBUCH-WOSZCZATYŃSKI, for his merits to society and the preservation of historical memory, for preserving and promoting the memory of Ignotas Domeika and the Domeika-Odachowski- Woszczatyński family. He is a Master of Engineering, aviation technologist, pilot, entrepreneur, a grandson of cavalry colonel Obuch- Woszczatyński, and a fifth-generation descendant of the Domeika family of the Niedzwiadka estate.

Academician Algimantas Grigelis

Photography by the author

Translated by Diana Barnard