Archive for July 2023
Frédéric Chopin – Compositional Revolutionary, Lion of the Keyboard, and Symbol of National Identity
Often regarded as the greatest piano composer to ever live, Frédéric Chopin (1810 – 1849) was also one of the greatest pianists during the Romantic Era, which was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement in Europe from about 1800 to 1850. He is commonly recognized as one whose poetic genius was based on a…
Read MorePolish Biologist Develops First Effective Typhus Vaccine and Secretly Treats Jews during World War 2
Rudolf Weigl (1883 – 1957) invented the first effective vaccine against epidemic typhus, a disease that terrified the Germans because it had killed thousands of their soldiers in World War I. He founded the Weigl Institute in Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), where he conducted his vaccine research. During World War II, he harbored Jews…
Read MorePolish Chemist Creates the Foundation for the Semiconductor Industry
Jan Czochralski 1885 – 1953) invented the Czochralski method, which is the standard method used for growing crystals of silicon and germanium in the production of semiconductor wafers. It is still used in over 90 percent of all electronics in the world that use semiconductors. He was born in the small town of Kcynia (Exin…
Read MoreStanislaw Ulam – Brilliant mathematician with multiple innovations including the design of the H-Bomb
StanisÅ‚aw Ulam (1909 – 1984) was a Polish-Jewish mathematician and nuclear physicist who later became a U.S. citizen. He participated in the Manhattan Project, originated the Teller–Ulam design of thermonuclear weapons, discovered the concept of the cellular automaton, invented the Monte Carlo method of computation, and theorized nuclear propulsion. StanisÅ‚aw Ulam (1909 – 1984) Ulam…
Read MoreMarie Skłodowska Curie—First scientist to pioneer research on radioactivity
Marie SkÅ‚odowska Curie (1867-1934) was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two separate sciences, physics and chemistry. She shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband Pierre Curie and…
Read MorePolish-American Fighter Pilot Extraordinaire
Colonel Francis (Gabby) Gabreski (born Franciszek StanisÅ‚aw Gabryszewski) (1919-2002) was the top American fighter ace in Europe during World War 2, a jet fighter ace in the Korean War, the first U.S. combat pilot to become an ace in two wars and one of only seven U.S. pilots to do so, and the third highest…
Read MoreThe Resounding Silence of the Katyn Memorial
PASI EDU is proud to feature this essay by Krzysztof SroczyÅ„ski, a young Polish scholar. It’s an enhanced version of his contribution to a national initiative sponsored by the Polish government titled “The Polish Heart Broke: KatyÅ„ 1940”. The essay is two-fold. It outlines the tragic events at KatyÅ„, where up to 22,000 Polish officers…
Read MoreThe Crypto Hackers who saved Countless Lives
Three Polish mathematicians played an instrumental role in shortening World War 2 by breaking the secret German encryption machine called Enigma. They were Marian Rejewski, Henry Å»ygalski, and Jerzy Różycki. Breaking the Enigma was perhaps the greatest Polish contribution to the Allied victory. However, this accomplishment, and much of the history of the Enigma, was…
Read MoreJewish Commandos from the Second Polish Republic
Polish special services trained right-wing Jewish fighters who carried out remarkable attacks on the British in Palestine. “I talked to many of them a quarter of a century ago. They all said that training in Poland gave them a significant advantage. Although they had no professional military education, they became conspirators and soldiers who would…
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