ROSTAFIŃSKI, Józef Tomasz

From 1868 to 1869, after finishing the gymnasium in Warsaw, R. first studied at the Faculty of Mathematics of the Warsaw Technical College, and later at the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
Already during his studies, he compiled a list of Polish flowers, in which he also included several less known species. On the basis of this, he published the book Florae Polonica Prodromus in Vienna in 1872. From 1869 to 1872, R. studied biology and zoology at the universities in Jena, Halle, and Straßburg. He received his doctorate in 1873 with his work on slime moulds, entitled Versuch eines Systems der Mycetozoen.
As an assistant professor of botany, he lectured at the University of Straßburg from 1875 onwards. His work on slime moulds, which was published in the Polish language in 1875, is considered the first monograph of its kind.
In 1876, he was an assistant professor at the Chair of Botany of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. There he continued his research on seaweed (brown algae) of the family Laminariaceae, which he had begun in Straßburg, and published his findings in 1877 in the article On the Division of the Ovum and the Fertilisation of Kelps (Über Teilung der Eizelle und Befruchtung bei dem Blasentang). With the monograph Prodrome d’une Monographie des Laminariacèes, published in 1877, he systematically treated seaweed.
In 1878, Jagiellonian University offered him the post of associate professor, and in 1882, he became full professor of botany, and the director of the botanical garden in Krakow. His research on the flora of the Tatra, particularly on algae, was published in 1883. Hence, R. is considered the beginner of research on algae in high mountains, especially on the species living in snow.
After 1883, R. began compiling the history of botany in Slavonic lands. The focus of his works is the historical sources on botany, pharmacy, agriculture, and economy. After longer preparation, the book History of the Nature of the Middle Ages (Mittelalterliche Naturgeschichte) was published in 1900.
R. was a member of the Academy of Sciences in Krakow; in 1919, he became a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences; in 1871, of the Zoological and Botanical Society in Vienna, and of the Botanical Society in Brandenburg; in 1873, of the French Society of Exact Sciences; in 1874, of the French Society of Natural Scientists; and in 1878, of the Society of Natural Scientists in Milan.