Eugeniusz Romer

Eugeniusz Mikołaj Romer (3 February 1871 in Lwów (Lviv, Lemberg) - 28 January 1954) was the most distinguished Polish geographer and cartographer, whose maps and atlases are still highly appreciated by Polish experts.

Born in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, he graduated from a high school in Nowy Sącz and studied history, geology, geography and meteorology at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, also attending courses in Lwów and Halle (Saale). In 1894, Romer earned a doctorate in philosophy at the Lwów University.

In final years of the XIX century, he went to Vienna and Berlin to broaden his knowledge of glaciology, geology and meteorology. Romer also went to Lausanne, to study tectonics and morphology. In 1911 he became professor of the Lwów University (in 1946 also of Jagiellonian University), later he was named "professor honoris causa" at the univerities in Lwów, Poznań and Kraków. In 1952 he became a member of Polish Academy of Sciences

In 1909 Romer went to Switzerland, to examine Alpine glaciers. Next year, he traveled to Asia, in 1913 to Alaska, to the Saint Elias Mountains (one of glaciers there has been named after him). In 1916, while in Vienna, Romer started work on the "Great Statistical and Geographical Atlas of Poland". This publication was crucial with establishing borders of the Second Polish Republic. He was a member of the Polish delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, helping with drawing western border of Poland.

In 1921 in Lwów Romer founded "Cartigraphical Institute Ksiaznica-Atlas", which was after World War II moved to Wrocław and which exists until today. In 1929 he decided to retire, concentrating his activities on the Institute. However, he kept close ties with Lwów's Jan Kazimierz University, lecturing and examining.

In 1941, when Lwów was captured by the Germans, he hid in a monastery at Piekarska Street and this decision probably saved his life (see: Massacre of Lwów professors). Soon afterwards, the Home Army decided to move him to Warsaw, from where he was to be transferred to England, to work as an advisor of the Polish Government-in-Exile. However, doctors recommended that Romer should stay in the occupied country, as the journey was too risky for his weak health. Thus, he remained in Warsaw, using fake name Edmund Piotrowski. Romer survived the Warsaw Uprising and the camp in Pruszków.

After the war, he settled in Kraków, taking post of director of Department of Geography at the Jagiellonian University. Since 1899, he had been married to Jadwiga Rossknecht, daughter of co-owner of the Okocim Brewery. They had two sons: Witold Romer (1900-1967), professor of the Wrocław University of Technology and Edmund Romer (1904-1988), professor of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice.

Eugeniusz Romer died 1954 in Kraków and was buried at the Salwator Cemetery.

ources

* http://www.lwow.home.pl/semper/romer.html
* http://www.pgi.gov.pl/muzeum/poczet/Eugeniusz_Romer/eugeniusz_romer.html
* http://www.muzeum-polskie.org/muzeum/w-18-21-eng.htm
* http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/63522,,,,romer_eugeniusz,haslo.html