Jan Krzysztof Kluk

Jan Krzysztof Kluk (September 13 1739 – July 2 1796) was a Polish naturalist agronomist and entomologist.cite web |url=http://www.zalf.de/home_zalf/institute/dei/php_e/biograph/biograph.php |title=Kluk, Jan Krzysztof |accessdate=2008-04-23 |work=Biographies of the Entomologists of the World |publisher=Deutsches Entomologisches Institut (DEI) - Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) ]

He was the son of Jana Krzysztof and Marianna Elżbieta. His father, a nobleman turned poor, was an architect, mainly of churches. Jan Krzysztof Kluk went to school in Warsaw, later in Drohiczyn, and finally in the Piarists school in Łuków. In 1763 he finished his Seminary for missionaries in the Holy Cross Church of Warsaw. From 1763-67 he was a domestic chaplain attached to the noble household of Tomasza Ossolińskiego, the starosta of Nur. From 1767-70 he was the vicar of the parish of Winna, he later became vicar of the parish of Ciechanowiec, a position he kept until his death.Polish|Jan Krzysztof Kluk|June 4, 2008]

He was a man with universal interests, but first of all was known as naturalist studying mainly the regions of Podlasie and Masovia. He had great abilities in drawing and engraving, which permitted him to illustrate his later works.

Princess Anna Jabłonowska gave him access to the great library and natural science collections in her palace of Siemiatycze. Many of his published works made breakthrough in contemporary Polish natural sciences and agricultural.

He lived all his life and died in Ciechanowiec. He was a Catholic priest, and vicar of Ciechanowiec. [cite book |last=Davies |first=Norman |title=God's PlaygroundA History of Poland |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=M0UknKj4xZkC&pg=PA229&dq=Jan+Krzysztof+Kluk&sig=NF25L43PAdzpAKoR-Ie3IllpjA0 |year=1982 |publisher=Columbia UniversityPress |isbn=0231053517 |pages=229] Kluk described several taxa of Lepidoptera including the South American genus "Heliconius", and the genus "Danaus" in which is placed the monarch.

There is a Krzysztof Kluk Museum of Agriculture in Ciechanowiec. [cite book |last=Lorentz |first=Stanisław |coauthors=Jan Aleksandrowicz |title=Guide to Museums and Collections in Poland |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=FZ8FAAAAMAAJ&q=Jan+Krzysztof+Kluk&dq=Jan+Krzysztof+Kluk&pgis=1 |year=1974 |publisher=Interpress Publishers |pages=71 ]

Works

He wrote a multi-volume work "Zwierząt domowych i dzikich, osobliwie krajowych historii naturalnej początki i gospodarstwo" (in English The natural history of domestic and national (Polish) wild animals and animals of the farm) published in Warszawa in 1780. Another notable Kluk's work in three volumes entitled "Dykcjonarz roślinny..." (in English Dictionary of Plants) was published from 1786 to 1788 in Warsaw (volume I - 1786, volume II - 1787, volume III - 1788). The Dictionary contains entries in Latin alphabetical order that comprise 1,536 species of plants of Polish and foreign origin. Importantly, not only Latin but also Polish names were given. [cite book |last= Klimaszewski |first=Bolesław |coauthors= Krystyna Mroczek and Uniwersytet Jagielloński |title=An Outline History of Polish Culture |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Cr9GAAAAIAAJ&dq=Jan+Krzysztof+Kluk&q=Krzysztof+Kluk&pgis=1#search |year=1984 |publisher=Interpress Publishers |isbn=8322320361 |pages=138 ] .

Publications about Jan Krzysztof Kluk

Prof. Gabriel Brzęk wrote several biographical books about Jan Krzysztof Kluk [cite web |url=http://alpha.bn.org.pl/search*pol/aBrz%7Bu0119%7Dk%2C+Gabriel/abrze~ak+gabriel%3BT=KLuk/1%2C3%2C0%2CB/browse |title=National Library of Poland catalogue |accessdate=2008-09-02 |work= |publisher= |date= ] :
* "Krzysztof Kluk jako szermierz postępowych idei społecznych polskiego Oświecenia" (1958)
* "Krzysztof Kluk (1739-1796) jako przyrodnik polskiego oświecenia" (1973)
* "Krzysztof Kluk" (1977)

References

External links

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