Józef Zwierzycki was an eminent geologist, a tropical explorer, a pioneer of Polish geological research in Asia, and a co-founder of Wrocław’s post-war scientific community.

He was born on 12 March 1888 in Krobia . After passing his A-levels in Gniezno, he studied mining at the Mining Academy and geology at the University of Berlin . In 1913, he was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree, and a year later the title of mining engineer. In the same year, he was accepted into the Geological Survey of the Dutch East Indies. On 1 May 1914, he set off for Java, where he began his 24-year service with the Dutch Geological Survey .

In Indonesia, he conducted pioneering field research in the jungles and volcanic mountains of the Malay Archipelago. In 1920, he led a geological expedition to New Guinea, where he discovered rich deposits of crude oil and other mineral resources. He also produced the first geological maps of previously unknown areas. His research included Lake Toba, tin ores at Banka and Billiton, and coal deposits in swamp forests. He authored dozens of papers and geological maps, which laid the foundations for the development of geology in South-East Asia. In 1933 , he became a professor at the Bandung Institute of Technology and , shortly afterwards, director of the Dutch Geological Survey. He was the first Pole to hold this post. In recognition of his services, he was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau by the Queen of the Netherlands. Just how highly he was regarded in what is now Indonesia is illustrated by an anecdote recounted by Dr Stanisław Kościelniak :

“He once mentioned that whilst working for the Dutch on the island of Java, he had a car at his sole disposal, and there were only two cars there. The other one belonged to the island’s governor”.

In 1938, he returned to Poland, taking up the post of head of the Petroleum and Salt Department at the State Geological Institute. During the Second World War, he was arrested and imprisoned in Auschwitz (no. 16752), where his knowledge of Norwegian saved his life. Following the intervention of German geologists, he was transferred to Berlin, where he carried out scientific work at the German Geological Survey (Reichsamt für Bodenforschung) as a political prisoner until 1944. In mid-July 1944, he managed to escape and subsequently went into hiding in Kraków.

After the war, he helped establish the University and the Technical University of Wrocław, setting up the Department of Geology. He worked to safeguard the German collections. He lectured on stratigraphic and regional geology, as well as volcanology, educating a generation of Polish geologists. As a researcher of Lower Silesia, he predicted the presence of salt and copper ores north of the Sudeten block; his theories formed the basis for the discovery of the Lubin and Polkowice deposits. For his contribution to this discovery, he was posthumously awarded the State Prize, First Class.

Professor Józef Zwierzycki was a man of vast knowledge, a patriot and a teacher who combined a European academic background with the experience of tropical expeditions. He had a remarkable gift for recounting his expeditions in a vivid and colourful manner. He died on 1 May 1961 in Wrocław. A street, a school in Krobia and a boulevard in Wrocław bear his name, whilst in Indonesia a comic book commemorating his life and research was published.