Z MINIONYCH CZASÓW Janina Pacowska – geolog, geograf (1914–1954). Wspomnienia o siostrze

Abstract

Janina Pacowska – geologist and geographer (1914–1954). Memories of My Sister.A b s t r a c t. Janina Pacowska was born in Łapy on January 14, 1914. In 1934, she enrolled in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Stefan Batory University in Vilnius. She studied geography and geology and received the certificate of completion in geography in 1939. In the period of 1940–1941, Janina Pacowska studied geology at the University of Vilnius and received the certificate of completion in geology. In the years 1942–1945, she was employed at the Lithuanian Geological Institute (Geologine Tarnyba). During World War II she was also engaged in underground activity and, as a “Grey Ranks” soldier, participated in many anti-Nazi campaigns until 1944. After World War II in 1945, Janina Pacowska left Vilnius to settle in Toruñ, where she took a job as a research assistant at the Department of Geology, Nicolaus Copernicus University. During that period, she was graduated in geography submitting a study entitled “A Comparative Study of the Vistula Delta and the Danube Delta”. In 1949, Janina Pacowska moved to Warsaw, where she was employed as a Quaternary geologist at the Polish Geological Institute, Department of Regional Geology, Section of the Polish Lowlands. In 1951–1953, she suffered political repression and was alleged to have been an “enemy of the People’s Republic of Poland”. As the consequence, Janina Pacowska was forced to change her job to clerical at the Central Office of Geology. That decision was deeply humiliating to her, which led to a nervous breakdown and premature death on January 31, 1954. Two children had been left orphaned (seven and nine years old).