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Prof. dr. hab. Zygmunt Kaluski (1920-1993)

Zygmunt Kaluski

Crystallographers in many countries were saddened by the death of the distinguished Polish crystallographer, Emeritus Prof. Zygmunt Kaluski. Prof. Kaluski was born Sept. 20, 1920. He graduated in 1954 from Adam Mickiewicz U. (AMU) with a degree in chemistry. After early research as a junior member of the AMU staff on the distillation products of coals and petroleum crudes he spent five years in Moscow at the Inst. of Organo-Element Compounds with Profs. A. I. Kitaigorodski and Yu. T. Struchkov. This confirmed the direction of Kaluski's future research in X-ray diffraction; crystal structures of organo-metallic picomplexes formed the basis of his habilitation thesis in 1967, research which he extended, partly as a docent at AMU and partly in Moscow. From 1970 he headed the crystal chemistry laboratory of the Chemistry Department of AMU, taking the title Professor in 1978. From 1990 he held the title of Prof. Emeritus but he could never be said to have retired from crystallography.

Kaluski was one of the first crystallographers in Poland to concentrate on the structure determination of organic molecular crystals, with the emphasis on newly synthesized ferrocenes and on sparteine alkaloids. Among over 70 papers were pioneering studies which established the structure of, and followed conformational changes in biologically active molecules, including bis-quinolizidine alkaloids and their salts and α, β unsaturated ketones. Kaluski had a special enthusiasm for constructing models of molecules and structures for teaching and research. His interest in teaching and his encouragement to teachers were his greatest strengths. Among his many awards, he particularly treasured the Medal of the Commission of National Education. Kaluski was a respected member of several Commissions of the Academy of Sciences and established many scientific links with both industry and academic institutions.

Internationally, Kaluski is best known for establishing the series of symposia in Organic Crystal Chemistry held at Poznan. Participants at recent symposia have come from Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Moldova, the Netherlands, Russia, So. Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Ukraine, and the USA. The Proceedings of the last two symposia are being published by the Oxford Univ. Press and the Int'l Union of Crystallography.

Zygmunt Kaluski suffered a heart stroke and died suddenly on February 6, 1993. He is survived by his widow, one remaining son, three grandchildren, and a great-grandchild. This courteous crystallographer will be greatly missed by friends, students, and colleagues, who will remember him as a dedicated and influential scientist.

A. Katrusiak and D. Jones