Sapalski Franciszek

mathematician, professor at the Jagiellonian University, social activist, born in Warsaw, died in Kraków. After graduating from high school, he entered the military, fought in the campaigns of 1809 and 1812-13. He was wounded, decorated with the Golden Cross of Virtuti Militari, artillery captain of the Polish Army, and then with the rank of major. He left for France, where he studied mathematics. In 1816 he took over the Department of Descriptive Geometry at the Krakow Academy, he was the first lecturer of descriptive geometry at this university. He also lectured in mathematics and astronomy, and in 1817 he became a professor. In Krakow, he was active socially. He is the co-author of the construction of the Kościuszko Mound. Defender of university interests in the forum of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Krakow. During the November Uprising, the head of the City Guard and the commander of the student battalion, the organizer of aid for the combatants, taught the drill, and organized the purchase of weapons, ammunition and medicines. This activity resulted in his arrest in 1831 and his removal from scientific and social work. He published a dissertation on “On the theory of stereometry, ie geometry and plotted”. For this he received a diamond ring from the Emperor of All Russia and the King of Poland. In the church of St. Anna, there is his epitaph table.