The Institute

The year 2026 is a special time for our scientific community. We are celebrating a double anniversary: ​​the 120th anniversary of the birth of Professor Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski, an outstanding chemist, visionary, and organizer of scientific life, and the 60th anniversary of the Institute of Low Temperature and Structural Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, which was established at his initiative [1]. The professor laid the foundations for the Wrocław school of solid-state physical chemistry and made a lasting mark on the history of Polish science [1,2].

The path to learning

Włodzimierz Jan Trzebiatowski was born on February 25, 1906 in Grodzisk Wielkopolski into an intelligentsia family [2,3]. After graduating from high school in Poznań, he began studies at the Lviv University of Technology, which he graduated with honors in 1929 [2]. During this period, he joined the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, obtaining a doctorate (1930) and habilitation (1935) in the field of physical chemistry [2,3]. Foreign internships in Charlottenburg, Zurich, Freiburg and Stockholm allowed him to encounter the most modern methods of structural research [2].

Lviv and professorship

In 1938, he became an associate professor at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lviv [3]. During the occupation, he was involved in secret teaching, while also working in vocational education [4]. After the war, he moved to Wrocław, where he began a new stage of his scientific and organizational activity [3,4].

Reconstruction of science in Wrocław

From 1945, the professor played a key role in creating the post-war academic environment. He headed the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the University and University of Technology, and in the years 1950–1952 he served as dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry [4]. In 1948, he organized the first post-war General Meeting of the Polish Chemical Society, integrating Polish chemists after years of war break [3].

INTiBS PAN – the professor's most important work

In 1966, thanks to his efforts, the Institute of Low Temperature and Structural Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences was established, which he headed until 1974 [1]. The Institute quickly became one of the most important centers for research on magnetism, metal properties and low-temperature phenomena. In 1969, the professor co-founded the International Laboratory of Strong Magnetic Fields and Low Temperatures, which he headed until his death [1].

Activities in the Polish Academy of Sciences

He has been associated with the Polish Academy of Sciences from the beginning of its existence:

• corresponding member since 1952,
• full member since 1956 [4],
• vice president of the Polish Academy of Sciences (1968–1971),
• president of the Polish Academy of Sciences (1972–1977) [3,4].

He was also the initiator of Poland's accession to the International Union of Crystallography, developing international cooperation [2].

Scientific achievements and heritage

The professor left 191 publications in the field of magnetochemistry, crystal chemistry, electrochemistry and metal science [3]. His textbooks – including: . Outline of X-ray structural analysis (1950) or Structure of metals (1953) – became the basis of post-war chemical education. Together with his colleagues, he described the first case of ferromagnetism among uranium compounds, which is one of his most important achievements.

Prof. Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski died on November 13, 1982 in Wrocław [1,4]. The institutions he created continue to shape Polish science to this day, and his vision of research on the physicochemistry of solids remains alive in the activities of INTiBS PAN.

Sources: