Eugeniusz Rybka

Who was Eugeniusz Rybka?

Eugeniusz Rybka, was a Polish astronomer, professor of the Lviv University, Wrocław University and director of the Kraków Astronomical Observatory. Also he was deputy director of the International Astronomical Union.

Rybka was the son of a church organ player. In 1900 the family moved to Skierniewice, and then to Ozorków. In 1911, he started middle school in Gostynin, but outbreak of World War I caused him to continue education at home. Rybka graduated on November 17, 1917, and next year he became commandant of the Ozorków branch of the Polish Military Organization.

In the fall of 1918 Rybka went to Kraków, to study philosophy at the Jagiellonian University. In November of that year, together with a group of patriotic students, he left towards Przemyśl and Lwów, to participate in the Polish-Ukrainian fights there. He spent 1919 and 1920 in the Polish Army, serving, among others, in the armored train Nr 53 Smialy. In November 1920, after Polish-Soviet War, Rybka returned to the Jagiellonian University, and began working with professor of astronomy Tadeusz Banachiewicz. This is where his fascination with astronomy originated.