Benedykt Dybowski

Who was Benedykt Dybowski?

Benedykt Tadeusz Dybowski was a Polish naturalist and physician.

Benedykt Dybowski was born in Adamaryni of Navahrudak Uyezd of Grodno Governorate in the Russian Empire and was the brother of the Polish naturalist Władysław Dybowski and the cousin of the French explorer Jean Dybowski.

He studied at Minsk high school, and later medicine at Tartu University. He later studied at Wroclaw University and went on expeditions to seek and study oceanic fishes and crustaceans. He became a Professor of Zoology at the Warsaw main school.

In 1864 he was arrested and condemned to death for taking part in the Polish January Uprising. His sentence was later reduced to 12 years in Siberia.

He started studying the natural history of Siberia and in 1866 a governor Muraviov dismissed Dybowski from hard labour, renewed his civil rights and proposed him to work as a doctor in hospital.

He later settled in the small village Kultuk and began a detailed study of Baikal Lake with some technical support from the Russian Geographical Society.