Halina Ekiert, Karolina Turcza

Od algologii do biotechnologii – 85 lat działalności Katedry i Zakładu Botaniki Farmaceutycznej w Krakowie. Część I, 1930-1971
2014-04-09

From algology to biotechnology: 85 years of the Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Botany in Kraków. Part I , 1930–1971

In January 2015, the Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Botany in Kraków, (since 1993 year unit of Collegium Medicum of Jagiellonian University), will celebrate 85th anniversary of its establishment.
The first part of this article outlines the history of the chair, and briefly presents its successive heads and research programs realized under their direction. The main part of this article portrays in detail scientific achievements of two first heads of chair: Prof. Jadwiga Wołoszyńska and Prof. Irena Turowska.
Within the space of 85 years the location and affiliation of the chair changed. Successive heads of chair and their teams explored different scientific and research areas, from algology, pharmacobotany and herbiculture through phytochemistry and mycochemistry to biotechnology of plants and higher fungi.
Prof. Jadwiga Wołoszyńska (1882-1951) was an algologist of worldwide renown. She was engaged in research in the field of ecology, phytogeography and taxonomy of algae.
Prof. Irena Turowska (1900-1990) developed pharmacobotanic studies in the chair that were focused particularly on essential oil-bearing plant species. She supervised mapping of distribution pattern of important medicinal plant species in Poland and initiated screening studies of extracts from higher fungi (Macromycetes). Prof. Turowska is one of the greatest contributors to the development of herbiculture in Poland.

Keywords: Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Botany in Kraków, outlines of the history, Jadwiga Wołoszyńska, algology, Irena Turowska, pharmacobotany, herbiculture, mycochemistry.

© Farm Pol, 2014, 70(4): 183-191