(1858 – 15 November 1907)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) curates 47 fungal specimens collected by Maria Twardowska; as cataloging continues it is possible that more may be found. All of Madame Twardowska’s specimens have been found in NCU’s “Seymour Collection” of micro-fungi. NCU’s fungal collection – both micro-fungi and macro-fungi – are cataloged in mycoportal.org .
Arthur Bliss Seymour (1859-1933) was a mycologist who specialized in parasitic fungi, and it seems likely that Madame Twardowska either exchanged specimens with him or sent specimens for identification/confirmation. Most of the labels have “Coll. Marie [sic] Twardowska” stamped on them, though it is unclear whether Madame Twardowska applied this or if it was added by Arthur Bliss Seymour. It would be interesting to check Seymour’s papers at Harvard University, New York Botanical Garden and the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana to see if any correspondence with Madame Twardowska exists.
The Seymour Collection was sent to Dr. William Chambers Coker at NCU by Frank Conkling Seymour, Arthur Bliss Seymour’s son, perhaps upon the death of his father in 1933. As Dr. Coker died in 1953, it is likely that the Seymour Collection was received at NCU between 1933 and 1953.
In addition to NCU other herbaria in the United States curating specimens collected by Maria Twardowska include the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois (F; fungi), Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PH; fungi), New York Botanical Garden in Bronx, New York (NY; fungi), and Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (CM; vascular plants).
According to Dr. Piotr Köhler, Professor at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, Maria Twardowska (neé Skirmunt) was born in Szemetowszczyzna (latitude 54.818836, longitude 26.565297) near Święciany and the Narocz Lake. In 1858 this area was called Vilna Gubernya and was part of Russia; it is now part of Belarus.
According to Dr. Maria Korybut-Marciniak and Dr. Karolina Studnicka-Mariańczyk, “[Maria] was the eldest daughter of Konstanty Skirmunt and (1828–1880) and Gabriela Umiastowska (1839–1922)… Members of her family belonged to the landowning elite, were pioneers of the agri-food industry, initiators of the modernization of agriculture in Lithuania and outstanding political activists. Her grandfather, Aleksander Skirmunt (1798–1870), a graduate of Vilnius University, managed an estate exceeding PLN 33,000. hectares, he founded a cloth factory, a distillery, a sugar refinery and a candle and agricultural tools factory on his estate… Maria’s own brother, Kazimierz Skirmunt (1861–1931), three years younger than her, a graduate of the University of Dorpack (he studied law) and the University of Wrocÿaw (undertook agricultural studies), decided to renounce his rights to the property and chose the priestly path. He went to Rome, where he obtained his doctorate in theology and became canonical counselor of the Polish embassy in the Vatican… Bolesÿaw Skirmunt (1869– 1941), the youngest of the siblings, heir of the Shemetov region, propagator of modern farming methods, founder of agricultural industry plants on the estate, was elected a member of the First State Duma of the Russian Empire from the ÿwiÿciany district. Maria remained in the shadow of family members who played a primary role in public life… Maria Skirmunt was born in the inter-uprising period and belonged to the generation of Poles that experienced the intensification of the Russification policy of tsarism, especially after the failure of the January Uprising (elimination of the Polish language from public life, liquidation of Polish culture, persecution of the Catholic clergy, reduction of Polish land ownership). She spent her childhood with her younger siblings – Kazimierz, Józefa (1863–1899) and Bolesÿaw – in Szemetowszczyzna near ÿwiÿciany (governorate Vilnius), in the larch-wooded Baroque-Classicist Skirmunt manor house, decorated with two porticos, surrounded by an approximately 20-hectare landscape park…
Maria received her first education in the Shemetov region, with private teachers and extensive library collections at her disposal. She mastered French and German, and her parents took care of their daughter’s upbringing in the spirit of respect for national culture. From her earliest years, she showed particular interest in botany… [and] she was taught Greek and Latin by her younger brother Kazimierz. Her knowledge of Latin opened the way to scientific works in the field of botany. At the age of 18, wanting to explore knowledge of nature under the supervision of professionals, she went to Krakow and joined the Higher Courses for Women directed by Adrian Baraniecki (1828–1891). It was the first institution in Poland providing higher education for women. Founded in 1868 by Baraniecki, it quickly gained great popularity, especially among women from the Eastern Borderlands. It offered education in five faculties: historical and literary, natural, artistic, economic, and commercial (there were no applicants for the commercial faculty). Maria attended the natural sciences faculty, which offered lectures on astronomy, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, mineralogy, and hygiene.”5
Maria graduated from the Adrian Braniecki Higher Courses for Women in Kraków in 1879.5 “On July 8, 1880, she married Józef Twardowski, (son of Kazimierz and Michalina née Woÿÿowicz), a landowner, resident of Weleÿnica near Piÿsk, grandson of Józef Twardowski – the penultimate rector of the Imperial University of Vilnius. He was one of the largest landowners in the Pinsk district – he owned about 90 wÿókas of land. The wedding of 22-year-old Skirmuntówna took place at her family home in Szemetowszczyzna. There are no sources informing about the relationship, and we do not know whether Maria and Józef Twardowski’s acquaintance was long-term, whether it was the implementation of earlier family projects, and to what extent her husband supported (or tolerated) her scientific interests… The close relationships of the families and their neighborhood lead us to believe that the relationship between Mary and Joseph was an arranged marriage… After the wedding, Twardowska moved to her husband’s hereditary estate — Weleÿnica [Weleśnica (latitude 52.263611, longitude 25.896944), now part of Belarus 1, 4] on the Jasioÿda River (a tributary of the Pripyat), 5 km from Pinsk.”5
Most Twardowska’s specimens curated by NCU were collected on or near Weleÿnica / Weleśnica. On several specimens in NCU’s collection, Arthur Bliss Seymour and/or Franklin Sumner Earle had added their own labels with the collecting locality as “Pinsk, Western Russia” or “Poland,” as Twardowska’s handwriting is difficult to interpret.
“Maria Twardowska had perfect areas near her house for her floral explorations — swampy lands fed by river mud were an area rich in rare species of vegetation. The harmonious married life was interrupted by her husband’s illness. In 1884, he became paralyzed and remained a cripple until the end of his life. Maria took care of her husband, took on the responsibilities of managing the estate and relieved him in business matters, without giving up her botanical observations. Exploring the vicinity of Velesnica and Szemetovshchyna, studying the scientific works of European botanists, working on the scientific study of Lithuanian flora became her life’s goal. Józef Twardowski did not interfere with his wife’s floral interests, so she could devote her free time [to her studies].”5
“In 1924, the nature collections of the Greater Poland Museum were combined with the PTPN collections, which were located in the renovated restaurant pavilion in the Jeÿyce Zoo. The organization of the Natural History Department of the Museum lasted throughout 1925, and its official opening took place on April 27, 1927. The PTPN collections, numbering 7,455 issues, were moved to the new headquarters, including the herbarium of Maria Twardowska… It survived unchanged until World War II. The natural history collections were taken away by the German authorities in October 1939. Twardowska’s herbarium was not found after the war. Individual specimens of dried plants described by Twardowska are, thanks to shipments under “Flora Polonica exsiccata”, among others, in the Ivan Franko State University in Lviv [LW], in the Museum of Natural History of the Ukrainian State Academy of Sciences [KW], in the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm [S], in the Museum Botanical Garden in Berlin [B]. The largest collection of specimens collected by [Maria Twardowska] is in the possession of the Natural History Museum in London [BM].”5
[Maria Twardowska] published in “Wszechÿwiat” and “Pamiÿtnik Fizjografi czny”. “Wszechÿwiat” was a popular science weekly, published in Warsaw in the years 1882–1910, addressed to people interested in natural science and exact sciences… Twardowska presented the current state of research on the presented issues, provided the names of the authors of scientific studies, referred to to the latest findings and theories, presented the results of research projects.” 5 According to Köhler, Maria Twadarska published at least thirteen papers on vascular plants, one on Myxomycetes (slime molds), and three on Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber L.). Madame Twardowska was a member of the Physiographical Commission of the Academy of Sciences and Letters in Kraków.1
Maria Skirmunt Twardowska died in Weleśnica on 15 November 1907.1 “During World War I, the manor house in Weleśnica and its farm buildings were completely destroyed. All the manor’s furnishings were burned down: works of art, a rich library and the family archive.”5
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PUBLICATIONS:5
Twardowska M., Floristic notes from Szemetowszczyzna and Weleÿnica, “Pamiÿtnik Fizjo-graficzny”, vol. 19, 1907, section III, pp. 41–43.
Twardowska M., Note on horsetails found in Lithuania in 1901, “Wszechÿwiat” vol. 12, 1903, no. 8, pp. 122–123.
Twardowska M., List of plants from Szemetowszczyzna and Weleÿnica, “Pamiÿtnik Fizjografi czny” vol. 17, 1902, section III, pp. 95–99.
Twardowska M., Beavers in West Prussia, “Wszechÿwiat” vol. 20, 1901, no. 26, pp. 410–413.
Twardowska M., An example of adapting a plant to pollination by birds, “Wszechÿwiat”, vol. 19, 1900, no. 16, pp. 250–251.
Twardowska M., Coffee tree and its cultivation in Africa, “Wszechÿwiat” vol. 19, 1900, No. 12, pp. 184–186.
Twardowska M., Dissemination of plants by ants, “Wszechÿwiat” vol. 19, 1900, No. 8, pp. 123–124.
Twardowska M., Plant varieties that reproduce only through branches, “Universe” vol. 18, 1899, no. 2, pp. 25–27.
Twardowska M., What is rubber made of, “Wszechÿwiat” vol. 18, 1899, no. 46, pp. 730–732.
Twardowska M., Jubilee of F. Cohn in Wrocÿawiu, “Wszechÿwiat” vol. 17, 1898, no. 18, p. 287.
Twardowska M. Roboty jesienne bebrów, “Wszechÿwiat”, vol. 17, 1898, no. 30, pp. 779–780.
Twardowska M., List of plants from Szemetowszczyzna and Weleÿnica in the years 1893–1894, “Pamiÿtnik Fizjograficzny”, vol. 14, 1896, section III, pp. 115–118.
Twardowska M., Continuation of the list of plants from the Szemetów region and Weleÿnica, “Pamiÿtnik Fizjograficzny”, vol. 12, 1892, section III, pp. 199–208.
Twardowska M., Note on several rarer plants of the Lithuanian flora, “Wszechÿwiat”, vol. 10, 1891, no. 51, pp. 814–815.
Twardowska M., Continuation of the list of plants from the Szemetów region and Weleÿnica, “Pamiÿtnik Fizjograficzny” vol. 10, 1890, section III, pp. 261–272.
Twardowska M., From the banks of Jasioÿda, “Wszechÿwiat” vol. 8, 1889, no. 30, pp. 480–481.
Twardowska M., Heat and Life, “Wszechÿwiat” vol. 8, 1889, no. 28, pp. 440–443, no. 29, pp. 462–464, No. 30, pp. 477–479.
Twardowska M., Supplement to the list of plants found in the vicinity of Szemetowszczyzna in Lithuania […] and addition to the contribution to the flora of the Piÿsk region […], “Pamiÿtnik Fizjografi czny” vol. 8, 1888, section III, pp. 215-220 .
Twardowska M., Information about slime molds found in 1778–1883, “Pamiÿtnik Physiographic” vol. 5, 1885, section III, pp. 160–163.
Twardowska M., A contribution to the flora of the Piÿsk region, “Pamiÿtnik Fizjograficzny” vol. 4, 1884, section III, pp. 423–433.
Twardowska M., List of plants found in the Szemetów region in Lithuania, “Pamiÿtnik Fizjograficzny” vol. 3, 1883, section III, pp. 274–291.
SOURCES:
1. Piotr Köhler (Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland), pers. comm. Email to McCormick on 28 March 2016.
2. Poznan Society of Friends of Learning. Wikipedia accessed on 28 March 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pozna%C5%84_Society_of_Friends_of_Learning
3. Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. Wikipedia accessed on 28 March 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Mickiewicz_University_in_Pozna%C5%84
4. Andrzej Chlebicki (Curator of Fungi, Polish Academy of Sciences (KRAM), Kraków, Poland) , pers. comm. Email to McCormick on 5 August 2014.
5. Korybut-Marciniak, Maria and Karolina Studnicka-Mariańczyk. 2021. Zielnik Marii Twardowskiej (1858–1907)
jako pretekst do szkicu biograficznego kresowej botaniczki. KWARTALNIK HISTORII NAUKI I TECHN 66 (3): 5–103. DOI 10.4467/0023589XKHNT.21.020.14181 [Google Translate used to translate from Polish to English.]
6. Portrait of Maria Twardowska, from a book by Witold Sławińsk, courtesy of Maria Korybut-Marciniak, Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie.