Mieczysław Biernacki

(b. 30 March 1891, Lublin; d. 21 November 1959, Lublin)

After attending Stanisław Staszic High School in Lublin, Biernacki studied chemistry at the Jagiellonian University (1909–1911). His studies were interrupted when he was expelled from the university for taking part in the then famous protest against the lectures of Father Zimmermann. Switching to mathematics, he resumed his studies in Paris. They were again interrupted following the outbreak of the First World War, when he served as a volunteer in the French army. He returned to Poland with Haller’s army. In 1921 he again travelled to Paris to complete his studies. He gained a first degree in mathematics at the Sorbonne in 1923, followed by a mathematical doctorate in 1928, again in Paris, under the supervision of Paul Montel. He became an associate professor at Poznań University in 1929, and a full professor in 1937. From 1929 to 1939 he headed the second mathematics department. He spent the Second World War in Lublin, continuing his scientific work and supporting himself by giving lessons. From 1944 to 1959 he was a professor at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. He researched analytical functions, mathematical analysis, and geometry, publishing a total of 87 works and supervising five successful doctoral candidates. He received two prizes of the Polish Mathematical Society: the Stefan Banach Prize in 1947, and the Stanisław Zaremba Prize in 1959. From 1946 he was a member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences (PAU).

Roman Murawski

L. Maligranda, W. Wnuk, 100 lat matematyki na uniwersytecie w Poznaniu 1919–2019, Wyd. Nauk. UAM, Poznań 2021, pp. 90–93, 378.
S. Domoradzki et al., Słownik biograficzny matematyków polskich, Tarnobrzeg 2003.
R. Duda, Matematycy XIX i XX wieku związani z Polską, Wyd. Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, Wrocław 2012.