Jan Jarosz (1939 - 2000)

Professor Jan Jarosz was born in Zurawica in 1939. He graduated from the Institute of Microbiology at Maria Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin in 1964. He became assistant at the Department of Plant Physiology. In 1971 he defended his PhD thesis and PD thesis in 1979.

Since 1981 he was the head of the Department of Insect Pathology, the first one in Poland. He conducted original scientific research on the pathology and immunology of insects. Results of his research on hypersynthesis of haemolymph lysozyme and induction kinetics of cecropins and attacins in insects have been regarded as classical papers in the field of insect immunology. His research concerning the interaction of entomopathogenic nematodes with the immune system of insects has been included in the integrated project COST Action 819 - Entomopathogenic nematodes.

Prof. Jan Jarosz was a member of the International Society for Invertebrate Pathology. He was a member of the Committe of Microbiological Plant Control of the International Organization for Biological Control. Since 1995 he was managing editor of Entomonematologica. He received the title Man of the Year 1995 by American Institute of Biography.

Prof. J. Jarosz was the author of almost 200 scientific publications, including 7 monographs. Even though myriapodology was not prof. J. Jarosz's main research interest, he cooperated with prof. K. Gromysz-Kalkowska, dr W. Jaskiewicz and dr G. Kania, and was a member of the CIM from 1990 to 1999. Thanks to his acceptance and full assistance Grzegorz Kania finished his PhD thesis on Antibacterial immune defence mechanisms of O. sabulosus which introduced new data to the microbiology and immunology of millipedes. In his scientific research prof. Jarosz cooperated with prof N. Boemare of the Department of Comparative Pathology at the University of Montpellier, France. He also cooperated with the Institute of the Plant Protection at Poznan, Poland and the Forestry Research Institute of Belarussian Academy of Science in Homel.

Apart from his research commitments, he was involved in teaching students. Prof. Jarosz initiated and delivered lectures and classes in environmental toxicology and invertebrate pathology. He supervised several dozens of MSc papers and conferred 6 doctors degrees.

Prof. Jan Jarosz will be remembered as a modest, hard-working and helpful person who devoted a lot of time to young researchers. Prof. Jan Jarosz died tragically at the car accident on 3th January 2000.


Grzegorz Kania, April 2000
Copyright © Centre International de Myriapodologie, Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz Senckenberg Logo