Stanisław Bonifacy Jundziłł

Stanisław Bonifacy Jundziłł or, in Lithuanian, Stanislovas Bonifacas Jundzilas (6 May 1761 in Jasiańce, Voranava District – 15 April 1847 in Vilnius) was a Polish-Lithuanian priest, botanist, educator and diarist who lectured at the University of Vilnius.

Biography

Jundziłł was born in the impoverished noble family of Benedykt and Róża née Dowgiałło. He was not able to go to school until 1774, when his father married for a third time and received a very generous dowry. From 1774 to 1779, he attended schools operated by the Piarists at Lida, Szczuczyn and Lubieszów. It was during this period that he became nearly blind in his right eye. He joined the Piarist order and took vows in 1779 and was ordained a priest in 1785 after which he taught at schools in Raseiniai, Vilnius and Szczuczyn. At Vilnius he also continued his own studies in chemistry and botany with Georg Forster and Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert, and helped create a botanical garden at the university.

In 1791 he published a description of the plants in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which used the Linnean system. He received a Merentibus gold medal from King Stanisław August Poniatowski. In 1792, he received a scholar's grant that enabled him to study abroad. He travelled throughout Eastern and Central Europe until 1794, when his grant was discontinued after the Second Partition of Poland. He met Jaquin and others on his travels and learned of Werner's Neptunism. He was again able to obtain financial assistance from Count Ignacy Potocki and Princess Izabela Czartoryska, so he remained in Vienna for a while, organizing a garden of medicinal plants at the University of Veterinary Medicine while continuing to study a wide range of subjects.

He returned to Vilnius in 1797 and, in 1800, took his doctorate in Theology. He expanded the botanical garden during this period and it had more than 6000 species of plants. His doctorate enabled him to become a professor of botany and zoology at the university in 1802. He retired in 1824 and spent much of his time travelling. In 1825 he handed over the botanical garden to a student (unrelated) Józef Jundziłł. (Stemonitidaceae)Jundzillia Arch. Naturwiss. Landesdurchf. Böhmen 7(5): 45. 1893, classed as a synonym of Amaurochaete Species (Caryophyllaceae) Silene jundzillii Zapał. Bull. Acad. Cracovie 1911, B 287; Consp. Fl. Galic. Crit. iii 197 (IK) (Rosaceae) Potentilla jundzilliana Błocki ex Th.Wolf Biblioth. Bot. lxxi. III 354 nomen. 1908 (IK) (Rosaceae) Rosa jundzillii Besser Cat. Hort. Cremeneci 1816 117 (IK)