Henryk Arctowski—polar explorer, geophysicist, devoted to Polish science
Our absence would undoubtedly be detrimental to us. And it is necessary to use this opportunity to manifest our desire to take our rightful position in the row of cultural states.
Henryk Arctowski, Polska a międzynarodowy rok polarny 1932-33 [Poland and the International Polar Year 1932-33], Lviv 1930
Welcome in a place where you can find information about two special projects—a book and a documentary film about Henryk Arctowski—which, although created independently, are created in close cooperation and as a result of the same fascination with the polar regions, which play a very important role in our private and professional lives.
We were inspired by the same person, and it was thanks to him that we met. Henryk Arctowski is a fascinating man, but at the same time little known, outstanding but underestimated. Many people associate his surname only with the name of the Polish Antarctic Station (King George Island, West Antarctica), but eventually it is a very good association.
This makes it all the more surprising that neither book nor film about his extraordinary life has been produced so far. We have decided to change that, and we will inform about the next stages of our projects on this website and in social media.
Who was really the first Polish polar explorer, the 26-year-old scientific leader of the expedition on the “Belgica” vessel, which was the first year-round expedition to the Antarctic (1897-1899)? The aim of our projects is to answer this question.
Book & film
A biography of Henryk Arctowski is being written thanks to the idea of Katarzyna Dąbkowska in cooperation with Dagmara Bożek.
A parallel project is a documentary film about Henryk Arctowski and Belgica Expedition directed by Katarzyna Dabkowska. A film producer is Ewa Żukowska.
Memory
It is the three of us who are breaking the ice of oblivion that has frozen the memory of Henryk Arctowski for almost 100 years.
In order to reconstruct Henryk Arctowski’s life, we travel in time (from the 19th to the 21st century) and in space (from Europe, the USA to Antarctic), searching through archives and places where our hero left numerous traces of his scientific career and scarce traces of his private life.
Searching for traces
We invite everyone who has any memorabilia, photographs or memories passed down from generation to generation relating to the history of Polish polar research, and Professor Henryk Arctowski in particular, to contact us.