Witold Broniewski

Witold Broniewski (1880-1939)

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1939 Obituary.

Professor WITOLD BRONIEWSKI, of Warsaw, Poland, died on February 13, 1939. Descended from the ancient Polish family of Fir ley, he was born at Pskow on October 15, 1880. After completing his studies at the University at Cracow, he went to Nancy (France) to work in the laboratory of Professor Guntz, after which he went to Paris, where, in the laboratory and under the direction of his teacher, Henry Le Chatelier, he turned his attention definitely towards metallography and prepared his notable thesis on the electrical properties of alloys. He gained the degree of Doctor of Science in 1911, and, after a short period at the Polytechnic School at Lwow, he commenced to give lectures in metallography at the Sorbonne (Paris) and worked for some time in the laboratory of his compatriot, Madame Curie.

During the Great War he first worked for a while in French war industries, but on their formation he joined up with the Polish military formations of General Haller and fought with him, in 1919, 1939—iion the eastern frontier of his country. At this time he was nomi¬nated professor at the Polytechnic School at Warsaw; however, he refused the appointment, and during the war of 1920 fought as a private soldier—this shows clearly his intense devotion to his country and his inflexible character.

In 1926 he became Minister of Public Works, but he gave up this position later to return to his studies and his laboratory which he had organised at the Institute of Metallurgy of the Polytechnic School of Warsaw.

Professor Broniewski was the author of two text-books : Intro¬duction to the Study of Alloys ” and ‘‘ Practical Work in Metallo¬graphy.” He wrote numerous papers, many of which appeared in French publications.

He was a Laureate of the French Academic des Sciences and was awarded a gold medal by Nancy University at the time of the Congress on Industrial Chemistry held in September, 1938. From 1928 till 1937 he carried out the duties of Secretary-General of the Academy of Technical Sciences at Warsaw.

Professor Broniewski joined the Iron and Steel Institute in 1937.

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1939 Obituary

Professor W. Broniewski, one of the pioneers of metallography, died on January 11, 1939, as a result of suffocation from iodine vapour.

Born at Pskow, in 1880, he went first to Cracow University and then to France, in 1893, to continue his studies. He worked at Nancy under M. Guntz and published his first work here. At Paris, in the laboratory of Henry Le Chatelier, he worked out a remarkable theory on the electrical properties of aluminium alloys.

During the war he worked in a French factory, and, in 1919, fought on the eastern front.

When peace was established he devoted all his energy to the organization of a school of metallurgy at the Polytechnic School at Warsaw, only interrupting his research and teaching to serve his country as Minister of Public Works in 1926.

His work on metallography, recorded in more than a hundred original notes and memoirs, is considerable. A disciple of Le Chatelier, he raised to a high degree of perfection the methods of classical metallography : dilatation, measurement of electrical properties, &c. He then undertook an accurate compilation of the thermal, physical, and mechanical properties of a great number of alloys of iron, copper, aluminium, &c. We owe to him the discovery of certain intermetallic compounds, and the careful determination of many equilibrium diagrams.

Witold Broniewski was a man remarkable alike for the clarity of his teaching and the intense interest which he took in his pupils. To all those who were privileged to be his friends he has left the remembrance of an inflexible character and the nobility and generosity of a very great personality.

Professor Broniewski was elected a member of the Institute of Metals on January, 18,1928. —P. CHEVENARD.

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