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Exact sciences
We bid farewell to Dr. Cecylia Iwaniszewska
Dr. Cecylia Iwaniszewska, the first graduate in astronomy from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, a highly regarded researcher, a longtime employee of the NCU Astronomy Center in Piwnice, and recipient of the Convallaria Copernicana special award, has passed away at the age of 97.
Dr Cecylia Iwaniszewska, née Łubieńska, was born on 24 November 1928 in Warsaw. She graduated from the Nicolaus Copernicus Secondary School in Bydgoszcz. In December 1945, she began studying mathematics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. She became interested in astronomy under the influence of Prof. Wilhelmina Iwanowska. She graduated as the first graduate of the astronomy programme. In her third year of studies, she began working at the Department of Astrophysics as an assistant. She actively participated in the creation of the Astronomical Observatory in Piwnice, taking part in the installation of the first telescope at the Observatory – the Draper astrograph. The observations made using the telescope became the basis for her doctoral thesis, defended in November 1959 and written under the supervision of Prof. Wilhelmina Iwanowska. It was the second doctorate in astronomy at the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
After defending her doctoral thesis, she worked as an adjunct professor and then as a senior lecturer. At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, she was very active in the preparations for the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Nicolaus Copernicus' birth; she gave a series of lectures, published a book and many articles, and edited works by other authors. She also participated in the organisation of the extraordinary Congress of the International Astronomical Union in Toruń in 1973. From 1980 to 1984, she served as deputy director of the Institute of Astronomy. She retired in 1989, but continued to teach until 2007.
Dr Cecylia Iwaniszewska's main research interests were astrophysics and stellar astronomy, later the history of astronomy and culture, and the teaching of astronomy. She published 15 scientific papers in specialist English-language journals, over 150 popular science articles and reports in Polish, French, English, Spanish and Czech. As an editor, author or co-author, she published five books. She has made several longer visits to foreign universities (Strasbourg, Hyderabad) and many shorter trips to conferences and lectures (East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Spain, Mexico, Germany, the USA, Great Britain, Italy, Germany). Since 1958, she has been a member of the International Astronomical Union, where she has been very active in the work of the Commission on Astronomy Education (she was its president from 1985 to 1988).
Dr Cecylia Iwaniszewska was actively involved in many organisations and associations. She is a member of the Polish Astronomical Society (since 2023, she has been its Honorary Member), the Polish Society of Astronomy Enthusiasts, the Scientific Society in Toruń (since 2024, as an Honorary Member) , the Toruń Enthusiasts Society, the Catholic Intelligentsia Club (she was its president from 1994 to 2017) and the Nicolaus Copernicus University Alumni Association (in 2010, she became its first Honorary Member).
Dr Iwaniszewska has received numerous awards from the authorities of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, including the Medal for Services to the Development of the University. She is the recipient of numerous state and local government awards and distinctions. The most important of these are the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Gold Cross of Merit, the Medal of the National Education Commission, the Distinguished Cultural Activist Badge, the silver and gold medals 'Unitas Durat Palatinatus Cuiaviano-Pomeraniensis' from the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship, the Honorary Medal 'For Services to the City of Toruń' on a Ribbon from the City Council of Toruń, the Honorary Medal of the Mayor of Toruń 'Thorunium', as well as the Award of the Mayor of Toruń in the category of National Heritage Protection.
In 2026, she also received the “Convallaria Copernicana" special award from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń for her outstanding contribution to the advancement of science and our university.
Cecylia Iwaniszewska has two sons, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
