Page 23 - Наукові записки Державного природознавчого музею, 2024 Вип. 40

22 Sofia Bakayeva and Andrzej Kaim

Wilhelm Friedberg (Fig. 1) was one of
the extraordinary figures who contributed to
replenishing the collections of the State
Museum of Natural History of National
Sciences of Ukraine (Dzieduszycki Family
Natural History Museum in Lviv at that
time) and their scientific study. The main
research interests of this renowned scientist
were focused on the Miocene deposits, their
fauna, and the stratigraphy of Poland and
Western Ukraine. The most outstanding
work of Wilhelm Friedberg was a large
two-volume monograph, the first part of
which was devoted to Miocene gastropods
(Friedberg, 1911-1928), and the second – to
bivalves (Friedberg, 1934-1936). Decades
of research on the Miocene epoch and its
molluscs established Friedberg as one of the
foremost experts on the Miocene geology
Fig. 1. Wilhelm Friedberg and paleomalacologist of his times.
(1873-1941)
Friedberg’s research was not limited to
the study of Miocene molluscs – he began his scientific activity by studying Cretaceous
foraminifera (Friedberg 1897, 1901). His scholarly output also includes geological articles,
popular science works, and a textbook on geology. In total, the researcher published
approximately 100 scientific and popularization works, nearly all of which are individual
publications. Friedberg’s scientific pathway was thoroughly documented by F. Bieda and
W. Krach during the meeting of the Polish Geological Society in Kraków in 1947 dedicated
to his memory, and subsequently published (Bieda, 1949, Krach, 1949).

Biography

Wilhelm Franciszek Friedberg was born on January 29, 1873, in Boryslaw of Ostgalizien
– now Boryslav, a town in the Lviv region, which was at that time a well-known industrial
centre for the extraction and processing of oil, ozokerite, and gas. He came from a family that
migrated to Galicia from Czechia at the beginning of the 19th century. He was the son of
Józef, a mine superintendent, and Teresa née Sabatowicz. Friedberg’s academic journey
included graduation from gymnasiums in Krakow (St. Anne’s) and Drohobycz (until 1891),
followed by studies in zoology and geology at Lviv University (1891-1896). He later
supplemented his education with studies in Vienna, Bordeaux, Lyon, and Turin (1905-1906).
Wilhelm Friedberg commenced his scientific activity as a gymnasium professor. In 1897,
he published his first work on Cretaceous foraminifera in Lviv marl (Friedberg, 1897),
followed by research on foraminifera from Inoceramus layers in the vicinity of Rzeszów
(Friedberg, 1901). He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1899 from Franciscan
University of Lviv (now Lviv University). In 1902, he contributed in the preparation of a
detailed geological map of the “Geological Atlas of Galicia” (Friedberg, 1903). In 1904, he
taught natural science at high school named after Stanisław Konarski in Rzeszów, among
whose students at that time was Władysław Szafer – a Polish botanist, professor, and long-