Polscy przyrodnicy: Konstanty Jelski, Jan Sztolcman oraz Jan Kalinowskii ich wkład w badania przyrodnicze Peru w drugiej połowie XIX i na początku XX wieku
Polish naturalists: Konstanty Jelski, Jan Sztolcman and Jan Kalinowski and their contribution in Peru’s nature research in the second half of the 19th and the earliest of the 20th century

Summary/Abstract: Polish naturalists: Konstanty Jelski (1837–1896), Jan Sztolcman (1854–1928) and Jan Kalinowski (1857–1941) were active in Peru in the second half of the 19th and earliest of 20th century. Jelski stayed in Peru in the years 1869–1879, Sztolcman twice in the years 1875–1881 and 1882–1884, and Kalinowski arrived in 1889 and stayed in Peru until his death.Their stay was aimed at collecting rich, little-known fauna, mainly birds. The work of these naturalists was sponsored by the Branicki family. The collected fauna specimens were sent to the Zoological Cabinet in Warsaw managed by W. Taczanowski and to the private Branicki Museum (the Frascati Palace). The materials collected by the Polish naturalists have enriched the collections of many scientific institutions in Poland, including foreign ones. The fauna specimens were the basis for the description of many new species unknown to science.The names of Polish naturalists are known to specialists in neotropical fauna and flora to this day. They often appear in the names of new species described on the basis of the specimens they discovered.The collections sent from Peru made the Zoological Cabinet in Warsaw a center of research on neotropical avifauna at the world level, and the collection was consulted by specialists from all over Europe. The birds from Peru were the basis for W. Taczanowski’s monograph Ornithologie du Pérou.The collections and observations of Jelski and Sztolcman made a significant contribution to the preparation of the work El Peru by A. Raimondi. Sztolcman published a two-volume work: Peru. Wspomnienia z podróży z mapą, an important contribution of Poland to the knowledge of Peru. The birds and mammals collected by Kalinowski in Peru enriched the collections of museums in Lima, Washington, London and Warsaw.

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