On Saturday, October 22, our Garden hosted a meeting with the authors of the book entitled. "Szczepan A. Pieniążek" published by the Polish Academy of Sciences as part of the series Wybitni uczeni we wspomnieniach.

Prof. Szczepan Aleksander Pieniążek was born on December 27, 1913 in Slup near Parysow. He was the founder and long-time director (1951-1983) of the Institute of Pomology and Floriculture in Skierniewice. In his scientific work, he was primarily concerned with plant physiology and pomology - a field devoted to the structure, function and functional properties of various varieties of fruit trees and shrubs. He was the author of numerous publications and scientific papers related to horticulture, and was a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Rebirth of Poland and the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Rebirth of Poland.

After retiring and taking up employment in our Garden, Prof. Pieniążek initiated the creation of a collection of historical apple varieties. The collection was established in the form of a display orchard and is still aimed at popularizing old varieties of apple trees. Maintaining the collection and expanding it has become an important focus of the Garden's activities also in terms of conservation through the preservation of apple tree gene resources, which is continued by our staff. Both the collection and the events organized in connection with it, such as Apple Tree Day, are very popular with visitors and the media.

In the warm greenhouse, amid apple tree decorations referring to the book's motto, the book's co-authors, including Prof. Jerzy Puchalski, Prof. Romuald Zabielski, Prof. Dorota Konopacka, Prof. Arkadiusz Nowak, prof. Augustyn Mika, Prof. Witold Plocharski, as well as other friends from the years of his youth (including Prof. Tomasz Wodzicki and Mrs. Barbara Niedziela - the Professor's secretary for many years) and family (including Emilia Mroczkowska, the Professor's daughter who lives in the U.S., who participated in the online meeting).

We encourage you to read the passionate life story of this extraordinary scientist, a great promoter of horticulture in Poland.