Zbigniew J. Wójcik
The Tsarist police uncovered evidence of Dr. Benedykt Dybowski’s involvement in the January Uprising relatively late on. Dybowski was a lecturer in zoology at the Warsaw Main School. His connections with members of the insurgent government had already come to light, having been revealed by police informants. In 1863, he obtained permission to travel to Kyiv and Prague in Bohemia, his official justification being to search for employment at local universities; this was not regarded as an act of criminal subterfuge. He was arrested in February 1864. During the investigation conducted at the Warsaw Citadel, he consistently refused to “cooperate”. This alone was sufficient for him to be sentenced to twelve years of hard labour (katorga) in Siberia. Although presented with an opportunity to escape, he chose to remain in solidarity with those condemned to exile.
Twelve years of hard labour
Dybowski learned in advance of the sentence from workers renovating the building of the Tenth Pavilion. He devoted the time in the run up to his departure– through illegal contact with Dr. Tytus Chałubiński, like himself a professor at the Main School – to thoroughly preparing himself for exile. Such preparations included assembling a medical kit necessary for treating fellow members of the exile party (he was, after all, a doctor of medicine and surgery, a graduate of the University of Berlin) as well as equipment for the work of zoological collection. His principal goal during hard labour, as well as during the subsequent period of settlement under police supervision (formerly referred to as posielenie), was to establish a “collectors’ circle” and to send the gathered specimens to Władysław Taczanowski, curator of the Zoological Cabinet of the Main School (from 1869 the Russian-language University of Warsaw). This was done with the intention of providing them with a modest income for subsistence and for the purchase of necessary equipment. During the journey, he supplemented this plan with the intention of studying the fauna of Lake Baikal, which previous researchers had considered to be impoverished.
A research and collecting group
From Warsaw’s Petersburg Railway Station (present day Vilnius Station), the group of exiles travelled by train via St Petersburg and Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod. From there, by ship via Kazan to Perm, and subsequently overland across the Urals and western Siberia to Irkutsk, which they reached in the autumn of 1864. While waiting for Lake Baikal to freeze over, Dybowski devoted his time to a careful study of the natural history literature concerning central Siberia, especially Lake Baikal itself. Once the lake surface froze, they managed to traverse the ice to the eastern shore, from where the exiles were escorted along a track to the village of Sivakova on the Indoga River. There, the newcomers were quickly assigned to logging in the taiga and floating timber downstream. The elders of the exile group arranged the forest work schedules in such a way that Dybowski was able to serve primarily as the camp physician. This situation was tolerated by the camp commander – a satrap and a drunkard – who knew that the exile had acquaintances in Irkutsk, including the physician Józef Łagowski (himself exiled for providing medical assistance to insurgents in Volhynia) and Ryszard Maack, an official responsible for education. He also knew—though this can only be inferred – that Dybowski had already begun efforts to transfer to Sivakova other exiled hunters held in camps beyond Baikal: Wiktor Ignacy Godlewski and Alfons Parvex, as well as other convicts heading eastwards, including the geologist Aleksander Czekanowski and the chemist Mikołaj Hartung. Alongside others, they were to form the nucleus of a research and collecting group. Although this required some time, eventually a cohesive team of experienced hunters was assembled. Upon learning of the establishment of a health resort in Darasun (south-east of the district town of Chita), Dybowski decided to press for the transfer there of the entire group – which did eventually meet with success.
“My principle was to treat patients free of charge…”
In the Memoirs of Dr. Benedykt Dybowski from 1862 to 1877, published in 1930, details are provided regarding his efforts to move the hunting and collecting group to a new place of residence. First and foremost, he had to demonstrate that he could cure a sick girl suffering from eye problems. In his portable medical kit he possessed a universal remedy – quinine. Spirits and vinegar were easily available. He decided on washes and baths. The child recovered. Later, he went on to treat dozens of patients in Darasun, Chita (including during a typhus epidemic), and other regions of eastern Siberia – always making use of his own medicines, and always doing so free of charge. He nevertheless remained realistic. He thus noted:
“I did not expect much income from medical practice, because once I had decided that my principle would be to treat patients free of charge, I remained faithful to that principle; yet I hoped that, having obtained permission for hunting weapons, we would be able to acquire enough ornithological material that, after selling part of it, there would be enough funds left over for further work.”
Memoirs of Dr. Benedykt Dybowski from 1862 to 1878, Ossolineum National Institute, Lwów 1930, p. 102
In practice, given the demand for specimens from remote Siberia, Taczanowski was able to send them sufficient sums in order to cover their living expenses, especially after they entered the settlement phase and were no longer in receipt of the so-called subsistence allowance. Indeed, after managing to obtain permission for a longer research expedition to the Far East, the travel costs were covered entirely from their own pocket, with them turning down an offer of conditional funding from the Irkutsk governor. Only once did Dybowski encounter serious difficulty in refusing an honorarium for curing a local Siberian. After declining to take the money, sheep were driven into the room in which he was working.
A natural history reconnaissance
The regulations governing exiles sentenced to hard labour in Russia at that time were unequivocal. Having lost one’s civil rights at sentence, one automatically regained them – along with the validity of a doctoral diploma – after completion of the term (in this case not until 1877). Under these circumstances, the sale of specimens of unusual fauna, in high demand in the West, became the basis of their income. They received small honorariums for publishing scientific reports. Some were supported by their families at home. As a defined social group, they were generally poor. They lived modestly and did not drink alcohol.
Benedykt Dybowski chose the medical profession because it offered a declining nobleman the prospect of a respectable livelihood. From childhood he had been passionate about animals and obtained academic teaching qualifications in this field. As a practicing physician, he fulfilled his duties during his period of hard labour mainly beyond Baikal, that is until his departure from Darasun in 1868. He treated local inhabitants, officials and patients at the spa – almost always successfully. For several months in 1869, already settled in Kultuk, he undertook – at the authorities’ request – a multi-month journey to the Far East as part of a governmental inspection commission led by General Ivan G. Skolkow. He readily took advantage of this opportunity, as the physician originally assigned to the expedition – exile Dr. Józef Łagowski, who had official permission to practice – had fallen seriously ill. Dybowski’s duties included dressing the general’s wound following the amputation of his arm. He was certainly well remunerated. He also regarded the journey as a natural history reconnaissance.
Quinine, spirits and vinegar
For a region distant from higher medical schools in the second half of the nineteenth century, Siberia had a relatively well-organised medical service. Physicians educated at military medical-surgical academies and university medical faculties were generally government scholarship holders and had thus arrived voluntarily. In Chita alone there were several, including at least three Poles. They sought to support one another in the treatment of patients, above all seeking out Dybowski for assistance in particularly difficult cases.
One case in which Dybowski was involved during his stay in Transbaikalia is of interest due to certain connotations. He described it in his Memoirs as follows:
“An important official in Chita, frequently travelling around the district. During his journeys he often caught colds. His main complaint was heavy night sweating (during deep sleep). After hearing the details of the ailment, Dybowski recommended massage, rubbing the skin with cloth, ‘[…] and then lightly moistening the skin with warm water, adding Chininum muriaticum, spirits and vinegar […]’. ‘[…] I had tried such washing of the body during sweating on myself and one of my colleagues in Berlin, with good results. Later in the conversation, I promised to write to my fellow physicians in Warsaw to seek advice on this particular case. […] I assured him that there was no danger of “czachołka” “brain inflammation”. (I sent a detailed description of Mr Ispravnik’s illness by letter to Taczanowski in Warsaw, requesting the advice of Professor Chałubiński).”
Memoirs of Dr. Benedykt Dybowski, op. cit., pp. 118–119
We may assume that there were more letters of this kind, and that invoking the name of a university curator accelerated their delivery.
It should be added that quinine, spirits and vinegar constituted Dybowski’s basic remedies for common illnesses, supplemented by massage and baths. He was not able to save everyone, though undoubtedly saved many.
“…I performed the operation by cauterizing with red-hot iron…”
The cited cases of treatment mostly indicate illnesses resulting from neglect of hygiene; hence, with the aforementioned remedies, outcomes were usually positive. Dybowski reportedly performed at least one serious operation, although he was reluctant to engage in surgical procedures. He himself rarely fell ill in the East. Indeed, during the journey to Irkutsk he finally overcame ailments he had contracted in the Warsaw prison. His closest companion from the research group were to fall ill twice. One such case occurred during the journey from Darasun to Irkutsk in 1868. During an overnight stop in Verkhneudinsk, their dog Dunaj bit Godlewski’s hands—sparking fears of rabies. Dybowski recorded the event as follows:
“[…] I performed the operation, cauterizing with red-hot iron all the numerous wounds on Godlewski’s hands. I then applied a little blistering ointment and adhesive plaster to each wound, carefully bandaged his hands, and we were certain that there would be no consequences from the bites […] Godlewski took small doses of quinine for some time, and this initially alarming incident ended favourably.”
Memoirs of Dr. Benedykt Dybowski, op. cit., pp. 284–285
In short, this is the everyday prose of the medical profession, yet one that offers up an image of “emergency” medicine in Siberia at that time.
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Archival documentation of Dybowski’s medical service during his time in exile is practically non-existent. What may have survived in Chita (concerning his stay in Sivakova, Chita and Darasun) at most documents permits for various journeys beyond his assigned place of residence (for example, travel from the spa to the regional capital in the effort to combat an epidemic). In the Irkutsk archives there must be documentation of the 1869 expedition to the Far East as part of General Skolkow’s commission, as his participation was unequivocally medical in nature. Partial amnesties led to the reduction of the twelve-year sentence to four years. While settled in Irkutsk, he was classified as a craftsman, which meant his inclusion in the burgher estate. This made it easier for him to obtain permits even for distant expeditions, although officially he was deprived of the right to practice medicine. Extensive archival documentation has survived – especially in Chita – regarding assistance provided by the local administration and the Imperial Russian Geographical Society in transporting fauna specimens sent to the Warsaw Zoological Cabinet. This entailed payments to the exiles’ collective fund and, consequently, considerable freedom of movement, including travel eastward.
A classic of world hydrobiology
The years 1864–1877 – according to those interested in the fate of Dybowski and his closest collaborators (in addition to those in Sivakova and Darasun, from 1868 the Irkutsk–Kultuk group also included particularly active figures such as Władysław Księżopolski, Jan Czerski, Feliks Zienkowicz and Józef Kalinowski) – constituted a period of limnological studies. The principal object of research was Lake Baikal, which proved rich in fauna and to be morphologically diverse at depth. Maps were produced documenting the lake, with soundings always taken from the ice surface. The mystery of the deep-water fish golomyanka was finally solved: its mass die-offs were linked to viviparity rather than natural gases.
The technical talents of Wiktor Ignacy Godlewski proved crucial. Devices he constructed in the forge at Kultuk made it possible to even collect samples from the lake bed. The 1870 work by Dybowski and Godlewski entitled Studies at the south-western extremity of Lake Baikal. I. Physico-geographical notes marked the beginning of modern Siberian limnology (the authors were awarded modest gold medals by the IRGS). Dybowski’s 1874 monograph Beiträge zur näheren Kenntnis der in dem Baikal-See vorkommenden niederen Krebse aus der Gruppe der Gammarden constitutes the historical starting point for intensive research into the organic world of this natural phenomenon.
His work remains a classic of world hydrobiology. Specimens collected in Siberia were sent to renowned scientific centres in Europe, where they were to constitute the basis of significant specialist studies. Dybowski was honoured for this over many years; in 1928, even the Academy of Sciences of the USSR appointed him as a foreign member.
Difficult, kind and selfless
Dybowski regarded himself as – and indeed he was – a zoologist. Therefore, before his arrest in 1864, he and Chałubiński – a physician and eminent botanist – developed a “contingency plan” for activities in Siberia should medical service prove insufficient in providing an income. He consistently implemented the plan devised in Warsaw, from 1868 onwards organising a private research station in Kultuk. From the content of his Memoirs it emerges that he was not at all an “easy” person, though he was always kind and selfless. He remained close friends with all of his collaborators, even after their return to Europe.
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The outlined portrait of Benedykt Dybowski – sentenced to twelve years of hard labour and subsequent settlement under police supervision in Siberia – depicts a man of success and, at the same time, the relatively liberal conditions which prevailed in Trans-Ural Russia in the 1860s and 1870s. The accuracy of the reported facts is beyond dispute, having been verified through archival sources and exiles’ memoirs. It must be remembered, however, that Dybowski’s unofficial status was exceptional. During his initial studies in Dorpat (present day Tartu, Estonia), he was too meet with many enlightened scholars who were to later hold high positions in administration, education and the Russian Academy of Sciences, and who supported him with assistance and advice.
Dybowski certainly did not feel a medical calling, in the same way that Chałubiński did. Nevertheless, with a limited set of medicines he was able to cure even the most serious of cases. Above all, he was a man who showed benevolence towards others, regardless of their social status, nationality or religion.
He was blessed with good fortune in the people he met
Undoubtedly, he was very fortunate in his choice of collaborators. He also possessed the ability to assess local social conditions. For example, he always wore appropriate attire when visiting the governor (let us not forget that he was, at that time, an exile). These, along with other considerations meant that after completing hard labour, he was able to reside in Irkutsk as a settled craftsman. It was easier for him to cooperate with the local branch of the IRGS and to obtain permission to establish a research station in Kultuk on Lake Baikal (incidentally also a holiday destination for many exiles who lived in Irkutsk).
Among those whom Dybowski succeeded in drawing into the “collectors’ circle” in Darasun was Aleksander Czekanowski, later an outstanding Siberian geologist. Initially he was assigned to settlement in a remote village in the Angara valley near Bratsk. Without their own means of subsistence, he and his colleagues were condemned to death. Dybowski managed to organise assistance for them and in quick time arranged the transfer of the geologist to Irkutsk, where he pursued scientific work at the IRGS Museum. There, again with Dybowski’s active involvement (and Czekanowski’s), the brilliant self-taught scholar Jan Czerski was employed. Such beneficiaries of fortune were few, however. Numerous exiles, deprived of support from their families at home, often died of hunger. Estimates vary regarding exactly how many were never to return from beyond the Urals. Townspeople and peasants largely assimilated into the local population. In all probability only one-third of the nobility managed to overcome those barriers (including financial ones) that prevented a return to their homeland, and even then some would experience difficulties in adaptation.
“I parted from Siberia in deep sorrow…”
Dybowski concluded his memoir as follows:
“When departing [with Godlewski], we disposed of any unnecessary belongings and also of the horses – these were purchased by Księżopolski with money borrowed from [Henryk] Wohl, which he is to repay in instalments. I gave Czerski my Benesch und Wasserlein (a scientific instrument)
It had served me faithfully during research on the fauna of Lake Baikal; years ago it had cost me 80 silver rubles. My sister Kotowiczowa gave me that sum, and my professor Reissner bought it abroad in Berlin. I gave one rifle to Księżopolski and the other to Czerski. I parted from Siberia in deep sorrow.”
Prof. Dr. hab. Zbigniew J. Wójcik, geologist and historian of the natural sciences. Chairman of the Commission for Research on the History of Siberia, Committee for the History of Science and Technology, Polish Academy of Sciences.
Subheadings supplied by the editors.
Bibliography:
Pamiętnik dra Benedykta Dybowskiego od roku I862 zacząwszy do roku 1878, Wyd. Zakład Narodowy Imienia Ossolińskich, Lwów 1930;
Timofiejew M., Prace kolekcjonerskie i badawcze polskich powstańców 1863 r. w Zabajkalu, „Studia i Materiały z Dziejów Nauki Polskiej”, ser. C, z. 21. 1976, s. 41–52.