PROFESSOR LECH WOJTCZAK (1926-2019) AS REMEMBERED BY HIS FOUR FORMER STUDENTS

Abstract

The sudden death of Professor Lech Wojtczak, the great Polish biochemist and a remarkable man, our Mentor and Friend, left us in sorrow and emptiness difficult to accept. Two years have passed already from this event and our memories seem to be even more vivid, and his absence even more felt. Hence we decided to put on paper our personal reflections on Lech Wojtczak, each of us concentrating on a slightly different aspect of this towering figure. We tried to focus on memories and comments that were not mentioned in official obituaries that followed His passing away. Therefore do not expect to find here a comprehensive text on the Founder of Polish Bioenergetics, and a famous Polish biochemist, but rather a set of subjective comments on a man who made us scientists. Our memories are presented in a chronological order. The first chapter is by Professor Jolanta Barańska, who joined the group of Lech Wojtczak in 1968, followed by a chapter by Professor Maciej J. Nałęcz, who joined Lech in 1976, then Professor Konrad S. Famulski (1978) and finally followed by a chapter by Professor Adam Szewczyk, the youngest, joining the group in 1984.