Franciszek Pykna

Background

Pykna was born in Riga, Latvia, to Polish parents Kazimierz Indan Pykno and Benigna Norwillo.

Education

He became an assistant in the Philosophy department of Stefan Batory University while working on his Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of ethics He was nominated as senior assistant to the department of Philosophy starting on 1 September 1939, which was the day World World War II started. The university was evacuated to Poland.

Career

They finally settled in Kovel, where he went to Juliusz Slowacki High School. After graduating he moved to Vilnius in order to study at University of Stefan Batory Vilnius University. After the war, most of the staff settled in Toruń, Poland, creating Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.

In 1945 he worked in the department of logic studies at the university as a senior assistant to professor Tadeusz Czezowski.

Between 1947 and 1948 he headed the mathematical department in the Fourth College in Torun. He then returned to Nicolaus Copernicus University, working with professor Roman Ingarden and Tadeusz Czezowski.

His correspondence with Tadeusz Kotarbinski (philosopher and professor of University of Warsaw) can be found in the archives of Archives of Janina and Tadeusz Kotarbinski, 1962.

Achievements

• Pykna achieved a masters degree in 1937 with his thesis "The concept of ethical philosophy of Descartes".

Membership

Franciszek Indan was a board member of the Polish Society of Mathematics from 1971 to 1981.