93Book review section – Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 71 (2022) (1) 83–92.

C H R O N I C L E

In memoriam Leszek Starkel (1931–2021)

Leszek Starkel, an outstanding figure of Polish 
and international geomorphology, paleohydrology 
and Quaternary paleogeography passed away on 6 
November 2021. He was born in Wierzbnik, in a min-
ing settlement which now belongs to Starachowice 
in the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Voivodeship. 

After completing his studies at the Jagellonian 
University in Cracow in 1954, he began working with 
the Institute of Geography and Regional Organization 
of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where he defend-
ed his doctoral dissertation in 1959 and obtained ha-
bilitation in 1964. In the long period 1968–2001 he 
was director of the Institute of Geomorphology and 
Mountain Hydrology, later Institute of Geography 
and Spatial Organization of the Polish Academy of 
Sciences in Cracow. The principal goal of research 
in the Institute was the design of rational land use 
based on the detailed survey and evaluation of the 
Carpathian landscapes. The Institute established 
wide-scale international contacts within the frame of 
the Carpatho-Balkan Geomorphological Commission 
and organized expeditions to Mongolia (1974–1980) 
and India (since 1983), where Professor Starkel was 
always present and an active participant.

He enjoyed high international reputation as one 
of the most respected geomorphologist in the east-
ern half of Europe. In 2004, he was the second Pole 
after Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, to receive the Gold 
Founder’s Medal, the highest distinction of the British 
Royal Geographical Society. In 2017, he was awarded 
the Medal of Wincenty Pol, by the President of the 
Polish Academy of Sciences at the request of the 
Committee of Geographical Sciences. He received the 
Knight’s Cross and the Officer’s Cross of the Order 
of Polonia Restituta. His international honours in-
clude the honorary fellowship of the International 
Association of Geomorphologists, the honorary fel-
lowship of INQUA. He was also a member of the 
Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy 
of Arts and Sciences, as well as the honorary fellow of 
the Association of Polish Geomorphologists. 

His rich contributions to geomorphology reflected 
his manifold interests and an extraordinary ability 
to see causal relationships in nature and between 
nature and humans. Some of his most often cited 
works in Polish are the paleogeography textbooks 
Paleogeografia holocenu (Paleogeography of the 
Holocene) (1977) and Geografia Polski – Środowisko 
przyrodnicze (Geography of Poland – The natural en-

vironment) (1991), edited by him, and the monograph 
Ewolucja doliny Wisły od ostatniego zlodowacenia do 
dziś (Evolution of the Vistula river valley from the last 
glaciation until the present-day) (2001). In English lan-
guage he published on The role of catastrophic rain-
fall in the shaping of the relief of the lower Himalaya 
(Darjeeling Hills) (1972), The role of extreme (cata-
strophic) meteorological events in the contemporary 
evolution of slopes (1976), and The reflection of hy-
drologic changes in the fluvial environment of the 
temperate zone during the last 15,000 years (1983). To 
commemorate his 90th birthday a collection of papers 
was issued in Studia Geomorphologica Carpatho-
Balkanica, where the most distinguished Polish and 
foreign geographers presented their research findings. 

Two geographical regions were of outstanding im-
portance in his research career. One was the Polish 
Carpathians and their foreland, including the Vistula 
river. There detailed research led by him revealed a 
variety of geomorphic processes, from weathering 
through hillslope to fluvial. He also loved travelling, 
particularly to India. Since 1968 he was a regular visi-
tor to the Darjeeling Himalayas and the Meghalaya 
Plateau. Several generations of Indian geomorpholo-
gists followed his guidelines in the study of hillslope 
and channel processes. It was an unforgettable experi-
ence to listen to his field explanations of landslides, 
tectonics and braided rivers in north-east India. The 
impact of human activities has never avoided his 
attention and raised his concern on environmental 
problems on the subcontinent. 

Professor Starkel initiated bilateral cooperation be-
tween Polish and Hungarian geographers and was an 
active participant of several Polish-Hungarian seminars. 
In 1993 he became honorary member of the Hungarian 
Geographical Society and in 1995 he received our 
Society’s highest distinction, the Lóczy Medal.

He was a basically optimistic person with a never 
disappearing smile on the face, who met all problems 
with good humour. His optimism was grounded on 
deep trust in the generations of young Polish and 
foreign geographers who followed in his footsteps. 
Recently he published an autobiography in Polish 
under the title Drogi mojego życia (The roads of my 
life) (2019), with valuable pieces of advice for his suc-
cessors. We will equally keep him in remembrance as 
a scientist and as a human being. 

Dénes Lóczy

Chronicle – Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 71 (2022) (1) 93–93.


	Hungarian Geographical Bulletin Vol 71 Issue 1 - D. Lóczy: In memoriam Leszek Starkel (1931-2021)