Professor Kazimierz Antoni Piech, was born on 11 January 1893 in Sanok.  He was a specialist in botany. Particularly interested in the anatomy and cytology of plants, he fought on many fronts to defend the independence of the Republic of Poland.

Kazimierz Piech was the son of Aleksander, a well-known Sanok social and political activist, and Józefa Stupnicka. In 1911, he graduated with honours from junior high school in Sanok, where he became known as an active member of the “Club of Naturalists”.

Piech began his studies in geography and nature at the Franciscan University in Lwów (today’s Lviv), and then continued them at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He was involved in Polish organisations such as the Rifle Association and the Polish Gymnastic Society “Sokol”. His academic life was interrupted by the First World War, when he served in the Austrian army. During this time, he took part in fighting on the Italian front and was imprisoned in Russia. At the time, Poland did not exist, due to its partition at the end of the 18th century by Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

After the war, Piech returned to Poland, which had regained its independence. He took part in the Polish-Ukrainian War and the Polish-Bolshevik War and was promoted to the rank of infantry reserve lieutenant. In the interwar period he returned to academic work, gaining his doctorate and habilitation at the Jagiellonian University. He became an associate professor and headed the Department of Plant Anatomy and Cytology at the university.

Piech was also active as a journalist, publishing papers on botany, anatomy, plant geography, systematics, palaeobotany, and cytology in various periodicals. He was also editor-in-chief of the “Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae”.

His scientific activity was brutally interrupted on 1 September 1939 as a result of the German invasion of Poland, which marked the beginning of the Second World War. After the defeat of Poland’s defensive war, Piech was arrested by the Germans and held in the Sachsenhausen camp, from which he was released in 1940. Despite his poor health, he was involved in secret teaching and worked in the German General Forestry Office.

Kazimierz Antoni Piech died on 15 April 1944 in Kraków and was buried at the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków.