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Jan Kalicki died on November 25, 1953, as the result of a tragic automobile accident. He was only thirty-one years of age and stood on the threshold of a bright career as a logician and philosopher. It is sadly ironic that after surviving the terrors of war and the occupation of his native Poland by foreign forces he should find death on a quiet Contra Costa County road, in the country to which he had so hopefully emigrated.
Kalicki was born in Warsaw on January 28, 1922. He attended a high school and lycée there, and was graduated from the latter in May, 1939. During the Nazi occupation he studied in the so-called Underground University, and at the war's end was awarded the M.A. degree in both philosophy and mathematics by the University of Warsaw. His first teaching appointments were assistantships in the Universities of Lòd and Warsaw during the years 1945-1946. In 1946 he went to England, where he spent the next two years as British Council Scholar in the University of London. There he continued his studies in mathematical logic, receiving the Ph.D. degree in mathematics in July, 1948. Since he realized that the regime then existing in Poland did not leave much room for free intellectual inquiry, he decided to remain in England. After receiving the doctorate, he first taught mathematics for a year at Woolwich Polytechnic, London, and then went to the University of Leeds as Lecturer in Mathematics.
He was married to Mireya Jaimes-Freyre in London in 1947. They had one son, Jan Jr.
In 1951 Kalicki came to the United States, to accept an appointment as Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the University of California, Berkeley. He moved to the Davis campus in the following year, as Assistant Professor of Mathematics, returning to Berkeley in 1953 as Assistant Professor of Philosophy. The appointment in philosophy was a special satisfaction to him, since for a long time he had been looking forward to resuming the active pursuit of that subject in addition to his scientific work in the field of logic. He offered lecture courses in epistemology and the philosophy of mathematics, and quickly became a favorite of students and colleagues alike. His death came less than three months after he had taken up his duties.
During his short span, Kalicki's scientific activity was prolific. From 1948 until his death, he published more than a dozen technical papers and an equal number of serious reviews; some of his work appeared in print posthumously. In addition, he took an active part in numerous conferences in Europe and America, including several meetings of the American Mathematical Society and including also the Berkeley Conference on the Unity of Science. He served as a referee for the Journal of Symbolic Logic and for various mathematical journals. He was a member of the Association for Symbolic Logic, the American Mathematical Society, and the London Mathematical Society. On many occasions he read papers before informal groups of philosophers and mathematicians.
But all of these data do little to account for the deep sense of shock with which Jan Kalicki's friends and colleagues read, on that unfortunate Thanksgiving morning, the great black headline "U. C. Professor Killed in Crash." It is primarily as a person, even more than as a scholar, that he is missed by those who knew him. In this regard, we recall that there was a certain sweetness and depth about him that is difficult to describe. He was always straightforward and absolutely sincere, modest nearly to the point of shyness. He had unbounded confidence that almost anybody could be brought to an understanding of the fundamental results of modern logic if only he, Kalicki, could find the right words. His very optimism in this regard endeared him to the students. Indeed, one can say that it even contributed toward making itself well-founded. Kalicki had remarkable success with the type of students who consider themselves hopelessly incapable of mastering things mathematical. In him they found a person who had no inclination to deride or blame them for being slow and who saw in their perplexities only an indication that he must contrive to illuminate the subject from still another point of view. At the same time, he was always able to produce something of special interest for the students of greater aptitude. His great affection for the students was warmly returned by them, and their mourning upon his death will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it.
Usually, when it loses an outstanding member of its faculty the University can at least reflect with gratitude upon the great benefits which it has already received through years of association with the departed, but in the case of Jan Kalicki even that consolation is lacking.
B. Mates
L. Henkin
A. Tarski
Kalicki was born in Warsaw on January 28, 1922. He attended a high school and lycée there, and was graduated from the latter in May, 1939. During the Nazi occupation he studied in the so-called Underground University, and at the war's end was awarded the M.A. degree in both philosophy and mathematics by the University of Warsaw. His first teaching appointments were assistantships in the Universities of Lòd and Warsaw during the years 1945-1946. In 1946 he went to England, where he spent the next two years as British Council Scholar in the University of London. There he continued his studies in mathematical logic, receiving the Ph.D. degree in mathematics in July, 1948. Since he realized that the regime then existing in Poland did not leave much room for free intellectual inquiry, he decided to remain in England. After receiving the doctorate, he first taught mathematics for a year at Woolwich Polytechnic, London, and then went to the University of Leeds as Lecturer in Mathematics.
He was married to Mireya Jaimes-Freyre in London in 1947. They had one son, Jan Jr.
In 1951 Kalicki came to the United States, to accept an appointment as Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the University of California, Berkeley. He moved to the Davis campus in the following year, as Assistant Professor of Mathematics, returning to Berkeley in 1953 as Assistant Professor of Philosophy. The appointment in philosophy was a special satisfaction to him, since for a long time he had been looking forward to resuming the active pursuit of that subject in addition to his scientific work in the field of logic. He offered lecture courses in epistemology and the philosophy of mathematics, and quickly became a favorite of students and colleagues alike. His death came less than three months after he had taken up his duties.
During his short span, Kalicki's scientific activity was prolific. From 1948 until his death, he published more than a dozen technical papers and an equal number of serious reviews; some of his work appeared in print posthumously. In addition, he took an active part in numerous conferences in Europe and America, including several meetings of the American Mathematical Society and including also the Berkeley Conference on the Unity of Science. He served as a referee for the Journal of Symbolic Logic and for various mathematical journals. He was a member of the Association for Symbolic Logic, the American Mathematical Society, and the London Mathematical Society. On many occasions he read papers before informal groups of philosophers and mathematicians.
But all of these data do little to account for the deep sense of shock with which Jan Kalicki's friends and colleagues read, on that unfortunate Thanksgiving morning, the great black headline "U. C. Professor Killed in Crash." It is primarily as a person, even more than as a scholar, that he is missed by those who knew him. In this regard, we recall that there was a certain sweetness and depth about him that is difficult to describe. He was always straightforward and absolutely sincere, modest nearly to the point of shyness. He had unbounded confidence that almost anybody could be brought to an understanding of the fundamental results of modern logic if only he, Kalicki, could find the right words. His very optimism in this regard endeared him to the students. Indeed, one can say that it even contributed toward making itself well-founded. Kalicki had remarkable success with the type of students who consider themselves hopelessly incapable of mastering things mathematical. In him they found a person who had no inclination to deride or blame them for being slow and who saw in their perplexities only an indication that he must contrive to illuminate the subject from still another point of view. At the same time, he was always able to produce something of special interest for the students of greater aptitude. His great affection for the students was warmly returned by them, and their mourning upon his death will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it.
Usually, when it loses an outstanding member of its faculty the University can at least reflect with gratitude upon the great benefits which it has already received through years of association with the departed, but in the case of Jan Kalicki even that consolation is lacking.
B. Mates
L. Henkin
A. Tarski
This University of California obituary is available at THIS LINK