The man who discovered the legendary Strzelecki map has paid Kosciuszko Heritage a special visit.
David Branagan, an Australian academic and geologist, met with Ernestyna Skurjat-Kozek, the President of Kosciuszko Heritage, and Felix Molski and Andrzej Kozek, both committee members.
During the meeting, David gifted the organisation with a copy of a map created by Sir Paul Edmund Strzelecki on a set of slides that, together, re-assemble the entire historical artefact. He discovered the map, which had been shrouded in legend, in England in 1972, while on a scholarship.
“I knew about the large map before I found it, as Strzelecki himself mentioned its size in his book (in English), on pages 54-55, where he gives the dimensions 25 feet long and 5 feet wide! He also peppered another sheet, just as big, to draw his geological cross-sections,” said David.
“I knew that Strzelecki had tried to sell rock and mineral specimens to the Geological Museum, and thought that his map would not have been destroyed, as his diaries apparently were, after he died. (I still think they might still exist, somewhere!)
“When I checked a list of Australian maps at the Geological Museum Library (South Kensington), I asked for one that was identified only as being of Australia and Van Diemen’s Land, and it turned out to be STRZELECKI’s original. The map had been cut in to large squares or rectangles and covered by canvas, and was in quite good condition, with numerous cross-sections (as mentioned by Strzelecki).”
Ernestyna Skurjat-Kozek was very thankful for the gift, and delighted that she and the other committee members could meet with David to discuss his work, especially in relation to Strzelecki.
“We met this kind, old man for the first time in August 2014: a quarter of a century after he formally retired (in July 1989), with an impressive record of achievements, including 250 publications, among which are 20 books and 13 chapters in edited works,” said Ernestyna. “Among these publications are important works that deal with Strzelecki, headed by a great article in 1986, ‘Strzelecki’s geological map of southeastern Australia. An Eclectic Synthesis’ (Historical Records of Australian Science, v. 6 no 3 Dec 1986).
“David Branagan is probably the only Australian who pronounces the name Strzelecki flawlessly. And with a terrific accent!”
To find out more about David and his publications, please click here to go to his page on the University of Sydney website.
The Strzelecki map (photo: Puls Polonii) 
Left to right: Felix Molski, David Branagan, and Ernestyna Skurjat-Kozek (photo: Puls Polonii) 
A letter from David (photo: Puls Polonii) 
David Branagan, next to a painting of Sir P. E. Strzelecki by Vitek Skonieczny (photo: Puls Polonii)
The entire article about his visit can be read (in Polish) here; the original was published on Puls Polonii.