Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Mine Water and the Environment https://doi.org/10.1007/s10230-021-00823-w OBITUARY Dr. Jacek Libicki 1934–2021 Rafael Fernández‑Rubio 1 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021 * Rafael Fernández‑Rubio rfrubio@gmail.com 1 Madrid Polytechnic University, Luna 45, 28120 Ciudad Santo Domingo, Madrid, Spain Dr. Jacek Libicki Dr. Jacek Libicki, one of the founders of the Interna‑ tional Mine Water Association (IMWA), passed away on 22 February 2021 in Warsaw, Poland. He was a very active member of IMWA’s Executive Council from its very begin‑ nings until 1992 and left us with very pleasant memories of his positivism, empathy, and excellent know‑how. He was born on 28 September 1934 in Kraków, Poland, the son of Janusz Libicki, a professor of Economy at the Poznań Uni‑ versity, who was murdered in Katyn (1940), and Wanda, née Strzałko, an advocate. Jacek married Maria née Mazanek (1937–2006), a lawyer, and together they had a son, Dominik Libicki (born 1963), and two grandchildren, Janusz (born 1996) a dancer in Los Angeles and Justyna (born 1998), a student of art history in Italy and the United Kingdom. Jacek received his master’s degree in geology at the Uni‑ versity of Wrocław (1952–1957). Years later (1978), he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences (Hydro‑ geology and Groundwater Protection) by the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy at the Cracow University of Science and Technology. During the years 1957–1958, he served as a geologist at the Mineral Raw Materials Cooperative. From 1958 to 1990, he worked as a designer at the Lower Silesian Mining Design Ofce in Wrocław, which changed its name to COBPGO Poltegor in 1972. While there, Jacek played many roles. He served as the principal and then gen‑ eral designer of projects carried out in Poland for the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency in the feld of opencast lignite mining and power generation from 1974 to 1986. During 1981–1989, he was the general designer for the mod‑ ernization of opencast coal mines in China and India, and from 1981 to 1990, he served as general designer of the Lignite Development Programs and the Hai Zhou and Huo Linho mines in China. In 1990, he became the director of the design ofce Poltegor‑Projekt, and after its privatization (1992–2006), he served as the President of the Management Board of Poltegor‑Projekt sp. z o.o. (Poltegor‑Engineering Ltd. in the international market), reorganizing the company and adjusting it for market competition. Among the many activities he carried out at Poltegor, the following professional achievements should be highlighted: • Introduction of new hydrogeological calculation methods and modern ways to dewater opencast mines (1st degree team award from the Minister of Mining and Energy, 1985). • Authorship of a monograph on the use of impermeable screens in opencast mining and a textbook entitled Tech‑ nology of Deep Drainage in Opencast Mines. • Extensive and benefcial cooperation with the U.S. Envi‑ ronmental Protection Agency, which enabled Poltegor to achieve 10 contracts with them. • Study of modernization of the Hai Zhou mine in China. • Leading the teams drawing up lignite industry develop‑ ment programs. • Management of three topics developed within the frame‑ work of the Expert Group on Extractive Mining of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. • Patent for protection against dust and rainwater seepage into landfll sites during their operation in 1989.