RIP: 17/01/2025 - Mikołów
Fr. Zygmunt (Daniel) Hajduk was born 3 April 1935 in Lodz. In 1941, he began school in Paniówki but completed primary school in Przyszowice in 1948. He finished secondary school in Rybnik in 1950 and went to the Salvatorian Minor Seminary in Mikołów, graduating in 1952. That year he began novitiate in Bagno, taking the name Daniel. In 1953 he made his first profession and in 1957, perpetual vows. He was among the first students of the Salvatorian Major Seminary in Bagno and was ordained deacon there on 5 April 1959. He was ordained priest in June 1959 in Trzebnica. After ordination, he earned a master’s in philosophy at the Catholic University of Lublin in 1963. In 1964, he was assigned to Bagno, lecturing on logic, cosmology and metaphysics. In 1965, Fr. Zygmunt also began to work at the University. In 1968 he defended his dissertation and in 1984, was awarded habilitation. Fr. Zygmunt worked at the University for more than 40 years. He was a respected natural philosopher and methodologist, belonged to several scientific societies and editorial boards of journals, lexicons and encyclopedias, and authored some 270 publications, including more than a dozen books and textbooks. In 2015, the Catholic University of Lublin honored him with the Medal for Meritorious Service. Due to deteriorating health, Fr. Zygmunt moved to Mikołów in 2019. Wishing to be a sign of God's presence in the world and to persevere in his vocation until death, he passed away to the Lord on 17 January 2025 in Mikołów, at 90 with 72 years of religious life and 66 years a priest.
