Marian Młynarski (born 29 January 1926 in Warsaw), son of Maria (family name Ejsmond) and Feliks. Scout of Szare Szeregi – belonged to the youngest group Zawisza. Pseudonyms: Zuikis, Kiškis. After WWII he was a museum director and herpetologist.

Marian Młynarski started his education at Ziema Mazowiecka School in Warsaw. In 1938 he joined a school scout group (21 company named after Ignacy Prądzyński).
In 1941 he and his mother moved to Kraków to join his father who had accepted position of president of the Bank Emisyjny. The family lived on Basztowa Street in an apartment in the same building as the bank.
Młynarski continued his education in underground courses and in 1943 took his school finishing exam. At the same time he studied legally at a secondary chemical school.
In 1943 he joined Zawisza, the youngest section of the underground scout group Szare Szeregi. His particular group Gryf consisted of four people, The group’s leader being Miś (Tadeusz Rokossowski). The boys trained in the Wolski forest and Młynarski earned a wywiadowca rank. He learnt topography and Morse code, collected maps and learnt about the German armed forces and paramilitary organizations.

The scout group had their meetings at Młynarski’s flat. The flat also served as a shelter for Młynarski’s relatives and friends who escaped from Warsaw after the Warsaw Uprising failed. At times 35 people stayed there. In July, during Operation Tempest, the Home Army (AK) had people swear military oaths on a mass scale in Kraków. The oaths were taken in various places, and many people took them in Młynarski’s apartment.
Młynarski helped to hide and secure collections of the Environment Museum, the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and theZoology Instiute at Kraków’s Jagiellonian University.
On 7 August.1944, following his father’s request, he started work as a courier at Bank Emisyjny delivering bank mail. But he used the opportunity to also deliver underground mail for Szare Szeregi and the Home Army (AK). He carried a gun and was given a special pass which allowed him to travel on Nur für Deutsche (Germans only) trains. He delivered mail to the general governor at Wawel castle, to the seat of the SS commander and to the police on Oleandry Street.

In September 1944 Młynarski was promoted to the rank of leader of VI Zawisza Team. The team had their meetings in Mr and Mrs Mikułowski’s flat on 8 Krupnicza Street. Młynarski earned the rank of ćwik and harcerz orli. He participated in military trainings for lower rank commanders, which were run by officer cadets from the Home Army and Szare Szeregi.
In Zawisza, Młynarski graduated to the rank of Home Army corporal. Młynarski recollects : We, Zawisza scouts from Kraków, except for scouts that were in partisan groups, did not kill a single German nor did we blow up a single train or a tank. …nevertheless, we lived in constant tension and fear for our lives and the lives of those dear to us. Every discovery of our activity by the Germans meant at least concentration or work camp. Despite our age we were all soldiers of Fighting Poland in accordance with the ruling of the Chief Commander of the Home Army, AK. Our activity included also getting ready for work in liberated Poland.

After WWII between 1945 – 1948 Młynarski was active in ZHP. In 1957 he took a scouting internship in Sao Paulo. He earned the rank of podharcmistrz in ZHR. From 1989 Młynarski was a member of Szare Szeregi Association.
At the same time, he pursued a career in science. Between 1946 – 1951 he studied biological sciences at Jagiellonian Universtity and in 1956 he received a PhD and 5 years later habilitation degree from the Mikołaj Kopernik University in Toruń. In 1969 he became professor of biology at Mikołaj Kopernik University in Toruń.
From 1942 to 1986 he worked at the Environment Museum at the Polish Academy of Science. Starting as a volunteer during the war he finished as a vice director of the Evolution and Animal Systematics Institute, holding the position from 1965 to 1972.
In 1953, the communist authorities suspended him from work for over a year because of his wartime activities.
Whilst at the Polish Zoology Association Marian Młynarski started the herpetology section and from 1986 he was its president. In 1983 he was asked to be president of the Global Herpetology Association. He was also an advisor to Państwowa Rada Ochrony Przyrody. He retired in 1986.
He is married to Maria (family name Chrobak), has a son Kajetan, a daughter Barbara and 5 grandchildren.
¹Młynarski M.: Moja służba w Zawiszy. Kraków 1998, s. 75