Andrzej Krzysztof Tarkowski was born on May 4, 1933, and died on September 23, 2016.

He was a Polish embryologist and a professor at Warsaw University.

Tarkowski was best known for his pioneering researches on embryos and blastomeres, which have created a theoretical and practical basis for achievements of biology and medicine of the twentieth century – in vitro fertilization, cloning and stem cell discovery.

During 2002 Tarkowski with Anne McLaren won the Japan Prize for their discoveries concerning the early development of mammalian embryos.

He has contributed to international science throughout his professional life.

The professor has worked with many research centers around the world.

Andrzej Krzysztof Tarkowski was a Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation in the Department of Zoology, University College of North Wales (UK), and served as a visiting professor of the Royal Society at the University of Oxford (UK), Rockefeller University of New York (USA), University of Adelaide (Australia) and Institute of Jacques Monod CNRS and Paris University XVII (France).

He was also a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Sciences, and Academia Europaea.

From 1997-2004, Tarkowski was also a member of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for Polish Science.

During 2003 professor Tarkowski retired.

Andrzej Tarkowski passed away at 83 years old.