2025-07-02

On June 30th of this year, during the General Assembly of Members of the International Amber Association (IAA), the Assembly passed a resolution to award the title of Honorary Member of the IAA to Ms. Gabriela Gierłowska.

Gabriela Gierłowska – Honorary Member of the IAA

Justification

Gabriela Gierłowska has been connected with amber for over 50 years. Together with her husband, Wiesław Gierłowski, she worked at the Zrzeszenie Wytwórców "Art-Region", and later ran her own manufacturing and conservation workshop. She is an expert for the International Amber Association (IAA) — specializing in raw amber, natural amber specimens, semi-finished and finished amber products — as well as an expert for the Pomeranian Provincial Trade Inspectorate (regarding amber products, amber-based jewelry, and the material science of raw amber). She is also a court expert in the field of amber.

She has been involved with the IAA since its very beginning — not only as a founding member, but also as an active contributor. She has served as Secretary of the IAA Expert Committee, Secretary of the IAA Disciplinary Court, and was once a member of the IAA Board. She currently serves on the IAA Audit Committee. She is also the originator of the name and co-author of the Bursztynisko magazine.

In 2012, Gabriela Gierłowska was honored with the Medal of the Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz, in recognition of her dedication to promoting Baltic amber and the city of Gdańsk as the World Capital of Amber. She was also awarded the title Amber Personality of the Year 2013 by the IAA.

She is the author of several monographic publications on amber. Since 2000, she has offered consultations at the Amber Laboratory organized during the Amberif and Ambermart fairs, sharing her knowledge with attendees and presenting her unique educational collection of amber varieties and substances used to falsify amber. She gained international recognition thanks to the discovery of a lizard inclusion found in 1997 in the Stogi district of Gdańsk — a specimen she photographed in macro detail, which later appeared on the cover of National Geographic. Today, this unique piece is part of the Gdańsk Amber Museum collection.

Meticulous and strict in her assessments, yet deeply sensitive — when she offers praise, her words stay with you for a long time.

Ewa Rachoń & Ewa Wagner-Wysiecka

Our heartfelt congratulations!