Professor Zbigniew 'Bob' Kabata (b. 17th March 1924) is a highly respected parasitologist, resistance soldier of the Armia Krajowa during World War 2, poet, fisherman, translator and scientific administrator.

---

Kabata was born into a military family in Kobryn, Poland on the 17th March 1924. He entered the Marshal Jozef Pilsudski Military Academy in Lwów as a cadet in 1936. After the invasion of Poland by Nazi forces, Kabata joined the Armia Krajowa and fought against the occupying forces, leading assaults on PoW camps at Opatów and Mielec in March, 1943, to free captive comrades. Kabata was cited several times for bravery. During his time in the resistance, Kabata wrote several patriotic poems honouring the Polish armed forces. His most famous work, The Underground Army, became the unofficial anthem of the Polish combatant community and is inscribed on numerous Polish war memorials. Following the defeat of Nazi forces in Poland, Kabata made a daring escape across Soviet lines to join up with the Polish 2nd Army Corp in Italy and commanded a rifle platoon in the 3rd Company, lst Carpathian Rifles (the famous "Tobruk Rats").

After demobilisation, he was repatriated to Great Britain and found work as a deck-hand on North Sea trawlers. Kabata became fascinated with marine life, and registered for a Zoology degree, followed by a Ph.D at the University of Aberdeen. After graduation, Dr Kabata began work at the Fisheries Laboratory in Aberdeen as a specialist in fish parasitology. It was in this time that Kabata developed the notion that separate populations of fish can be identified by study of the prevalence of various parasites and diseases. The identification of populations is an integral part of fisheries science. During the 1960's, Dr Kabata translated a number of Russian texts on fisheries biology and parasitology. It was during this time that he began work on his masterpiece, The Parasitic Copepoda of British Fishes, published in 1979 by the Ray Society, ISBN 0903874059. A seminal work in taxonomy, this book features over 2000 original hand-drawn illustrations of the complex morphology of copepod parasites.

---

In 1966, Kabata moved to the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, British Columbia, where he later became director. His outstanding contribution to the field of parasitology has been rewarded with patronymy of 20 taxa, including most notably, the imaginatively named digenetic trematode, Bobkabata kabatabobis. His fluency in Greek and Latin resulted in him spending 15 years on the editorial board of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Kabata holds the rank of Major in the Polish army, and has been awarded one of Polands highest decorations, the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. For exceptional heroism during the war he was awarded a Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari, twice the Cross of Valour, War Medal (three bars), Underground Army Cross, Partisan Cross and Gold Medal for Contributions to the Defensiveness of the Country. For his contribution to world science he has received the A. Wardle Medal from the Canadian Society of Zoologists, K. Janicki Medal from the Polish Parasitological Society and K. Demel Medal from the Sea Fisheries Institute in Gdynia, Poland. On August 2nd 2003, Kabata was awarded the American Society of Parasitologists Emminent Parasitologist medal, for his substantial contribution to the field of parasitology over a long period.