Edward Licht (1912–1965) – A Sketch to the Portray of Pediatrician

The article is a biographical outline of Edward Licht - an outstanding pediatrician who created medicine in Szczecin from the very beginning after the Second World War. He was involved in the scientific and didactic work of the Medical Academy (later the Pomeranian Medical Academy, currently the Pomeranian Medical University). Among the many prominent figures of Polish post-war medicine there are many people who, despite their significant contribution to the development of this field of science, have remained forgotten by the history of medicine. Among them is Edward Licht, whose research focused on the issue of children’s rheumatic diseases and tuberculosis. An important background of this article are his Jewish origins, his special fate during the war and the fate of his family.

Włodzimierz Kulczycki (1862–1936) – a representative of the scientific elite of the Academy of Veterinary Medicine in Lwow

Vladimir Kulchytsky (1852–1936) was one of the leading representatives of the scientific elite of the city of Lviv. He was a veterinarian, zoologist, an outstanding mammalian anatomist, professor, pro-rector and rector of the Academy of Veterinary Medicine in Lviv. He did his studies in natural sciences in Vienna, then in Lviv. He also received a diploma in veterinary medicine. From 1882 to 1934 he worked at the Lviv Academy of Veterinary Medicine, first as an assistant, then as a lecturer, and from 1906 as a professor, head of the Department (Department) of Descriptive Anatomy, Topography, Histology and Embryology (later, after changes, the Department of Comparative Anatomy). He also worked as a veterinarian at the Lviv Horse Tram Society, as a city veterinarian and as a veterinarian for the control of cattle and meat on the Lviv railroads. Prof. Kulchytsky’s scientific output includes about 60 publications (compact works, studies and scientific articles, discussions, reviews, etc.). The area of research and scientific interests of V. Kulchytsky was extremely wide and at the same time diverse. He became famous as an outstanding mammalian anatomist and zoologist, creator of anatomical preparations (continuing the work of Prof. Henryk Kadyi). He conducted research work on avian anatomy and physiology, the anatomy and etiology of cattle and horse diseases. He was also involved in parasitology, hippiatry, conducted interdisciplinary studies on the borderline between ethnography and ethnology, was interested in climatology and demography of the countries of the Orient and Central Asia, Indian studies and deep-sea fauna of the oceans. He skillfully combined his collecting passion for carpentry (1906–1936) with orientalist research, becoming an undisputed authority in this field, while amassing the largest collection of old oriental textiles on Polish soil. In 1934 he received an honorary doctorate from the Academy of Veterinary Medicine in Lviv for his outstanding achievements in the field of science and his attitude during the occupation of Lviv by Russia (1914–1915).

On miraculous literature, epilepsy and other issues raised by Elżbieta Nowosielska in her book entitled “Melancholy, madness and other ‘headaches’ in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th and 18th centuries”

For decades, the history of medicine, healing, medical culture, health, etc. has been fascinating researchers: historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, and doctors alike. Researchers in this field use source materials that have been known in science for a long time, often creating a questionnaire of issues and questions that no one has posed so far. Elżbieta Nowosielska’s publication, entitled „Melancholy, madness and other ‘headaches’ in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th and 18th centuries” (2021) belongs to this group of works. It is clear to anyone who has dealt with books of miracles and graces that, on the basis of the miraculous literature, if properly explored, E. Nowosielska would have come close to one of the goals outlined in the book’s introduction – a possibly complete picture of the approach to madness or melancholy. The author underestimated the effort made by Jowita Jagla, a researcher into the books of miracles and graces, and the votive offerings, who discusses issues related to epilepsy in her work, and disregarded several other texts. This does not speak very well of the search she carried out.