“He who does not know the past cannot create the future” – Ludwik Hirszfeld
Professor Ludwik Hirszfeld, founder of the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences, passed away 70 years ago. Wroclaw newspapers wrote:
“Polish science has covered itself with mourning. On March 7 [1954] Ludwik Hirszfeld, a scientist of world renown and of great merit to humanity, died in Wroclaw. His main scientific achievements were related to the study of blood groups and were of momentous importance for blood transfusion, for the science of heredity and for anthropology. They contributed to the use of transfusions and thus saved many lives.
The study of the difference between the blood of the mother and the fetus culminated in the development of methods for treating miscarriages against this background, so that many women, condemned by nature to childlessness, experienced the happiness of motherhood. In his scientific work, Ludwik Hirszfeld made valuable discoveries not only in serology, but also in bacteriology and epidemiology.
Hirszfeld was co-organizer and for many years director of the State Institute of Hygiene in Warsaw. In Breslau, with which he became wholeheartedly associated, he was active from 1945. He was the organizer and first dean of the university’s Faculty of Medicine and created, on behalf of the Polish Academy of Sciences, of which he was a full member, the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy.
A great humanist, kind to those around him, collegial to his employees, he took a keen interest in the life of the country. He represented Polish science at many international conventions.”
/Słowo Polskie, March 9, 1954/
Ludwik Hirszfeld is the protagonist of one of the episodes of the series “Geniuses and Dreamers” produced by Polish Television and Filmoteka Narodowa – Instytut Audiowizualny (FINA). The film, directed by Pawel Wysoczanski, is available on the VOD platform: https://vod.tvp.pl/video/geniusze-i-marzyciele,geniusze-i-marzyciele-ludwik-hirszfeld,52280067