On December 8, 2005, a monument to Rudolf Weigl, a Polish biologist and inventor of the world’s first effective typhus vaccine, was unveiled in front of the Institute of Immunology. Yesterday, a ceremony was held at our Institute to mark the 20th anniversary of the monument’s unveiling. Among the guests we hosted Dr. Kamil Dworaczek, Director, and Kamilla Jasińska, Deputy Director of the Wrocław Branch of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), co-organizer of the event; Prof. Wojciech Witkiewicz, Director of the Voivodeship Specialist Hospital in Wrocław and President of the Wrocław Scientific Society; prof. Gabriela-Bugla-Płoskońska from the Faculty of Biological Sciences of the University of Wrocław, Prof. Łukasz Matusiak, Vice-Dean for Public Relations at the Faculty of Medicine at Wrocław University of Science and Technology; Dr. Jacek Ossowski, a member of the Wrocław City Council; writer Mariusz Urbanek, author of the book “Professor Weigl and the Lice Feeders”; Dr. Stanisław Ułaszewski, President of the Lower Silesian Branch of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers, representatives of the Military Center for Preventive Medicine in Wrocław; representatives of the Society of Friends of Lwów , as well as the directors of the Hirszfeld Institute and the staff.
After short speeches and the laying of flowers at the Rudolf Weigl monument, the guests proceeded to the Professor Ślopek Auditorium, where Professor Gamian and the Director of the Institute of National Remembrance, Dr. Kamil Dworaczek, spoke. Dr. Dworaczek emphasized the special value of commemorating the outstanding biologist in the proximity of the thematically related Hirszfeld Institute and the 4th Military Clinical Hospital, a big clinical centre.
The conference program included:
– a lecture by Dr. Bogumiła Szponar, “Typhoid Fever 1915 – The Last Epidemic?”
– A film 𝐑𝐔𝐃𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐖𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐋 (1883 – 1957) – Giganci Nauki PL cz. 10
– Lectures by Kamilla Jasińska (IPN) “Profiles of Wrocław’s ‘weiglers’” and “Rudolf Weigl and ‘weiglers’ in Wrocław’s Public Space”
– A photo report from the unveiling of the Weigl monument 20 years ago.
The meeting concluded with an interesting discussion over coffee.
