On this day, 140 years ago, Hanna Hirszfeld was born. She was an outstanding Polish physician, scientist, polyglot, feldsher of the Serbian army and the Army of the Orient, lecturer of medical courses in the Warsaw Ghetto, founder and organizer of pediatric clinics in post-war Lublin and Wrocław.
At a time when, as a woman, she could not undertake medical studies in Warsaw, she completed them abroad. In Berlin, she obtained a doctorate in medicine and surgery and met her future husband, an outstanding bacteriologist and immunologist, Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884-1954), with whom she shared passions and conducted joint research for years.
Experience in treating patients during war contributed to the collection of enormous research material. In these difficult times, a groundbreaking work on the origin of blood groups was published jointly by Hanna and Ludwik Hiszfeld.
During World War II, Hanna Hirszfeld worked in the Warsaw Ghetto, and after the war, she co-founded the Medical University of Wrocław. She was also involved in scientific work and the organization of Polish scientific life in Wrocław; she was the founder and first chairwoman of the Wrocław branch of the Polish Pediatric Society, she wrote scientific works on starvation disease, pediatric hematology, vegetative system functions, rheumatic disease, serological conflict and congenital defects.
Despite her achievements, she remained in the shadow of her more famous husband for most of her life.
Source:
https://hirszfeld.pl/blog/2024/02/19/profesor-hanna-hirszfeldowa-1884-1964/
https://muzeumwarszawy.pl/prawobrzezne-biografie-hanna-kasmanow-hirszfeldowa/
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanna_Hirszfeldowa
