Category: Exhibitions

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Józef Piłsudski – the first honorary doctor of the Faculty of Medicine

 

Ladies and Gentlemen

We would like to invite you to visit our new exhibition, located in the Rector’s Office building, prepared to commemorate a significant event in the history of our university, which took place 100 years ago. The exhibition runs between 01.10.2022 and 12.12.2022

On 2nd May 1921, for the first time in the history of the University, an honorary doctorate was conferred on the Faculty of Medicine – it was awarded to Marshal Józef Piłsudski. On that day, the dean’s and rector’s insignia were conferred on the University authorities.

The decision to honour Józef Piłsudski ‘in recognition of his services to Polish science in general, to Polish medicine and in particular the University’s Faculty of Medicine’ was made at the request of the Faculty Council on 30 April 1920, when military operation was held and many professors were on military service.

 

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“In the world of skeletons, dragons and ghosts, or about the symbolism of representations of infectious diseases in the visual arts”

We would like to  present our new online exhibition entitled “In the world of skeletons, dragons and ghosts, or about the symbolism of representations of infectious diseases in visual arts.” Due to the current epidemiological situation, it is currently only available in the virtual world, but after returning to normality (we hope as soon as possible), we invite you to see it at the Medical University of Warsaw – in the Library and Information Center.

The language of allegory has always played an important role in depicting infectious diseases. In particular many representations of this kind appeared in mediaeval art, because at that time pestilence was associated with a divine punishment for the sins and transgressions of people. Polychrome paintings and sculptures depicting devils, dragons and ghouls as epidemics can today still be found in early European churches. Many of these sacred representations, such as the famous danse macabre (or Dance of Death) motif, were associated with the Black Death – the most terrifying plague in human history. Emperors, queens, popes and ordinary townsfolk, peasants and even the homeless took part in the dancing procession led by a skeleton symbolizing death. The theme of infectious diseases was also taken up by numerous early modern artists, such as Albrecht Dürer, Peter Bruegel the Elder and Hans Holbein. Continue reading ““In the world of skeletons, dragons and ghosts, or about the symbolism of representations of infectious diseases in the visual arts””

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Exhibition “In the footsteps of Asclepius and Paracelsus”

Since Monday 14th DEC, in front of the Senate Hall on the first floor of the Rector’s building, we are presenting an exhibition entitled “In the footsteps of Asclepius and Paracelsus”. The exhibition was prepared based on of the collections of the Museum of the History of Medicine of the Medical University of Warsaw and is intended to show two worlds: medicine and pharmacy. The artefacts on display have been divided according to several thematic groups. In the pharmaceutical part of the exhibition, the first set are pharmacy containers from the first half of the 20th century; corresponding with this are sets of preparations with plant raw materials used in the production of drugs . Another cabinet displays laboratory equipment used in pharmacy. There are also original medical rubber stamps and prescriptions from the interwar period along with a few examples of drugs – for example, Neosalwarsan, which was an effective remedy for syphilis (before penicillin became popular). In the medical section you can find tools and items related to ophthalmology, surgery, laryngology and cardiology, e.g. original glasses from World War II and instrument for measuring blood pressure (sphygmomanometer) from around 1900. The exhibition is supplemented by copies of medical-related paintings – pharmaceutical and two portraits of Asclepius and Paracelsus painted on wooden panels, which are partof a pharmacy cabinet from the beginning of the 20th century.

The authors of the exhibition are Krzysztof Schoeneich and Zuzanna Kamińska.

📷 Krzysztof Gardulski, Photomedical Department of the Medical University of Warsaw

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Exhibition on the centenary of the establishment of the Polish Dermatological Society and the opening of the Warsaw Dermatological Clinic

The 2020/2021 academic year is a special time for Polish dermatology. A hunderd years ago, the Polish Dermatological Society (PTD) was established and Dermatology Clinic was founded in Warsaw at Koszykowa street. In connection with this centenary, we are currently holding an exhibition presenting the history of these two extremely important institutions for Polish medicine. We present, face to face, the profiles of two prominent Warsaw dermatologists: the outstanding theoretician Franciszek Krzyształowicz – the first Head of the Clinic and Robert Bernhardt – the first President of PTD, Head of the St Lazarus hospital and, above all, an excellent clinician. In the interwar period, they often competed with each other, conducted scientific disputes, thanks to which not only medicine developed and progressed in Poland, but also other outstanding researchers cropped up, including Stefania Jabłońska, who wascontinuing the work of her predecessors. Continue reading “Exhibition on the centenary of the establishment of the Polish Dermatological Society and the opening of the Warsaw Dermatological Clinic”

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Recognition Award for the Museum of the History of Medicine in XIV edition of annual competition “The Willow – Mazovian Museum Events 2020”

Fot. ze zb. Muzeum Historii Medycyny WUM.

We are delighted and proud to announce that our University Museum has received a Recognition Award in the 14th edition of annual competition “The Willow – Mazovian Museum Events” in the category “The most interesting exhibition – organized by major museums”  for organizing the exhibition titled “Femina et Medicina. A portrait of Hygiea in the academic tradition of Warsaw”. We found ourselves  in exclusive company of other recognized top tier Warsaw cultural institutions, including The Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the National Museum in Warsaw. The award ceremony will be held on 14th September at the Radom Open Air Museum in the city of Radom. We are pleased  that our hard work has been appreciated, it will increase  motivation to redouble and improve our efforts in the future.

Link to the exhibition publication: Femina et Medicina. Portret Hygiei w tradycji akademickiej Warszawy

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Temporary exhibition entitled “Between Warsaw and Zakopane. The Legend of Tytus Chałubiński “

 

The opening of the new temporary exhibition entitled “Between Warsaw and Zakopane. The Legend of Tytus Chałubiński “was scheduled for March 23, 2020. Due to the epidemiological situation, the Museum of the History of Medicine has decided to postpone the ceremony until there is no health risk for visitors. The exhibition has been prepared under auspices of His Magnificence, prof. dr hab. Mirosław Wielgoś  and all potential visitors are cordially invited to visit at  later  time in the future. The presentation of the life and legacy of Tytus Chałubiński is meant to be an impulse to familiarize ourselves better with this extraordinary figure. A wide range of his interests (from medicine, botany , art history to mountaineering) shows that he had a very dynamic and open-minded personality. Treating patients, regardless of their social background and status, with great empathy and understanding can be an example for everyone, not only doctors.

The exhibition will be open until March 2021.

The partners of the exhibition are:
Dr Tytus Chałubiński’s Tatra Museum in Zakopane
Herbarium of the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw
Stanisław Józef Thugutt’ Geological Museum, Faculty of Geology,
University of Warsaw
Faculty of Geology, University of Warsaw
Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University
University of Warsaw Library
National Digital Archives
National Museum in Warsaw
Warsaw Medical Society
Fundacja POKOLENIA POKOLENIOM – a non profit organization

The authors of the exhibition scenario are Kinga Warszawska and Adam Tyszkiewicz from the Museum of the History of Medicine of the Medical University of Warsaw.

Graphic design of the exhibition: Piotr Berezowski.

Photos: Mr. Krzysztof Gardulski – Medical University of Warsaw Department.

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Exhibition “Between Warsaw and Zakopane. The legend of Tytus Chałubiński.”

The Museum of the History of Medicine of the Medical University of Warsaw informs that all exhibitions are temporarily closed. We will be pleased to welcome you again after the situation related to the epidemiological risk has stabilized at the new exhibition:

Between Warsaw and Zakopane. The legend of Tytus Chałubiński.

Legendary heroes were usually warriors, saints, and outstanding figures. The tales which appear in folklore, were at first passed down by word of mouth; they were modified and sometimes it is difficult to trace them back to their source. They are associated more with metaphor than with fact.

Over a century ago, there lived a certain fine doctor who saved the mountain people from a contagious epidemic and poverty. He also embraced the impoverished folk of the big city with his kindness and the two places of his activity were far removed from one another. He travelled around Europe, visited the best hospitals, studied at universities, uncovered the secrets of the mountains, and healed people free of charge. Perhaps given time, this is how future generations will relate the story of Tytus Chałubiński’s life.

The young man, who came from Radom, attended the Academy of Medicine and Surgery in Vilnius at a time when Polish historical events painted a bleak picture. His medical studies, which he initially chose without any real enthusiasm, provided him with knowledge and directed him to activities which led to him being seen as a living legend in both Warsaw and Zakopane; he was their saviour and helper. By studying medicine and botany concurrently, first in Würzburg and later in Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia), he marked out the paths of his adult life – becoming a doctor by profession, a botanist by his passion. Continue reading “Exhibition “Between Warsaw and Zakopane. The legend of Tytus Chałubiński.””

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1920–2020. One hundred years of teaching internal medicine. Mściwój Semerau-Siemianowski – the father of modern cardiology, 13.01.2020

The Museum of the History of Medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw (WUM) warmly invites you to the opening of the exhibition 1920–2020. One hundred years of teaching internal medicine. Mściwój Semerau-Siemianowski – the father of modern cardiology, which will take place on 13 January at 1 pm, at the WUM Educational Centre, first floor, at 2a Trojdena Street.

The exhibition is under the honorary patronage of Rector Prof. Mirosław Wielgoś.

Over 100 years ago, at the beginning of the 1918/1919 academic year, Dr Mściwój Semerau-Siemanowski begins working as assistant professor under Professor Kazimierz Rzętkowski (1870–1924) at the Second Clinic of Internal Medicine of the University of Warsaw which had been established in The Holy Spirit Hospital (Pol: Szpital św. Ducha) on Elektoralna Street. At this clinic, Mściwój Semerau-Siemianowski develops utilitarian methods for carrying out cardiac and cardiovascular examinations, and adds the relatively recently discovered (i.e. only a dozen or so years earlier) electrocardiographic (ECG) examination to the routine tests undergone by patients. From 1920, for the first time in the history of the university, he gives lectures on physical examinations of internal medicine patients, although not yet officially a university teacher. So, symbolically, it could be said that we are celebrating the centenary of modern teaching of internal medicine and the diagnostic testing of research into the circulatory system at our Alma Mater.

Thirty years later cardiology becomes a separate discipline from internal medicine. However, already in the 1920s and 1930s,  after the death of his superior, Dr. Mściwój Semerau-Siemianowski lays the foundations of cardiology very firmly.

In 1922, he publishes a dissertation: On the activities of intrinsically beating chambers of the human heart: a pharmacological and physio-pathological study, which became the basis of his post-doctoral thesis (habilitation). Shortly afterwards, the young university teacher begins giving his own lectures on the diagnostics and therapy of cardiovascular diseases. As of the 1924/25 academic year, he establishes and takes over the management of the Department of Internal Diseases in the new St Lazarus Hospital on Książęca Street – the first department in Poland to specialize in cardiovascular diseases, with separate analytical, radiological, electrocardiographic, haematological and resting metabolism laboratories. There was also a room set up at the centre for experimental testing on animals. The laboratories were partially equipped at his own expense.

In 1935 he withdraws from some of the didactic lectures in internal medicine, devoting himself exclusively to cardiological issues – in the years 1936–38 he runs the first two-week postgraduate training course in Poland for cardiologists. However, the establishment of independent structures of Polish cardiology is interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. Professor Mściwój Semerau-Siemianowski revists the idea immediately after the war, after returning to Warsaw in 1949.

In 2020, exactly 70 years will have passed since 15 January 1950 when the Cardiology Department of the Society of Polish Internal Medicine Practitioners (Towarzystwa Internistów Polskich – TIP) – the leading centre of internal medicine in Warsaw – was established under Professor Mściwój Semerau-Siemanowski at the Second Clinic of Internal Medicine of the University of Warsaw. In addition to the chairman, the Department included three students and associates of the Master: Jerzy Jakubowski (Vice-President), Dmitri Aleksandrov (Secretary) and Edward Żera (Treasurer). Therefore seventy years ago the formal process of setting cardiology apart from internal medicine began, and four years later the newly-established Society of Polish Internal Medicine Practitioners (TIP) became the Polish Society of Cardiology (PTK). This was officially confirmed on 28 February 1954. We shall be reminding you about all of this at the exhibition marking the centenary and 70th anniversary being held within the walls of the Medical University of Warsaw.

Prof. Krzysztof J. Filipiak

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The Long Night of Museums, 18 May 2019, 6 p.m. – half past midnight; at the Medical University of Warsaw (WUM).

 

The Museum of the History of Medicine (WUM), warmly invites you to The Long Night of Museums, which will take place on 18 May 2019 from 6 p.m. – half past midnight, at the Banach Campus of the Medical University of Warsaw.

PROGRAMME

EXHIBITIONS:

  1. On the border between Life and Death. The mysterious mummy from the collections of the Medical University of Warsaw
  2. Femina et Medicina. Portrait of Hygieia in the academic tradition of Warsaw
  3. The past twenty years… Highlights of the Faculty of Health Education at the Medical University of Warsaw (WUM)
  4. Medicine and Pharmacy in Warsaw through the lens of a pre-war camera.

LECTURES / WALKS

  1. Egyptian mummies; an eternal mystery – Prof. Dr. Hab. Andrzej Niwiński. Library and Information Centre (CBI), in the Prof. Antoni Dobrzański Room, 7.15 p.m.
  2. Mummies, mummifiers and paleopathology – Dr. Hanna Pliszka, Halina Przychodzeń, MA, Dr. Małgorzata Brzozowska, Dr. Sylwia Tarka. Library and Information Centre (CBI), in the Prof. Antoni Dobrzański Room, 8 p.m.
  3. Walks: Symbols of the Medical University of Warsaw; The best of… led by Dr. Adam Tyszkiewicz (Please assemble at 6.30 p.m. and 11 p.m. at the starting point at the main entrance to the Rector’s Building).

Concert entitled Dance of the Night given by the Orchestra of the Medical University of Warsaw conducted by Beata Herman. It will feature works by Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Strauss. Didactic Centre, in the Professor Janusz Piekarcyzk Lecture Hall, 9.30 p.m.

The following venues will only be open to visitors during The Long Night of Museums: Senate Hall; the Study of the Rector, Professor Mirosław Wielgoś MD; the Study of the Dean of the First Faculty of Medicine, Professor Paweł Włodarski MD; the Professor Janusz Piekarczyk Lecture Hall; and the Reading Room of the Main Library of the Medical University of Warsaw (WUM) (2nd floor).

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‘The teaching of medicine and pharmacy within the walls of Vilnius University’ on the occasion of the centenary of the establishment of the Stefan Batory University in Vilnius.

In 2019 one hundred years will have passed since the opening of the Stefan Batory University in Vilnius. To mark this special anniversary, the Museum of Medical History, WUM, has organized a commemorative exhibition entitled: ‘The teaching of medicine and pharmacy within the walls of Vilnius University’. It not only presents the history of the university, but also displays academic memorabilia from Vilnius which are part of the collections of our own museum in Warsaw. This particularly rich collection of exhibits relates to the time when the Stefan Batory University was in existence.

 

The University in Vilnius was founded in 1579 by Stefan Batory, king of Poland. After the Kraków Academy, it was considered the second most significant Polish centre of learning and was one of the easternmost institutes of higher education in early modern Europe. The University’s activities were curtailed for the first time after the fall of the November Uprising in 1831. The Polish community in Vilnius had to wait until 1919 before it was able to re-open its doors. This was thanks largely to Józef Piłsudski who had always had a great affection for Vilnius and all its traditions. He also issued a decree in accordance with which the university was re-named as the Stefan Batory University. Continue reading “‘The teaching of medicine and pharmacy within the walls of Vilnius University’ on the occasion of the centenary of the establishment of the Stefan Batory University in Vilnius.”

Wszystkie Prawa Zastrzeżone – Muzeum Historii Medycyny