Draft:Olech Szczepski

Olech Szczepski
Olech Szczepski
Died	24 June 1980 Poznań
Cause of death	cancer of the liver
Alma mater	Poznań University of Medical Sciences
Parent(s)	Czesław Szczepski Jadwiga z Żurkowskich
Relatives	Jolanta Szczepska-Banach, Czesław Banach, Daniel Banach, Dominika Banach

Graves of the late Olech Szczepski and his wife at Junikowo Cemetery, Poznań.

Olech Szczepski (born April 17, 1914, in Poznań, died June 24, 1980, Poznań) - Polish doctor, pediatrician, graduate of the Polish School of Medicine Polish School of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, lecturer at the Medical Academy in Poznań, rector in the years 1962–1964, honorary doctor of his alma mater from 1975, full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences . World War II veteran, participant of the September Campaign, the Siege of Tobruk and the Battle of Monte Cassino.

Biography

Olech Szczepski was the son of Czesław Szczepski, a Poznań printer and patriotic activist, owner of the "Ostoja" printing house and bookstore, and Jadwiga née Żurkowski. In the years 1923–1932 he attended Saint Mary Magdalene High School in Poznań. After passing the secondary school leaving examination, he began studies at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Poznań. He obtained his medical diploma in June 1938 and after a short period of practice at the City Hospital in Poznań, he was called up for compulsory military service, first at the Sanitary Cadet School, then in the 3rd Aviation Regiment. On August 24, 1939, he received a mobilization assignment as a doctor to the 32nd Reconnaissance Squadron, stationed at the field airport in Sokolniki.

In the first days of fighting in September 1939, the 32nd squadron carried out operations in support of Army "Łódź". On September 7, its ground transport with the sanitary point was evacuated beyond the Vistula, and after the unit was disbanded, it was directed towards the Romanian and then Hungarian borders. On September 19, he crossed the Tatar Pass, after which he was interned and imprisoned in the camp in Eger, and from October in Bánréve. On December 19, Olech Szczepski escaped from the camp and reached Athens through Budapest, the Yugoslav border, Zagreb and Belgrade. On January 19, 1940, he sailed to Marseille on the ship "Warszawa", and on January 30 he re-joined the Polish Army in Exile. In April, he was assigned as a doctor to the Carpathian Rifle Brigade and on May 1 he sailed to Beirut. After the fall of France, he and the Brigade evacuated to Palestine. After relocation to Egypt, in December 1940, he became a doctor at POW camp No. 2 near Alexandria. Between January and July 1941, he was a doctor in the 2nd battalion stationed in the Agami camp and manning the fortifications in Marsa Matruh.

On July 23, 1941, he was delegated to the surgical ward of the Polish Military Hospital in Alexandria, and in August he returned to the 2nd battalion, with which he was transported by sea to Tobruk. He ran a battalion dressing station there. By order of October 20, 1941, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. After unblocking the fortress, he participated in the Brigade's further combat route until its withdrawal to the rear in March 1942. In May, during the formation of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division, he was assigned to the sanitary unit of the 2nd Brigade. He also served as an educational officer. After a period of training in Syria and Iraq, at the end of 1943 he was sent to the Italian front. During the fighting for Monte Cassino, he was assigned to the battalion dressing point in the so-called the doctor's house, then to the dressing station of the 3rd battalion, where he replaced Adam Majewski. After capturing the hill, he continued operations with the 3rd Division. He was diagnosed with malaria in September. After healing, he returned to the unit, ending his combat route with the capture of Bologna. He ended the war as a commander of a medical platoon with the rank of lieutenant, awarded the Cross of Valor twice, the Army Medal and the Monte Cassino Commemorative Cross, the British War Medal, Defense Medal, Africa Star and Italy Star, and the Italian Croce al merito di guerra. His memoirs from this period, titled My War. From the Warta to the Po, were published in 2003 by the Scientific Publishing House of the Medical University of Poznań.

After staying in Italy (until 1946) and Great Britain, he returned to tPoland on October 27, 1947. On March 1, 1948, he began working as a volunteer assistant at the Department and Clinic of Childhood Diseases of the University of Poznań, headed by Professor Karol Jonscher. From September 1, 1949, he served as a junior assistant, and from January 1, 1950, a senior assistant. On July 2, 1949, he obtained the title of doctor of medical sciences, based on the thesis Treatment of acute, primary forms of pediatric tuberculosis with streptomycin. In September 1951, he became the director of the infectious disease hospital at ul. Mickiewicza in Poznań, where during the Heine-Medina disease epidemic he organized a 200-bed ward for sick children. In January 1953, he returned to the position of senior assistant at the Children's Diseases Clinic. In the same year, he obtained habilitation and second-degree specialization in pediatrics, on May 1, 1954, he received the position of assistant professor, and on March 30, 1955, he received the title of assistant professor. Between March and May 1956, he was the head of the Department and Clinic of Pediatric Diseases of the Medical University of Białystok, during the illness of Professor Andrzej Kański.

On December 15, 1956, the Second Children's Disease Clinic was established in Poznań, the organization and management of which was entrusted to Olech Szczepski. In 1960, he was elected dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the Medical Academy, in 1961 he was appointed associate professor, and in 1962 he was elected rector of the Medical Academy. On December 30, 1966, he received the title of full professor of medical sciences. In 1968, he became the plenipotentiary of the Minister of Health and Social Welfare for the Institute of Pediatrics in Krakow and managed it until the end of June the following year. After returning to Poznań, he became the director of the Institute of Pediatrics, which was opened there in 1972. On January 6, 1975, the Medical University of Poznań awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 1976, he became a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and from 1977 he was the chairman of the Scientific Council of the Children's Health Center.

His scientific achievements include approximately 200 published works, co-authorship of the medical textbooks Introduction to pediatrics, Propedeutics of pediatrics, X-ray urological diagnostics of children and Endocrinology of developmental age, ethics and history of medicine. He supervised 37 doctoral theses and supervised nine habilitations. He belonged to the Polish Medical Society, the Polish Pediatric Society, the Polish Endocrinological Society, and the Poznań Society of Friends of Sciences. He was awarded, among others, the Knight's Cross (1967) and the Officer's Cross (1974) of the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Medal of the Commission of National Education (1974), the Medal of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Nicolaus Copernicus (1975), the Badge of Honor of the City of Poznań (1964) and the Order of the Smile (1974).

He died of liver cancer on June 24, 1980, and was buried at the Alley of Merit at the Junikowo Cemetery.

Bibliography

• Marian Krawczyński: Prof. dr hab. Olech Szczepski (1914–1980): lekarz-pediatra, etyk i humanista. Wspomnienie w 20. rocznicę śmierci. „Nowiny Lekarskie”. Vol. 69 (2000), nr 6. ISSN 0860-7397.
• Świtała, Tadeusz. "Prof. dr Olech Szczepski rektor Akademii Medycznej". Kronika Miasta Poznania 3/1962. pp. 85–88., fot.
• Banach Czesław, Szczepska Jolanta, Prof.dr.hab.med.Szczepski Olech[1914-80]
• Tamborska M.: Professor Olech Szczepski: excellent pediatrician as well as a specialist interested in medical ethics, [url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11766700/]

Category:1980 deaths Category:1914 births Category:Polish pediatricians Category:Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Category:Members of the Polish Academy of Sciences Category:Monte Cassino Cross