Professor Aleksy Poniżyński (1928–2017)

Prof. dr hab. med. Aleksy Poniżyński was born on the 14th of June, 1928 in Bukówiec Górny in the province of Wielkopolska. When the second World War came in September 1939, he was about to attend the 5th grade of an elementary school in Bukówiec. During the Nazi occupation, he worked as a farmhand. After the war, he continued his elementary education in Leszno, where he also completed secondary school; in 1951, he graduated with honors from an agricultural high school in Bojanowo. During the years 1951–1953, Professor Poniżyński attended classes at the Faculty of Zootechnics of the Higher School of Agriculture (now known as the University of Life Sciences) in Poznań. The knowledge and experience gained there in the areas of animal anatomy, physiology, and pharmacotherapy would later allow him to become one of the pioneers of Polish experimental cardiac surgery. The knowledge of animal anatomy steered his interest toward the use of animal-derived valves (deer valves) for treating human patients. At the time, he was one of the first people in Poland considering the use of these valves in clinical practice. After graduating from the Higher School of Agriculture in 1953, he began his studies at the Medical Faculty of the then Medical Academy (now: Poznań University of Medical Sciences), which he completed in 1959, receiving the Doctor of Medicine degree. While still a student at the Medical Faculty, he began his career as a surgeon and researcher at the Department of General and Experimental Surgery of the Medical Academy, where he was employed from 1957 to 1960. His interests were already gravitating toward diseases of the circulatory system and the methods of treating them, which were still under development at the time. Therefore, in 1960, he began working at the Department of General and Thoracic Surgery of the J. Struś Municipal Hospital in Poznań, where he remained until 1973. It is worth noting that this department, lead by Professor Jan Moll, was conducting some of the most advanced research work on cardiac surgery in Poland. During his stay there, Professor Poniżyński completed his 1st degree specialization in general surgery in 1963 and 2nd degree specialization in general surgery in 1969. He also continued his scientific development and was granted the degree Doctor of Medical Sciences in 1968. In 1973, he decided to transfer to the Clinic of Cardiovascular Surgery of the Medical Academy, located in Poznań on ul. Długa and known at the time as the “Pawłow” Hospital. It was there that he began to promote academic, university-based cardiac surgery in Poznań. In extremely difficult conditions, he performed his first cardiac surgery procedures. His scientific work led to his habilitation in 1978 – awarded for conducting a study on the usefulness of intra-aortic counterpulsation in the treatment of acute circulatory failure in animal models. A key moment in the Professor’s career came when the Academy decided to establish the Clinic of Cardiac Surgery in Poznań toward the end of the 1970s. As the greatest expert in cardiac surgery in Poznań, Professor Poniżyński was asked to assume the post of Director of the Clinic of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery (under the auspices of the Institute of Cardiology of the Medical Academy in Poznań), founded in 1980. The first years of the Clinic’s operation coincided with a very difficult time for Poland. The newly appointed director had to face numerous challenges as martial law was introduced, and medicines and equipment were lacking. The Professor never gave in to these difficulties. Thanks to his personal contacts in Kiel, Germany, funds were gathered for the Clinic to acquire a modern heart-lung machine (Fig. 1). This enabled a significant improvement of treatment safety and the introduction of new types of procedures. The Clinic of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery continued to operate in very difficult conditions. It had to share with other Clinics a single operating room that did not conform to Professor Aleksy Poniżyński (1928–2017)