Revival of biochemistry in Poland in the first years after World War II.

Until the outbreak of the war in 1939 biochemistry in Poland had a beautiful tradition. The history of this discipline began in the second half of the 19 th century through setting up the Laboratory of Medical Chemistry at Warsaw University (1865) and in following year of the Chair of Pathological Chemistry of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. Those were the first units dealing with biochemistry organized in Europe. Further progress in this field is also connected with such names of Polish researchers as: and Jakub Parnas. Our outstanding biochemists of the after-war period: Tadeusz Bara-nowski, Bronis³aw Filipowicz, W³odzimierz Mozo³owski, Boles³aw Skar¿yñski and others have written about the history of biochemistry in this most important period in our country. Therefore I would only like to mention the most important events connected with the organization of research and education in biochemistry after the war, which I remember as I was employed at the Department of Medical Chemistry of the Jagiellonian University since 1948. As I have already mentioned, the beautiful tradition of the development of biochemistry in Poland until 1939 was brutally stopped by the outbreak of the war. Numerous teachers and scientists of the young generation lost their lives, there were enormous shortages as far as laboratory equipment, reagents, journals were concerned, and above all the lack of free exchange of persons and thoughts with the free world was particularly severe. Because of wide interest in rapidly developing, at the same time, trends of biochemical research abroad, opening new prospects in medicine , agriculture and industry in a relatively short time in all university centres in Poland research and educational units were created, which I will mention later on. Professor B. Skar¿yñski during the lst Congress of Polish Science in 1951 commented in detail about the difficulties in the development of biochemistry in our country after the war. As a result of a special appeal of the Congress , then Ministry of Health appointed at its Scientific Council a Commission for Biochemistry chaired by Prof. T. Baranowski. The Commission drew up a plan of research and appropriate organizational endeavours. At the beginning medical and veterinary doctors were interested in biochemistry; hence the first research units and training in this field were organized at medical and agricultural faculties. In 1952 thanks to the activities of the above mentioned Commission, on Feb