Michał Lityński (14 June 1906 - 5 March 1989) was a Polish

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

. According to Eugeniusz Józef Kucharz, in 1953, two years before

Jerome W. Conn Jerome W. Conn (September 24, 1907 – June 11, 1994) was an American endocrinology, endocrinologist best known for his description of Conn syndrome or primary hyperaldosteronism. Biography Conn was born in New York City and studied for three ye ...

, he authored the first description

primary aldosteronism Primary aldosteronism (PA)'','' also known as primary hyperaldosteronism, refers to the excess production of the hormone aldosterone from the adrenal glands, resulting in low renin levels and high blood pressure. This abnormality is a paraneopl ...

Biography

He studied medicine at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

in the years 1925-1931 as an

officer cadet Officer cadet is a rank held by military personnel during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by personnel of University Service Units such as the University Officers' Training Corps. Th ...

of the Military Medical Center (Centrum Wyszkolenia Sanitarnego). He completed his internship in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. Since November 1932 till March 1936 he worked as a military physician in

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

. In 1936 he became the head of the internal medicine department in the Military Medical Center in Warsaw. After the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he became the Military Hospital commander in

Garwolin Garwolin is a town on the Wilga (Garwolin), Wilga river in eastern Poland, capital of Garwolin County, situated in the southeast part of the Garwolin plateau in Masovian Voivodeship, southeast of Warsaw, northwest of Lublin. As of December 2021, ...

, then he came back to Warsaw and took his old position. He joined the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

. On his department he hid wounded resistants and Jews escaped from the

Warsaw ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...

. During the

Warsaw uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

he organized an infirmary in the city centre, then he treated partisans in

Puszcza Mariańska Puszcza Mariańska is a village in Żyrardów County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Puszcza Mariańska. It lies approximately south-west of Żyrardów and south-w ...

. After the war he worked shortly in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, in 1946 he came back to Warsaw and became the head of the tuberculosis institute in the Szpital Wolski. In 1986 he was bestowed the title of "

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

".Grynberg M. Księga sprawiedliwych. Warszawa, PWN, 1993: 766.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lityński, Michał 1906 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Polish physicians Polish Army officers Health professionals from Łódź Polish Righteous Among the Nations University of Warsaw alumni

Biography

Further reading

References