Witold Chodźko (1875–1954) was a Polish

social activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, public health pioneer,

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

and

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

Biography

Witold Chodźko was born on 1 November 1875 in

Piotrków Trybunalski Piotrków Trybunalski (; also known by #Etymology, alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the capital of Piotrków County and the second-largest city in the Łódź Voi ...

and graduated in 1899 ''cum eximia laude'' from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Warsaw. He had internships in neurology and psychiatry in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, then worked as a psychiatrist in

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

hospitals, was active in the educational-charitable association "Light", and was one of the founders of the Society "A Drop of Milk," an institution that ran in Lublin an infant feeding program. In the years 1907-1914, he was the director of a psychiatric hospital in Kochanówka near Lodz, which he expanded and modernized. He created the departments of therapy and rehabilitation through work-related activities. Together with his medical team Chodzko conducted active scientific research. During that period he represented Polish psychiatry at international congresses. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was director of the St. John of God hospital 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 ...

, and in 1916 he was elected to the City Council. At that time he became involved in the organization of public health care. From 1918 to 1923 he was Undersecretary of State, then Minister in the first Polish Ministry of Health, Labor Protection and Welfare. It was said that “''his heart was open equally to the crowd and the individuals. This was the first Polish Minister whom any citizen of the state, whether unemployed, beggar or a child, could get to meet twice a week, without reporting first to the secretaries''”. He presented several public health law proposals, including care for the mentally ill, public access to treatments in health spas, preventive vaccination programs, and introduced the idea of community/district nurses. He proposed opening free clinics and reorganizing hospitals to help prevent the spread of venereal diseases among prostitute. He opposed the drafting of eugenics ideas (which was initially regarded as a public hygiene issue) into law, since this could have been a prelude to racist activities. Chodzko created and held (1919–23) the Office of the Extraordinary Commissioner for the fight against epidemics. He also led the Polish Committee for the Aid to Children (Polski Komitet Pomocy Dzieciom, 1924-1926); he was the government commissioner of the Association of Funds for the Sick (Ogólnopaństwowy Związek Kas Chorych, 1929-1931). From 1926 to 1939, the National School of Hygiene operated on his initiative and under his management at the National Institute of Hygiene in Warszawa. He was the first president of the Polish Psychiatrists’ Association (1920–23). He was also the president of the Supreme Chamber of Medicine (Naczelna Izba Lekarska, 1929–34) and of the Society of Preventive Medicine (1935-1936), the discipline that was of particular interest to him. He also served as president of the Polish Society of Social Medicine (Polskie Towarzystwo Medycyny Społecznej). Chodzko was also a

, acting as member of the masonic lodge “The Truth” (Prawda). From 1920 until 1938, he was in the delegation of the Polish Government to the Assembly of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, the

International Office of Public Hygiene The International Office of Public Hygiene (OIPH), also known by its French name as the Office International d'Hygiène Publique (OIHP), was an international organization founded 9 December 1907 and based in Paris, France. It merged into the Wor ...

(an advisory board for child and youth care), and to the

International Sanitary Conferences The International Sanitary Conferences were a series of 14 international meetings held in response to growing concerns about human disease epidemics. The first of the Sanitary Conferences was organized by the French Government in 1851 to standardiz ...

. His main activities were focused on public health of rural areas, fight against drugs and against trafficking of women and children. During

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 ...

Chodzko worked as a custodian guarding the collections of the National Institute of Hygiene’s library and as head of the health section of the Warsaw’s Social Welfare Committee (Komitet Pomocy Społecznej). In 1945, he was associate professor, and from 1947, he was a full professor and chairman of the Department of General Hygiene at the Faculty of Medicine of the Marie Curie-Skłodowska University (later Medical Academy) in Lublin. In 1951 he founded the Institute of Occupational Medicine and Rural Hygiene, currently the Witold Chodzko Institute of Rural Medicine (Instytut Medycyny Wsi), named in his honor. He was awarded many Polish and foreign decorations including the

Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, ...

, the French National Order of the Legion of Honor ommandeur Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, and others. He died in Lublin on 17 January 1954 and was buried at the Powązki Cemetery in Warszawa. A Polish NGO, fundacja Salus Publica na rzecz Zdrowia Publicznego im. prof. Witolda Chodźko (the Salus Publica Foundation for Public Health) was established in 2009 in Krakow, Poland, and named in Chodźko's honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chodzko, Witold 1875 births 1954 deaths People from Piotrków Trybunalski People from Piotrków Governorate 19th-century Polish nobility Polish health activists Polish neurologists Polish psychiatrists University of Warsaw alumni 20th-century Polish nobility