Ludwik Hirszfeld: The Story of One Life: 16 (Rochester Studies in Medical History) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 158046338X ISBN 13: 9781580463386

Publisher: University of Rochester Press, 2010

Synopsis

An annotated English translation of the autobiography of Polish microbiologist Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884-1954), with a focus on his contributions to international public health. Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884-1954), one of the most prominent serologists of the twentieth century, discovered the inheritance and established the nomenclature of blood groups and opened the field of human population genetics. He also carried out groundbreaking research in the genetics of disease and immunology. Following World War II, he founded Poland's first Institute of Immunology in Wroclaw, which now bears his name. His autobiographical memoir, The Story of One Life, first published in Poland in 1946, immediately became a bestseller and has been reedited several times since. It is an outstanding account of a Holocaust survivor and a writer capable of depicting the uniqueness and the tragedy of countless individuals caught up in the nightmare of 1939-45. He recollects his time as a physician in the Serbian army in 1915 and his satisfaction as a scientist who helped rebuild Poland after the Treaty ofVersailles; in so doing the contrast between the world before and the world after World War II could not be starker. Hirszfeld wrote this book while in hiding after he escaped from the Warsaw ghetto in 1943; he buried the manuscript and retrieved it only after the war. Drawing on interviews with Hirszfeld's former students and family, as well as unpublished documents, this translation is annotated and has an introduction written by two scholars with unique qualifications to understand both the immediate setting in which Hirszfeld lived his life, and the broader implications of his work to the history of medicine. Marta A. Balinska is a writer and an international consultant in public health. William H. Schneider is professor of history at Indiana University.

About this title

Review

Balinska and Schneider should be applauded. . . today's readers will find it an intriguing piece of cutting-edge experimental science, an example of the relation between political context and individual fate, while the contemporary story makes for a fascinating read. . . a major achievement. COMPTES RENDUS

A thoughtful and highly historical read that belongs in any biography collection. MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

Fascinating on many accounts. . . The University of Rochester Press's Studies in Medical History series has just attained new heights. FORWARD.COM

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Rochester Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 158046338X
• ISBN 13: 9781580463386
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 508
• Editor: Balinska Marta A., Schneider Professor Emeritus William H.