• Zdzisław Marek.
• Katedra i Zakład Medycyny Sadowej, Collegium Medicum, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie.
• Prz. Lek. 2006 Jan 1; 63 (12): 1326-30.

AbstractThe Chair of Forensic Medicine was established at the Jagiellonian University in 1804. Initially, the Cracow academic institution developed along the similar lines as other Chairs of those times. Considerable progress was made thanks to Professor W. Hechel, who headed the Chair since 1834 and initiated intensive research and didactic activities. His successors, mostly Professors Antoni Bryk and Stanisław Janikowski, extended the Chair, strengthening its importance at the University and in the judicial system. The golden age commenced in 1882, when Professor Leon Blumenstock became Head of the Chair. Other founders of the Cracow School of Forensic Medicine include Professors Leon Wachholz and Jan Olbrycht (1895-1962). It was these two eminent scientists that wrote important textbooks, discovered new methods and helped the Cracow institution to become a significant research center of forensic medicine. Their important achievements include the test for COHb determination in blood of victims of carbon monoxide poisoning (the Wachholz-Sieradzki test), the explanation of death mechanisms involved in violent death by drawning, the development of protocols for opinionating and event reconstruction in cases of violent death by poisoning and mechanical injuries, and the widely accepted theory and medicolegal assessment of medical errors. Other outstanding achievements focused on investigations of biological trace evidence, serohematology in determinations of fatherhood, and--what may be the most important--identification of responsibilities and role of an expert in legal proceedings, and many others. The work of several generations of Cracow forensic medicine specialist has culminated in training a cadre of specialists who became heads of the majority of Chairs of Forensic Medicine in Poland, writing numerous textbooks for students, monographs, hundreds of research papers and an enormous number of medico-legal opinions, the participation in almost all major court proceedings held in Poland, as well as active membership in national and international scientific societies.

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