Paweł Goldstein (1884-1942) – an outstanding surgeon, scientist, one of the pioneers of neurosurgery in Poland, born in 1884 in the family of Kalman Kopel and Temra née Tac. His family lived at 10 Więzienna Street (now 30 Sienkiewicza Street) in Maria Obniska’s tenement house. Paweł Goldstein was a student of the Governorate Middle High School in Płock. On March 6, 1902, on the anniversary of Gogol’s death, Paweł Goldstein took an active part in the rebellion of the students of the Płock middle high school (he was one of its leaders, together with his cousin’s son, Lucjan Altberg, who was two years younger at the time, Beniamin Golde’s grandson, and Julian Golde, son of Benjamin Golde, one year older). The consequence of this courageous act was expulsion from school with being blacklisted at the same time. The blacklisting was revoked, but Paweł Goldstein had to take his high school diploma in Kerch, in the Crimea. Probably for the same reason he could not study at the Imperial University of Warsaw, so he decided to study at Swiss and German universities. He studied medicine in Bern, Berlin and Bonn. He received his doctorate in medical sciences in 1909 from the University of Freiburg. After returning to Poland, he settled in Warsaw, where he became professionally involved in the Surgical Department of the Hospital in Czyste. He took an active part in the Polish-Bolshevik war, serving in the front units in Polesie. He was the commander of a field hospital. In the 1930s, he opened a surgical facility in Warsaw at Wilcza Street, which became famous as a real workshop of clinical work. He was also a well-known philanthropist: in the Society for Aid to the Poorest, the Tuberculosis Society and the School of Nurses. During the mobilization, before World War II (or at the beginning of the war), he volunteered for the army, but was not accepted into active service. He was appointed the head of the surgical department of the hospital in Chełm. Evacuated to Łuck, he also remained there after the Germans entered, taking care of, among others, Soviet prisoners of war. He died in Łuck on January 24, 1942 of typhus, which he contracted from a patient. Apparently, he was still actively involved in the work of the hospital until he lost consciousness.

Paweł Goldstein conducted research in the field of neurosurgery and oncology in the neurobiology laboratory of the Warsaw Scientific Society. He conducted a number of difficult and pioneering operations, including he was one of the first surgeons to perform periarterial sympathectomy using the Lerich method and thoracoplasty using the Sauerbruch method. His scientific achievements include over 30 works, incl. those in the field of neurosurgery.

His wife was Cecylia née Mamelok. His son, Jan Goldstein (1913-1991), was a famous doctor, professor of surgery and academic teacher.

Paweł Goldstein (photo from the private collection of Piotr Goldstein)

Cecylia Goldstein née Mamelok (photo from the private collection of Piotr Goldstein)

Jan Goldstein (photo from the private collection of Piotr Goldstein)

Bibliography:

Przedpełski J., Stefański J., Żydzi płoccy w dziejach miasta, Płock 2012

In 1832 in Płock, in the family of doctor Filip Lubelski and Wilhelmina née Frankenstein, Wilhelm Szymon Lubelski was born – a future psychiatrist, also a social activist, a favorite of Warsaw residents, appreciated for his comprehensive knowledge, sense of humor and erudition.

Wilhelm graduated from the middle school in Piotrków Trybunalski, then he studied medicine in Dorpat. He continued his education in Vienna and Paris. In 1859 he settled permanently in Warsaw. In the same year, he presented to the Medical Council of the Kingdom of Poland the dissertation On facial pain (neuralgia faciei v. Prosopalgia Fothergilli), for which he was awarded the title of doctor of medicine. In 1861, he took over the ward for epileptic women at the Infant Jesus Hospital, and in 1867, the ward for mentally ill women. He was a member of the Warsaw Medical Society (for several years he was a librarian). In 1864, together with a group of eight psychiatrists, he established a department of mental, nervous and forensic psychiatry within the Society. He was active in the construction committee of an institution for the mentally ill in Tworki near Warsaw. He was also a member of the Society of Medical Sciences and the Society of German Doctors in Paris and the Paris Society of Polish Doctors. In 1887, he co-organized a hygiene exhibition in Warsaw. Wilhelm Lubelski was a famous philanthropist, involved in the activities of the Charity Society (a doctor of shelters for the elderly and the disabled, orphans and girls).

His scientific achievements mainly include messages and reports in the field of psychiatry, neuropathology, pharmacology and hygiene, which were published in Polish, French and German journals. He also published popular science articles in non-medical journals. He was the author of the work entitled Marriage in terms of physiology and hygiene, with the addition of the dietetic notes on raising infants according to the best sources (Warsaw, 1899).

He died in 1891. He was buried in the Powązki Cemetery.

Wilhelm’s father was Dr. Filip Lubelski (1787-1879) – Haskalah activist and supporter of the assimilation of the Jewish population, he came from Zamość. He completed his medical studies in Vienna in 1811 with a doctorate in medicine and surgery. Earlier, in 1808, he joined the army of the Duchy of Warsaw, taking part in all Napoleonic campaigns. In the battle of Leipzig he was wounded with a rifle bullet in his arm. In 1813 he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Legion of Honor “for his diligence in performing his duties”. He was also awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari and the Medal of St. Helen. He was associated with Płock from around 1815. He ran a medical practice here, and in 1831 he founded a hospital for sick and wounded soldiers in our town. After the outbreak of the November Uprising, he volunteered for the army. He was a staff doctor in the Polish army. After the fall of the uprising, he returned to medical practice, which he conducted in Płock until 1840. Then he moved to Warsaw, where he worked as a doctor in the 1850s.

He died on February 5, 1879. He was buried at the Jewish cemetery on Okopowa Street.

Wilhelm Lubelski

Grave of Filip Lubelski in the cemetery at Okopowa Street in Warsaw, source: cemetery.jewish.org.pl