 hilary koprowski (december 5, 1916april 11, 2013) was a polish and american virologist and immunologist, and the inventor of the world's first effective live polio vaccine. he authored or co-authored over 875 scientific papers and co-edited several scientific journals. koprowski received many academic honors and national decorations, including the belgian order of the lion, the french order of merit and legion of honour, finland's order of the lion, and poland's order of merit. koprowski was the target of accusations by the british press in the so-called opv aids hypothesis, which nevertheless has been refuted by evidence proving that the hiv-1 virus was introduced to humans long before his polio-vaccine trials were conducted in africa. the case was settled out of court with the formal apology from the rolling stone. ==life==  hilary koprowski was born in warsaw, poland, to paweÅ (paul) and sonia koprowski. the parents had met in 1906 while hilary koprowski's father was serving in the russian army, and they had moved to warsaw soon after their marriage in 1912.the pawel koprowski memorial vacation award was founded by hilary koprowski in 1958 in honor of his father. hilary koprowski attended warsaw's mikoÅaj rej secondary school, and from age twelve he took piano lessons at the warsaw conservatory. he received a medical degree from warsaw university in 1939. he also received music degrees from the warsaw conservatory and, in 1940, from the santa cecilia conservatory in rome. he adopted scientific research as hi
1916_births 2013_deaths Accademia_Nazionale_di_Santa_Cecilia_alumni American_immunologists American_medical_researchers American_people_of_Polish-Jewish_descent American_virologists Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_Lion_of_Finland Fryderyk_Chopin_University_of_Music_alumni Fulbright_Scholars Grand_Crosses_of_the_Order_of_Merit_of_the_Republic_of_Poland LA(c)gion_d\'honneur_recipients Members_of_the_Polish_Academy_of_Sciences Members_of_the_United_States_National_Academy_of_Sciences People_from_Pearl_River,_New_York Poliomyelitis Polish_emigrants_to_the_United_States Polish_immunologists Recipients_of_the_Order_of_the_Smile Rockefeller_Foundation University_of_Warsaw_alumni Vaccinologists