page_title: Jagiellonian University Medical College
section_title: History of the Medical College
hierarchical_section_title: Jagiellonian University Medical College / History of the Medical College
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Tu zasiadają JM Rektor, profesorowie,...
context_page_description: Jagiellonian University Medical College is the oldest medical school in Poland. The Jagiellonian University's Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy are acclaimed as one of the largest medical academies in Poland. The school was established by King Casimir III of Poland in 1364.
context_section_description: When King Casimir III the Great in 1364 established the University of Kraków, there were initially three faculties. The Faculty of Medicine included two types of professors: Professor of Medicine, or lector ordinarius in medicines, and presumably a Professor of Astronomy, who would lecture on astrology, which for a long time remained an inextricable part of medicine. All lectures took place in the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill.
  King Władysław Jagiełło, using jewels donated by his wife, Queen Jadwiga, financed the restoration of the University in 1400. Stanisław of Skarbimierz, the first Rector of the University, stressed the importance of the Faculty of Medicine already in his inauguration speech. Soon after the restoration process, renowned Polish and foreign scholars began to arrive at the University. Jan Kro of Chociebuż (Johannes Kro de Kostebus) was one of its first Professors, as well as the first physician to be chosen as Rector of the University, a position he assumed in 1419. Other notable scholars include Jan of Pawia (Johannes de Saccis de Pavia), who introduced the first statute of the Faculty of Medicine in 1433, Marcin Król of Żurawica, and Piotr Gaszowiec of Loćmierz, who, in addition to medicine, displayed great interest in astronomy and astrology.
  At the time, each physician who practiced in Kraków, nationality notwithstanding, was obliged to teach as a lecturer of medicine, or lector in medicines. Owing to this fact, already in the 15th century, the teaching staff at the Faculty of Medicine numbered nearly 50 members.
  One of the greatest personalities of the 16th century was undoubtedly Maciej of Miechów (1457-1523), a historian and physician; he served as Rector of the University for eight terms and is often called the "Polish Hippocrates". Other eminent scholars include Wojciech Oczko (1537-1599), author of many meticulous works on balneology and syphilology; Sebastian Petrycy of Pilzno (1554-1626), a clinician, philanthropist, and renowned expert on Aristotle; and Josephus Struthius (1510-1568), a critic of Galen and author of Sphygmicae artis libri quinque (1555), a treatise on the human pulse, he went on to lecture in Padua.
  The 17th and 18th centuries saw a decline in the University, marked mainly by external factors (e.g., the 1655-1660 Swedish invasions), which led to a decrease in the number of students. Those students who decided to stay in Kraków, especially medical students, oftentimes received an incomplete education and had to supplement their studies abroad, mainly in Italy, where they obtained doctoral degrees.
  The second half of the 18th century saw the condition of the University improve dramatically when, in 1773, the Commission of National Education entrusted Hugo Kołłątaj with the task of reform, carried out from 1778 to 1780. This reform initiated a new period in the history of the Faculty of Medicine: Professor Andrzej Badurski (1740-1789) worked to establish a clinic, ultimately opened in 1780, and Rafał Józef Czerwiakowski (1743-1816) began to teach surgery and, as Professor of Anatomy, was one of the first to perform posthumous examinations in Poland. When Kraków was partitioned as part of the Austrian Empire in 1796, attempts were made at transforming the University into an Austrian institution through the introduction of foreign teachers. Not until 1809, when Kraków was partitioned as part of the Duchy of Warsaw, did the University regain its Polish identity.
  The University entered into a period of prosperity when Kraków gained political independence in 1815-1846. The university owes its renown to such academics as Józef Brodowicz (1790-1885), Professor of Internal Diseases; Ludwik Bierkowski (1801-1860), Professor of Surgery; and Józef Majer (1808-1899) and Fryderyk Skobel (1806-1878), Professors of theoretical sciences. The 19th century saw a period of further prosperity at the Faculty of Medicine and University, owing to such outstanding scholars and physicians as Józef Dietl (1804-1878); Edward Korczyński (1844-1905); Walery Jaworski (1849-1924), in internal diseases; Jan Mi
caption: Collegium Maius
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