Jan Mikulicz-Radecki

Introduction

Despite the passage of over a hundred years from the death of Jan Mikulicz-Radecki, the student of Theodor Billroth (1829 – 1894), and the founder of the the Wroclaw school of surgery, his name quite frequently appeared in the first decade of the XXI century. It appeared in articles concerning the historical background of modern European surgery [1-5] and in researches relating to the modern treatment of chronic diseases, which are now cured within the confines of internal medicine, ophthalmology and dermatology [6-12]. What is more, a great importance of the achievements that Mikulicz made for the development of modern techniques in surgery of the gastrointestinal tract [13, 14] and the thyroid [15] is indicated. His contribution to the development of gastrointestinal endoscopic examination earned him a well-deserved title of the “father of surgical endoscopy” [16]. His contemporaries called Mikulicz “a king in the kingdom of Surgeons”. He obtained excellent results in surgical treatment of patients using innovative, for that times, aseptic techniques [17, 18]. The researchers of history of medicine are frequently lacking the fact of Mikilicz’s interdisciplinary attitude towards diagnosis and the treatment of patients. The impact on the shaping of this attitude had both; his professional training, which took place in Vienna under the tutelage of Billroth [19, 20], and his broad interests that extend far beyond the field of surgery, and even beyond medicine. A fact that should be emphasized is the establishment by Mikulicz and Bernhard Naunyn (1839-1925) [21, 23] of an interdisciplinary journal “Mitteilungenaus den Grenzgebieten der Medizinund Chirurgie”, which integrated surgery and internal medicine. Owing to Mikulicz’s broad research interests, his name is frequently mentioned in everyday clinical practice not only among contemporary surgeons but also by dermatologists. Mikulicz explained the pathogenesis of the rhinoscleroma and described the cells characteristic of this disease, which were later named after him [24, 25]. He also described a disease of the salivary and lacrimal glands of a noninflammatory character, which until now exists in the international medical nomenclature as Mikulicz disease [6, 11] not to be confused with the Sjögren’s syndrome [26]. He has also developed an innovative method for treating difficult to heal wounds and ulcers of the skin using preparations containing iodine and maścią lapisową with Peruvian balm [25]. This ointment (also called Mikulicz ointment) to this day is used in surgical practice and dermatology.

Family and Education

Jan Mikulicz-Radecki was born on May 16, 1850 in Czerniowce in Bukowina.