Development of medicine in Vilnius. The beginning of urology using the examples of Kornel Michejda (1887-1960) and Simon Perlmann (1898-1949)

Abstract

The Polish University in Vilnius was reopened in 1919. In 1924, a surgical clinic with 110 beds was established. Professor Kornel Michejda, a student of Professor Kader from Cracow, became the first director of the Department of Surgery. Professor Michejda was a talented lecturer and skilled general surgeon. Besides abdominal, thorax, breast, and orthopedic surgery, Michejda was also interested in urology. He operated on numerous patients with diseases of the urogenital system. In 1933, he was the first head of the department to establish a urological ward at his Vilnius surgical clinic and to organize aseparate urology outpatient department at the clinic. The first head of the urological department was Dr. Simon Perlmann, an experienced surgeon and urologist. He learned surgery from Professor Bier and urology from Professor Eugen Joseph in Berlin. After the suicide of his boss Eugen Joseph, Perlmann left Berlin and immigrated to Vilnius (Poland), his homeland. There he became the head of the urological ward. He transferred pioneering methods of urological diagnostics and therapy from Berlin to Vilnius during his short tenure from 1933 to 1935, thus, modernizing this facility considerably. Thanks to his commitment and professional experience he was able to organize the department from the beginning so that it could offer modern diagnostics and urological care. In this case, an endoscopic urologist contributed significantly to the establishment of the oldest Polish University. Michejda, Perlmann and Janowicz are the founders of urology in Vilnius. Extensive research has been conducted in archives and libraries in Poland Lithuania, Germany, and Israel. Up to the end of 1945 there was no independent separate urology department in Vilnius.