People of Poland · Science & Discovery
Science & Discovery · 1827–1877
Polikarp Girsztowt
The surgeon who organised medical care for insurgents
A surgeon, university teacher and medical writer who helped coordinate care for the wounded during the January Uprising.
Photograph: Brit in Poland archive, Holy Cross Church, Warsaw. This is a later memorial or representation, not an original lifetime portrait.
From Samogitia to Warsaw
Born in 1827 in the historic Lithuanian lands, Girsztowt trained in St Petersburg and gained early surgical experience in military medicine before building his career in Warsaw.
A teacher of surgery
He became a Warsaw medical professor, contributed to the development of surgical training, edited the medical journal Gazeta Lekarska and wrote specialist works.
Medicine in the January Uprising
During the 1863–64 uprising, he chaired the medical commission connected with the insurgent National Government, helping organise care for wounded fighters under difficult conditions.
A complicated shared heritage
His career belongs to the history of both Poland and Lithuania. The monument at Holy Cross Church provides a Warsaw point of contact with a broader nineteenth-century story of medicine and political upheaval.
Explore the story
Visit the memorial at Holy Cross Church on Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw. This profile will gain further site links as the Warsaw guide develops.