In memoriam Professor Maria Dąbska (20.07.1921 – 20.07.2014)

NON OMNIS MORIAR

In memoriam Professor Maria Dąbska (20.07.1921 – 20.07.2014)

Professor Maria Dąbska, PhD (hab.), MD, was a specialist in oncological pathomorphology. Her lifelong passion was tumour diagnostics, and she is unanimously acclaimed as an icon of Polish pathomorphology. Professor Maria Dąbska was born in Brodnica on 20 July 1921. She died on 20 July 2014, having lived for 93 years. During WWII, she was involved in the underground independence movement in Warsaw. She fought in the Warsaw Uprising as a member of the Polish Home Army. After the war, she took up studies at the Medical Academy in Gdańsk. She developed her knowledge of pathomorphology first by studying in Gdańsk under the guidance of Prof. Wilhelm Czarnocki and then at the Institute of Oncology in Warsaw. In 1957, Prof. Maria Dąbska completed a six-month internship under Prof. Rupert Alan Willis, a renowned oncopathologist, at the University of Leeds. In later years, as an experienced oncological pathomorphologist, she was received with the highest honours at medical universities in London, Stockholm, Bonn, Rochester and Stanford. In the 1980s, after the proclamation of the martial law in Poland, Prof. Maria Dąbska decided to emigrate. At first, she lived in Germany and then moved to the USA. At the age of 85, she returned from Florida to Warsaw [1]. Until the end of her life, she was keenly interested in new developments occurring in both interrelated medical fields: pathomorphology and oncology.
Professor Maria Dąbska worked at the Department of Tumour Pathology at Warsaw’s Institute of Oncology, where she accumulated knowledge in the field of oncological histopathology. Her mentor was Prof. Józef Laskowski. It is under his guidance that she learnt to diagnose tumours and link microscopic features to clinical manifestations. Professor Maria Dąbska contributed to expanding a new field within pathomorphology, termed “histoklinika” (“histoclinical analysis”), which was pioneered by Prof. J. La­skowski and heralded the future emergence of an internationally recognized branch of pathology called surgical pathology. While working at the Institute of Oncology, Prof. Dąbska continued to climb the scientific career ladder, gradually earning the academic titles and degrees of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor (docent) and Professor. In recognition of her extensive scientific contributions and organizational skills, Prof. Tadeusz Koszarowski appointed...


View full text...