Non Omnis Moriar
In memoriam Professor Jerzy Kazimierz Rabczyński
(11.05.1942–28.08.2012)

Nowadays, in the era of the Internet, it is not difficult to find out what kind of a researcher the late Professor was. However, there is no technology available that would help to tell what kind of a human being he was. It took years of working at the same faculty and years of friendship to get to know Professor Jerzy Rabczyński, an extraordinary person that he was. He appeared aloof and unapproachable, yet that was a mask he was wearing, as he was in fact a good, helpful and empathic person. Frequently, when I asked for his help, I heard I had to leave because he did not have time; generally, I barely managed to reach the door when he would say “All right, tell me what you wanted”. Sometimes, depending on the scale of the problem, such a conversation could be very long because the Professor tried to help in each life situation and you had to know him to understand that after the first reaction, the second one would be coming shortly. We worked together since 1973 in the Faculty directed by Professor Zygmunt Albert and from 1979, by Professor Bożena Zawirska, both extremely demanding professors.

When I started to work on October 1st, 1973, Professor Rabczyński was an assistant professor there. I perfectly remember that day when I entered the Institute frightened, assistant professor Rabczyński shook my hand, said “I'm Jurek, the Professor is already waiting” and walked me to Professor Albert's office. He did not keep his distance, yet he was demanding for his younger colleagues, he impressed us not only with his medical knowledge, but also with his knowledge of Latin, which was required by our director at the time.

After Professor Zawirska retired, Professor Rabczyński became the new director of the Faculty and Institute of Pathomorphology. The transformation time in Poland was very difficult, but nevertheless, the Professor managed to significantly upgrade the equipment of the Institute. He was a very active researcher and he authored or co-authored 430 publications; even this year, when he was already seriously ill, four of his papers appeared in periodicals with a high impact factor.

The Institute of Pathomorphology, also under Professor Rabczyński's management, has always ranked very high in university school rankings (typically between the 1st and 4th place) thanks to the late Professor, his research activities and the activity of those he managed to stimulate to work. His main research areas were nephropathology, pathology of female reproductive organs and digestive system.

During his tenure as a director, three employees were qualified as assistant professors and two as full professors. Professor Rabczyński was a supervisor of many doctoral dissertations; he held numerous important positions at the University as well as in the region (He was a Regional Specialist in Pathology from 1995 to 1998). For his work Professor Rabczyński was awarded by the Vice-Chancellor of the University and honored by the state authorities.

Professor Jerzy Rabczyński educated many generations of students, physicians and dentists (he developed a unique program for teaching pathology to dentists). He was an outstanding teacher, much valued by the academic youth, of whom he was a great friend.

The Professor also had numerous interests extending well beyond his chosen profession, His greatest passion was angling. In September, he would usually go angling to Sweden with his friends; this year he will not go anymore. He was supposed to retire on October 1, but he did not live up to this moment.

Jurek, you left behind a huge void and emptiness along with the memories of the past years. We will remember you not only as our principal, but above all as our friend.



Professor Michał Jeleń