Wacław Szybalski facts for kids
Wacław Szybalski (born September 9, 1921 – died December 16, 2020) was a famous Polish-American scientist. He was a professor who studied oncology (the study of cancer) at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Medical School. He made important discoveries in genetics and cancer research.
Life Story
Wacław Szybalski was born in September 1921 in a city called Lviv in Poland. His family was part of the Polish intelligentsia, which means they were well-educated people like professors and artists. His father, Stefan, was an engineer, and his mother, Michalina, was a Doctor of Chemistry. The Szybalski family knew many important Polish thinkers in Lviv, including Professor Jan Czekanowski, who helped start Polish anthropology (the study of human societies), and Professor Rudolf Stefan Weigl, a scientist who studied bacteria.
In 1939, Szybalski finished high school at a famous school in Lviv. Soon after, World War II began. From September 23, 1939, Lviv was taken over by the Soviet Union. Szybalski joined the Chemistry Department at the Lviv Polytechnic university. There, he was very interested in the lessons from Professor Adolf Joszt. Professor Joszt was an expert in fermentation (a process where tiny living things change substances, like in making bread or yogurt). Joszt already had ideas about developing science in new ways, like genetic engineering and biotechnology. These ideas greatly influenced Szybalski's future scientific path.
In 1941, after Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Lviv was taken over by the Nazis. Szybalski survived this difficult time by working at Rudolf Weigl's institute. This institute researched typhus, a serious disease. Szybalski's job was to be a feeder of lice. This meant he helped feed the lice that were used in the research to create a vaccine against typhus.
Later, Szybalski moved to the United States. He became a professor who studied oncology (cancer) at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Medical School.
He passed away in December 2020 in Madison, Wisconsin, when he was 99 years old.
More to Explore
- Szybalski's rule
- List of famous Polish people
- He was a member of the Kosciuszko Foundation Collegium of Eminent Scientists of Polish Origin and Ancestry (2014). This group recognizes important scientists of Polish background.
