Background History

Part:    1    2    3    4

Glancing through the pages of the first issues of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne, now yellowed with age and published over half a century ago, it is hard to imagine the beginnings of this first monthly journal for Polish dental surgeons that emerged after five years of the Nazi occupation.

Despite mounting difficulties, Stanisław Bloch, a dental surgeon, the founder and the first editor of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne, must have spared no effort, energy or initiative to launch its publication in a country destroyed by war, and depleted both intellectually and economically.

Stanisław Bloch was born on 21 February 1893 in Warsaw. He completed his secondary education in Warsaw in 1910, and five years later graduated as a dental surgeon. That same year he began his medical studies in the Faculty of Medicine at Warsaw University but had to abandon them before completion in 1922.

Before and after World War One Dr Bloch worked on the surgical ward of the Infant Jesus Hospital, at the same time heading both the Union Clinic of Dental Radiology and the Dental Clinic in the Shelter for the Physically Handicapped in Warsaw. He broadened his education and specialized abroad in Berlin, Vienna and Rostock University Clinics headed by Professors Wiliger, Pichler and Moral.

Between both World Wars he acted both as chairman and vice-chairman of the Dental Surgeons’ Union in Poland. Between 1927 and 1938 he edited the monthly Dental News in which he published scientific papers as well as papers on social and professional matters. Under the auspices of Stanisław Bloch, who headed the Department of Dental Publications, several Polish dental textbooks were published.

In 1938, Dr Stanisław Bloch became vice-chairman of the General Medical and Dental Council in Warsaw. After the war he continued in the same capacity until the Council’s dissolution. When the war broke out in 1939, Dr Bloch found himself in the USSR where he completed two courses: paramedical and sanitary-administrative; he then worked as a sanitary and epidemiological doctor, and also headed a dental clinic.

Fig. 1 Professor Stanisław Bloch (1893-1953)

In 1945, he returned to Poland having been summoned by The Polish Committee of National Liberation. He was appointed head of the Dental Clinic for the Office for Rebuilding Ports in Gdańsk’s Marine Council and Social Insurance.

In 1948, Dr Stanisław Bloch sets up Czasopismo Stomatologiczne which becomes a publication of the General Medical and Dental Council in Warsaw. In the same year he is appointed assistant professor for the Faculty of Dental Prosthodontics at the Medical University in Gdańsk, which he organizes from scratch (fig. 1).

In 1949, Dr Stanisław Bloch got his doctorate at Warsaw University, and the title of Doctor of Dental Science. In 1951, he became dean of the Division of Dentistry at the Medical University in Gdańsk, and was appointed associate professor. Fatal illness put an end to his busy life. Professor Stanisław Bloch died on 22 September 1953 in Stockholm. He was buried on 2 October 1953 in Gdańsk’s Meritorious Section of the maritime cemetery.

The first issue of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne was published in January 1948 with 2000 copies printed. Prof. Stanisław Bloch was its founder and chief editor, with Assistant Professor Tadeusz Karnibad and Janusz Krzywicki as temporary members of the editorial board. The editorial office and administration of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne were located in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz at 40, Morska Street in the editor’s private flat. At that time, The General Medical and Dental Council, located in Warsaw at 37, Koszykowa Street, was the publisher of this journal.

Fig. 2 The cover of the first issue of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne published in January 1948

The cover of the first and the subsequent six annals of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne (A4 size) was soft (fig. 2). The second, third and fourth pages contained advertisements on the sale of dental materials and the equipment for dental surgeries. The first issue was divided into sections: scientific, abstracts, and the official section of Medical Councils. That first section of the first issue contained only one paper by Dr Roman Michałowski “Cheilitis glandularis – precancerous lesions of the lower lip” which was followed by bibliography and abstracts in both English and French. In the abstracts section one could find 16 briefs on Polish and foreign articles.

The last 12 pages of the 32-page issue were devoted to “The Official Section of the Medico-Dental Council”. Here we find a number of announcements and reports on the activities of the Main and Regional Medico-Dental Councils (Warsaw, Cracow, Poznań, and Gdańsk’s branch). Also personal data were included on the change of home addresses of dentists, the change of the surnames of female dentists who got married, permanent relocation abroad, and demises.

The first issue of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne also contains Kazimierz Dominik’s “In memory of Franciszek Borusiewicz”, Ludwik Sieppl’s “History of the Jagiellonian University’s Dental Clinic”, the report on the activities of “The Dental Section of the Doctors’ Union in Cracow” by Jerzy Drozdowski. At the time one issue cost 200 zloty. Nine out of twelve 1948 issues had soft, black and white covers. The second and the fifth issue had a blue cover (fig. 3). Apparently, the cost of printing a coloured cover was too high, and so, as of the sixth – June issue of 1948, till January 1954 all the covers were black and white.

Fig. 3 The blue cover of the February issue of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne from 1948

Fig. 4 The red cover of the March issue of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne from 1948

The subsequent 1948 issues of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne contained more scientific articles – between two and five. The abstract section was quite large, and the announcements of the Medico-Dental Councils numerous. As of the second issue we find a new section devoted to “Life of Dental Academia”. It reported on the first Polish doctorates in dentistry. The first dental surgeon to undertake doctoral studies after the war was Janina Galasińska-Landsberger. She defended her doctoral thesis at the University of Łódź on 30 March 1947. It concerned “Wing prosthesis”. Professor Alfred Meissner supervised the thesis.

The second doctoral student was Feliks Rutkowski, a dental surgeon, who, on 22 June 1947 defended his thesis – also at the University of Łódź. His research concerned “A novel method of splinting mobile teeth in chronic periodontal conditions. A semi-rigid splint.”

The third in turn Doctor of Dentistry, and, at the same time, the first in Warsaw’s Medical University was Kazimierz Dominik, a dental surgeon. His research focused on “Specific organotherapy of periodontitis primarily based on vaduril.” The thesis was promoted in Warsaw on 30 November 1947 and was supervised by Professor Antoni Dobrzański.

As Polish dental schools were developing, in 1948 we observe the emergence of regional editorial offices in Cracow, Lublin, Poznań and Wrocław (fig. 5). The one in Warsaw was set up in 1951, and in Gdańsk as late as 1953. These offices did not survive in their original form and staff but laid the foundations for future, much extended editorial board.

The second year of existence saw the change in the graphic layout of the front cover of the first issue of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne (fig. 6). It continued virtually unchanged until 1954. The 1949 annual differed from the previous one in that all titles of papers now had three language versions: Polish, French and English. The much extended Abstract Section suffered in western materials in favour of the Soviet ones.

Fig. 5 Lists of members of the regional committees and the rules and regulations printed in the blue August issue of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne from 1948

Fig. 6 A different layout of the cover of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne in 1949 – its second year

The sixth issue of 1949 is worth a mention. It carries an editorial on the correctness of dental terminology. The editor approached the Radio Language Helpline – run at that time by Dr Witold Doroszewski – with the following query: which form or spelling is correct: “witamin” or “witamina”, and how to decline “ozębna”: “ozębny” or “ozębnej”. Having provided the explanation, which neither Prof. Witold Sylwanowicz nor Stanisław Bloch seemed to accept, Dr Doroszewski concluded that the title of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne seems to be directly related to titles of German scientific journals, such as “Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Sprachforschung”, “Zeitschrift für Phisikalische Chemie”, etc. Dr Doroszewski claimed that the word “czasopismo” is a translation of the German word “Zeitschrift” and is used in Polish to refer to all types of regular publications, including the dailies. In his opinion, all titles of scientific journals should contain a more precise word like “a monthly” or “a quarterly”, rather than a far too general term “czasopismo”, which, he maintained, looked out of place in a scientific publication.

The then editor of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne replied in the following way: “… I must grant that citizen Dr Doroszewski is right. Indeed, the word “czasopismo” (a journal) is a direct translation of the German “Zeitschrift”. However, “przegląd” (a review) is also translated from the German “Rundschau” in the same way as “dziennik” (a daily) originates from “Tagblatt”. So much for the semantics. When it comes to the reasons as to why this particular word was selected for our publication let me explain what follows. When the efforts of late Franciszek Borusiewicz to launch the publication resulted in the permission to publish the first dental magazine in Liberated Poland we had no money or staff; nor did we know whether our publication would appear annually, quarterly or bimonthly. That is the reason why it is called “Czasopismo”. Yet, it is not a translation from German, but a word in its own right like many that we find in other languages: przegląd, Rundschau, obozreńje, revue, etc.

In 1950, the General Medical and Dental Council was dissolved. The third issue of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne, which appeared in March 1950, was the last one it published. As of April 1950, Czasopismo Stomatologiczne was published by the National Institute of Medical Publications (Państwowy Zakład Wydawnictw Lekarskich – PZWL) in Warsaw. The journal retained its editorial office, the address, and regional branches.

The administration of Czasopismo was now run by the Department of Magazines at PZWL in Warsaw at 22, Chocimska Street. The change of the publisher coincided with the disappearance of titles and abstracts in French which were replaced by summaries in Russian. The Medico-Dental Councils continued to publish their announcements until the final dissolution of these institutions in October 1950. As of the eleventh issue, all the personal information concerning dental surgeons disappeared, never to return in its original form.

Fig. 7 As of January 1952 Czasopismo Stomatologiczne became a publication of the Polish Dental Association

In 1951, the Office of Scientific Board affiliated to the Ministry of Health responded to petitions and established the Polish Dental Association (Polskie Towarzystwo Stomatologiczne – PTS). The task of its organization was delegated to Dr Feliks Rutkowski who set up the Organizing Committee in Warsaw. It consisted of representatives and heads of: the Ministry of Health, Dental Divisions of Medical Faculties, wards and dental surgery clinics, trade unions, and former Medico-Dental Councils. According to the statute, any dental surgeon could become a member of the Association. For this purpose, its regional branches were set up in Warsaw, Cracow, Łódź, Poznań, Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz, Wrocław, Zabrze, Lublin, Szczecin and Białystok. It was decided that the Association would be responsible for editing its own publication.

In November 1953, Professor Aleksander Ujejski became the first chairman of the Polish Dental Association. Czasopismo Stomatologiczne became its official organ, and changed its cover (fig. 7).

In October 1953, Professor Stanisław Bloch – the founder and the first editor of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne – died. Six annuals of Czasopismo Stomatologiczne (1948-1953) published under his editorship comprise 270 original papers, 743 abstracts of dental scientific materials published worldwide, 129 articles on the social and professional aspect of academic life, reviews, etc. These figures, in practice, reflect six years of Prof. Stanisław Bloch’s hard, creative work for Czasopismo Stomatologiczne and dentistry in Poland.

* * *

Part:    1    2    3    4