Born on 7th May 1818 in Tarnów, Józef Oettinger was a  doctor, historian of medicine as well as the first professor of the Jagiellonian University of Jewish descent. At the early age of 5, he lost both of his parents. He was then taken care of by his uncle, Jakub Adler –  a Krakow merchant who lived in  Krakow’s Kazimierz. After graduating from gymnasium, he enrolled at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University, only to change the faculty and begin studying medicine two years later. In 1843, he obtained the degree of doctor of medicine and started working in the Jewish hospital in Krakow a year later. During the “Springtime of Nations” he became a member of the National Committee established by patriots, representing the…

Born on 6th May 1881 in Przemyśl, Rafał Taubenschlag, son of  Bernard Baruch and Cecylia Cyrl, nee Goldhart, was a legal historian who specialised in Roman law and papyrology. Professor at the Jagiellonian University and the University of Warsaw, corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. Between 1942-1947, Rafał Taubenschalg worked as a Visiting Research Professor of Ancient Civilization at Columbia University and was the creator of The Journal of Juristic Papyrology. In 1949, he was awarded the Barczewski award by the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, followed by an honorary doctorate from the University of Warsaw a year later. In 1955, during the International Congress of Papyrologists in Vienna, he was elected its honorary chairman by acclamation. The academic community celebrated professor’s…