Medical Globetrotters and Persevering Women From Galicia

Over centuries, Jewish medical practitioners faced contrasting attitudes of their brethren or society at large: from being admired to looked upon with a deep suspicion. Starting in the 16th century, aspiring Jewish men from Galicia and Lithuania ventured to Padua University to study medicine, while other schools barred Jews across Europe. From the end of the 18th century, the next generations attended Habsburg universities: from Lemberg/Lwów and Kraków to Vienna and Pest. Jewish surgeons and physicians influenced Galician life far beyond their medical talents. They served as intercessors (shtadlanim) for their communities; later, many nineteenth-century medical practitioners advocated religious and civic reforms. Their literary expressions—in German, Hebrew, or Polish—provoked fierce debates or reflections. At the turn of the 20th century, Jewish women sought university education in medicine, changing societal and family norms.

In this talk, we will discover surprising details about these Jewish globetrotters and intellectual rebels brought to light through newly uncovered records.