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Eugenia Piasecka-Zeylandowa
Eugenia Piasecka and her husband Janusz Zeyland made a good research team. The two of them met at work – they were both employed by the Department of Pathological Anatomy of the University of Poznań.
During their research stay in Paris in 1925 the couple became interested in the new BCG vaccine for tuberculosis. Interest in the vaccine was growing in Poland because the country had one of the biggest TB-related death rates in Europe.
After two years of extensive research, the Zeylands proved the efficacy of the BCG vaccine. In 1928 they launched a project of free vaccination of children. Eugenia was responsible for producing and testing the vaccine.
During the Second World War the Zeylands were forcibly repatriated. They stayed in Warsaw, worked at a hospital and conducted classes at the Secret University of the Western Lands.
Their life together, both private and academic, ended when Janusz died tragically during the Warsaw Uprising.
Wisława Knapowska
Her biography sets an example of how big the support of your family can be. Wisława came from a family of seven. The siblings lost their parents very early – when Wisława was 13 years old. Then they were taken care of by their aunt. The Knapowski siblings supported one another. Together they decided that only two of them would go to university: Wisława and Roch. The other sisters went to work to help raise money for their education. The Knapowski sisters lived together till the end of their lives and took care of their aunt.
Helena Szafranówna
She came from a poor family. Her father was a shoemaker. Helena worked at his workshop to raise money for the school fees. After graduating from the secondary school, she was helping her mother bring up her younger siblings. When her father fell ill, she went to work to support her family. Only when her younger sisters grew up and could earn a living themselves, did Helena go back to school. She graduated from a teacher training school and passed the school-leaving exam. In 1922, at the age of 34, she began to study biology at the University of Poznań.