Mosing, Henrik

He came from a Lviv family of doctors, where this profession was inherited from generation to generation. Doctors were his great-grandfather, grandfather and father. Since 1920, he studied at the III, and then the IVth gymnasium in Lviv, and since 1921, when the family moved to Przemysl, he studied there at the Second Junior State Gymnasium named after Kazimierz Moravsky, where he received a certificate of completion in 1928. Then he entered the Faculty of Medicine at the University. Ian Casimir in Lviv, who graduated in 1934. During his studies, he became interested in the research of the famous Rickettsia specialist, Rudolf Weigl , the inventor of the first vaccine against epidemic typhus , the author of the method of growing the pathogen - "Rickettsia prowazekii" in the gut of the laboratory population of lice, which led to the rapid development of the theory of rickettsia in the world. Upon graduation, Mosing began working at the Lviv Institute, which was headed by Weigl, taking care of the epidemiology of epidemic typhus. As a promising young scientist, Mosing was introduced to Nobel Laureate, the founder of the rickettsy theory , Charles Nicol , after which he was provided with the conditions for an internship at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, where he attended the corresponding course. He also visited the laboratory of another Nobel laureate Jules Bordet at the Pasteur Institute in Brussels. For four years, from 1935 to 1939, Mosing headed the Central Biological Laboratory of the Institute of Hygiene in Warsaw, continuing close contact with a teacher who worked in Lviv. In 1937, Weigl was the first employee to defend his doctoral dissertation at the age of 27, dedicated to the epidemiological and serological research of epidemic typhus. The results of his work were highly appreciated and were published in the official publication of the hygiene section of the League of Nations . In addition to typhus, he also studied Volyn fever . Research and publications made Mosing a renowned specialist in the field of epidemic typhus in the late 1930s. Recognizing his merits, the President of the Republic of Poland, Ignacy Moscicki, by order of September 23, 1938 awarded him the Golden Cross of Merit . But further work on this scientific problem of epidemic typhus was suspended due to the outbreak of World War II and the division of Poland between Germany and the USSR under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact .

In the days of the USSR (1939-1941)

After Lvov joined the USSR in 1939, the Lviv Sanitary and Bacteriological Institute was founded in 1940 on the basis of the Weigl Institute. It was headed by the Soviet public health organizer with extensive experience in managerial work, Sergei Terekhov. He drew attention to the young doctor of medicine, Mosing, who genuinely sympathized, recognizing in him an outstanding epidemiologist and a deeply decent person.

During the German occupation of Lviv

In the difficult years of the German occupation of Lviv, Mosing did not leave his teacher Weigl, became his deputy at the institute, together they were engaged in the production of typhoid vaccine , which, contrary to the ban of the German occupation authorities, was illegally distributed for vaccinating the civilian population. Thanks to Mosing's personal courage, this drug was delivered to ghettos, concentration camps. There is evidence that Mosing with Weigl maintained strong ties with the anti-fascist underground, many of its members received urgently needed vaccination and did not get sick with this serious illness. Edward Plezhchevsky wrote:

As the front approached, vaccine production was discontinued, and Weigl, at the request of the occupation authorities, was forced to move to Krakow in March 1944. But Weigl’s scientific heritage didn’t perish; when Lvov passed into the hands of the Soviet government in conditions of military disorder, Mosing, despite the danger of his own life, carefully preserved the unique laboratory equipment and biological material of the Weigl Institute. Thanks to Mosing, the pediculus humanus lice population and the rickettsia strains necessary for the production of a vaccine on an industrial scale are well adapted to laboratory conditions.

After the liberation of Lviv from German occupation

In 1944, together with Soviet troops, Terekhov returned to Lvov as an authorized representative of a healthcare organization on the territory liberated from German occupation. He well understood the crucial importance of Weigl’s work in solving the problem of epidemic typhus, and, knowing Mosing from the pre-war era, he took an unprecedented step - he appointed Mosing, despite his stay in German occupation, to the leading position of the acting director of the newly created Lviv Institute of Epidemiology and microbiology. Mosing as soon as possible organized the typhoid department and, on its basis, launched the production of Weigl vaccine. In the future, vaccine production was increased when Mosing also took the position of head of this department. At the same time, he again returned to the fundamental study of the epidemiology of epidemic typhus, which he began in the pre-war years, and which was interrupted by the occupation. The study of this infection in the post-war era was continued. Mosing, using Weigl’s stored methods, continued to study the biology of the pathogen, methods of laboratory diagnostics, accumulated all new materials, on the basis of which he later developed his own view on the prospect of the final elimination of epidemic typhus in the epidemiological circumstances that had formed at that time in the USSR. At this time, Henrik Mosing became a citizen of the USSR, was forced to change his name to Henry and add the patronymic of the Soviet system, traditional for the Soviet system.

In the early 1950s, due to anti-epidemic measures to combat epidemic typhus against the background of increasing population welfare, epidemic outbreaks of this infection in the USSR stopped, the incidence rate decreased and epidemic typhus was registered as sporadic diseases - Brill-Zinsser disease. These sporadic diseases occurred mainly in individuals, earlier - 15-20 years ago, they suffered from epidemic typhus during epidemics. There was no epidemiological link between these cases of Brill-Zinsser disease. At the most thorough examination, experienced epidemiologists could not identify foci of infection or establish transmission of the pathogen with lice. Diseases were recorded throughout the year without seasonality characteristic of the disease.

Based on his many years of epidemiological observations and significant experimental material, Mosing scientifically substantiated and proved that the elimination of epidemic typhus in the USSR is a long-term, decades-long process, and not a campaign limited to several years, according to the authors of the official doctrine. Referring to the observations of Hans Zinsser , who back in 1934 while studying sporadic diseases with epidemic typhus among European immigrants in the United States, he hypothesized that such diseases are relapses of epidemic typhus suffered many years ago. This disease was given the name Brill- Zinsser disease. Mosing believed that sporadic diseases in the USSR also have signs of recurrence and will occur permanently in the country for decades. At the same time, these sporadic cases of epidemic typhus are potentially dangerous and pose a threat of epidemics. Using concrete examples of epidemiological observations, Mosing confirmed this position. He showed that if a patient with Brill-Zinsser disease has pediculosis , such a patient can become a source of infection. The causative agent from it can be transmitted by lice to others, causing them not classic, but classic epidemic diseases and further epidemics. Regarding this mechanism of the occurrence of epidemic diseases, Mosing noted:

Mosing's concept, which opposed official Soviet doctrine that promised the immediate elimination of epidemic typhus in the USSR, was fiercely criticized by proponents of the classic view of the epidemiology of the disease. Zinsser's recurrent hypothesis provoked the greatest fury. References to foreign authors in those days when an implacable struggle was waged against cosmopolitanism was perceived extremely negatively. The case could result in repressive persecution, but this did not happen. Mosing's opponents in their many critical articles vehemently attacked him. But he was resistant to forwards, the opponent answered sincerely and politely, therefore his long-time opponent Lev Vasilievich Gromashevsky noted that "the scientific views of Henry Stanislavovich lead him to madness, but as a person he is in love with Henry Henry Stanislavovich."

Mosing, voicing his concept of the elimination of typhus, was well prepared for the development of events, he saw the future further than his contemporaries. Being not only an epidemiologist, but also an excellent clinician, he assessed the situation in advance and came to the conclusion that identifying sporadic forms of typhus would be significant difficulties for practicing doctors, despite the common atypical, mild or moderate severity of the disease. According to Mosing's concept, the final elimination of epidemic typhus in the USSR was carried out when demographic processes would lead to the complete elimination of carriers of persistent infection. Given all this, he already in the early 50s identified the main areas of scientific research on the problem of typhus and established that to maximize the detection of sporadic diseases should use the capabilities of laboratory diagnostics. Therefore, events gradually developed in the direction indicated by Mosing. According to his concept, an effective system of anti-epidemic measures was created in the USSR aimed at preventing the occurrence of new cases of epidemic diseases with epidemic typhus.

Mosing achieved an effective embodiment of his conception thanks to the development of the extremely successful, widely available for practical use reaction of the rickettsia Provachek macrogallucination, which was called the Mosing reaction. This highly specific and sensitive diagnostic test, which is simple to execute and evaluate results, has been widely used, including in rural areas, in those district laboratories, which were headed only by laboratory assistants, and not bacteriologists, in the post-war years. The method developed by Mosing was used directly in hospitals, which made it possible to quickly and fully identify cases of epidemic typhus, including with atypical, worn-out forms. The Mosing reaction made it possible to solve the laboratory diagnostics of typhus, without resorting to trying to solve this problem with the help of the technically complex and imperfect other reactions that existed at that time. It should be noted that only the cultivation of rickettsia by the Weigl method made it possible to obtain such a perfect diagnosticum, since other known technologies are unsuitable for this. The use of the Mosing test was included in the list of mandatory measures to combat epidemic typhus in the USSR.

By decree No. 235 of the USSR Ministry of Health on February 19, 1960, he was again appointed deputy director of science at the Lviv Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, and on February 11, 1961 he was awarded the Badge of Honor . ” However, the position of deputy director was taken from him after 5 months. In the 1960s, Mosing's findings were summarized and distributed in a multi-volume publication on the microbiology and epidemiology of infectious diseases ^[1] .

He, not being an employee of a unit or institution that performed a rickets diagnosticum, for 20 years, from 1952 until his retirement in 1973, without any remuneration in the form of wages, but only on the so-called “voluntary basis” He led the production of the diagnosticum, ensuring the release of the drug in the required quantities, voluntarily assumed responsibility for the implementation of the industrial plan and product quality. It should also be noted that he made special small test tubes and racks necessary for the agglutination reaction at his own expense and, together with the diagnosticum, sent it to consumers, ensuring the immediate use of the diagnosticum. Mosing also did not receive any payment for long-term voluntary feeding of an incredibly large number of lice when studying the biology of the pathogen during the formation of its concept of eliminating typhoid and other experiments. Lice was fed as follows. A special box was hooked on the man’s forearm, in which lice were placed, which through a special net that did not allow them to crawl out, but they could bite through human skin and thus feed. Such people, the lice-feeders, received money for this, but Mosing didn’t take a fee for this. In the future, this overload negatively affected his state of health. Rickets diagnosticum was made from 1952 to 2008. Unfortunately, the collection of perennial sequential series of this unique diagnostic tool, carefully laid by Mosing, was lost in the 1990s.

According to orders, instructions, guidelines and other policy documents of the Ministry of Health of the USSR and the republics that were part of it, measures for the prevention of epidemic typhus, processed according to Mosing's concept, were carried out throughout the USSR. The incidence was taken under constant control; the number of recorded cases of sporadic typhus - Brill-Zinsser disease first increased for a significant improvement in diagnostic methods, reflecting the true incidence rate. As a result, there has been a tendency towards a gradual decrease in the incidence. Over the years, morbidity has been increasingly observed in older age groups of the population, that is, there has been an “aging” of epidemic typhus with a decrease in the overall incidence rate. Mostly sick people of older and older. This “aging” has become another conclusive evidence that sporadic diseases are inherently relapses.

In parallel with his scientific activities, Mosing created in Ukraine the first scientific and methodological center in the USSR to combat epidemic typhus. He personally headed this structure, directly carried out careful control of the epidemiological situation and measures to combat this disease. The center was created supported by the leading medical bodies of the USSR. Thanks to this, the vicious practice of hiding the actual incidence of epidemic typhus in the reports was excluded. On the contrary, an increase in the number of diseases was assessed as a positive phenomenon, proof of skillful diagnostic work. This made it possible for Mosing to protect those practitioners who had a well-organized diagnosis, and without fear they reported true data on the incidence of epidemic typhus.

Mosing's exceptionally fruitful work was noted in the world, he was invited to a WHO expert session, but the Soviet government did not give permission for him to go abroad. A report was made in Geneva by his former adversary, Professor P.F. Zdrodovsky, who at that time, under the influence of Mosing's arguments, had revised his position, becoming an adherent of his concept. He made a report on the state of the fight against the disease in the USSR, not forgetting to note the role of Mosing in this. The scientific concept of the scientist has received worldwide recognition. The polemic over the recurring hypothesis gradually subsided, and in the end, in 1973, the Ministry of Health of the USSR officially announced the end of the discussion regarding the genesis of sporadic diseases with epidemic typhus.

Although Mosing had a doctorate in medicine in Poland since 1937, he had to defend new dissertations in accordance with Soviet law. In June 1948, Mosing was awarded the degree of candidate of medical sciences after defense, and in December 1956, doctor of medical sciences for the dissertation “Five-day (trench or Volyn) fever and paroxysmal rickettsiosis”.

In the end, epidemic typhus as a mass disease was eliminated not only in the USSR, but throughout Eastern Europe.

In May 1973 he was retired without any honors or worthy rewards for his enormous, decisive contribution to the elimination of epidemic typhus in the USSR, for many years of extremely fruitful scientific work. Thanking the staff of his laboratory for the service, after a warm touching farewell, Mosing left the walls of his native institution forever.

He partially lost his sight due to long work with a microscope, but continued to advise numerous friends and students, among whom were future professors, doctors of medical sciences. His student, a famous Ukrainian epidemiologist, professor Konstantin Mikhailovich Sinyak wrote:

While retired, Mosing took part in two research projects of the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

He was a deeply pious man, helping orphans. When in the 1960s he was allowed to come to the Polish People’s Republic, roaming his deep desire and sense of extraordinary personality, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, primate of the Polish church, according to a joint decision taken together with Archbishop Karol Wojtyła, ordained Mosing as priest in Lasky near Warsaw .

Returning to Lviv as a priest, he began to associate his further scientific and medical work with the sacred ministry. Picking up the pseudonym "Father Paul", he began a peculiar pastoral activity, which his friend Professor Mechislav Goubarovich called "balancing on the edge of the abyss." Bishop Leon the Small recalled:

Edward Plezhchevsky emphasized the uniqueness of the prayers of Father Paul, his accessibility to people, wrote about his ministry as follows:

Vladislav Schepansky praised the activities of Mosing:

Mosing helped priests in the Ukrainian SSR and MSSR. He also traveled with a church mission to the Stavropol Territory, the Caucasus, Kazakhstan, and traveled to Tbilisi. In 1992, he had the first signs of a serious illness, he was no longer able to leave his apartment, but continued to receive patients. December 6, 1994 he was paralyzed. On November 13, 1999, he celebrated his last Mass.

Henrik Mosing died in Lviv on November 27, 1999, after seven years of fighting a long, debilitating disease. He was buried in a family crypt at Lychakiv cemetery . The funeral ceremony was chaired by the Metropolitan of Lviv Marian Yavorsky, who read out the message of mourning from Pope John Paul II ^[2] .

The famous Soviet infectious disease specialist and writer, professor Boris Leontyevich Ugryumov wrote:

• “A modern scientist knows a lot, but he understands a little. It is interesting that today, with such a highly developed technique, thinking is becoming less and less important. "
• "Without words, you can become a saint, but without disciples, no."
• "We know how to ask, but we do not know how to thank."

• M. Sagaidakovsky ABOUT THE DECISIVE CONTRIBUTION OF DOCTOR HENRY STANISLAVOVICH MOSING TO THE ELIMINATION OF TYPE TYPE ON THE EXPANDING PART OF THE EURASIAN CONTINENT WITHIN THE EXTERNAL USSR. On the centenary of the birth of H. S. Mosing [2]
• “Henryk Mosing epidemiolog, społecznik, kapłan” Gazeta Lekarska Rocznik 2000 Gazety Lekarskiej Numer 2000-02 [3] (Polish)
• Władysław Szczepański. CAŁE ŻYCIE W SŁUŻBIE LUDZIOM. Wspomnienie o ks. prof. Henryku Mosingu [4] (Polish)
• Maria Basza. Wielki i skromny człowiek. 105 rocznica urodzin ks. prof. Henryka Mosinga (1910-1999) Kurier galicyjski 12/03/2015 [5] (Polish)

• Henryk Mosing (Polish)
• Henryk Mosing epidemiolog, społecznik, kapłan
• Wspomnienie o ks. prof. Henryku Mosingu
• Mikołaj Sahajdakowski - Działalność dra Henryka Mosinga w powojennym Lwowie
• Dokumenty źródłowe Henryka Mosinga