Hilary Koprowski (1916-2013)

Abstract

Hilary Koprowski, great Polish virologist, creator the first effective polio vaccine, died at the age of 96 on 11 April, 2013 in his home in Wynnewood near Philadelphia where he lived from 1944. He was one of the outstanding scientists of our time. His research were directly connected with a variety of  significant clinical advances in human and animal immunology and virology. Since 1957 for three decades Koprowski was director of Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology transforming it into leading center of biomedical research. Koprowski has been pioneer in the development of monoclonal antibodies used to cancer diagnostics and immunotheraphy. He was the recipient of many international, also Polish, honors and distinctions. With his passion to music, literature and art Hilary Koprowski was truly a renaissance man.