Centre for the Study of Health, Ethics, and Society
Publication: 'Ambivalent Allies: Anglo-Polish Relations through Medical and Scientific Exchanges, 1939–1956'
9 December 2024
Photo: YouTube:UniwersytetMedyczny
By Will Studdert, Edward Corse, and Ulf Schmidt
In January 1946, the British Council re-opened its Warsaw Office. The following year, capitalizing on the desperate post-war conditions within Poland, the Council established Anglo-Polish exchanges in the fields of medicine and science, with the goal of both assisting in the rebuilding of Polish medical life and asserting British influence in Central Europe, whilst drawing on pre-existing Anglo-Polish medical ties that dated back to the pre-war period. What were the practical justifications for the visits from both British and Polish perspectives, and what purpose did they serve as a form of scientific diplomacy and cultural propaganda? This article will explore the organization, reception and substance of these exchanges, and the British and Polish scientists who participated in them, between 1947 and 1956.
