The academic and scientific legacy of Professor Włodzimierz Jan Sieradzki as the founder of the Department and Institute of Forensic Medicine at Lviv University

The study analyzed historical data relating to Professor Włodzimierz Jan Sieradzki, Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Lviv University, from 1898 to 1940. The analysis utilized documents from the Lviv Oblast State Archives, the Danylo Halytsky National Medical University in Lviv, and the archives of Ivan Franko State University in Lviv, as well as publications from journals from the 20th and 21st centuries. Sieradzki specialized in forensic medicine, biology, and criminal anthropology. His „Wachholz-Sieradzki test” for detecting carbon monoxide gained worldwide recognition. He documented his forensic findings in 31 articles and supervised four dissertations. From 1905, he headed the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Lviv University, conducting sanitary and police tanatopsis as a city prosecutor and forensic expert. Throughout his career, he held key positions: dean (1908-1909, 1919-1921), vice-dean (1909-1910, 1921-1922), part-time head of Pathological Anatomy and Experimental Pathology (1915), rector (1924-1925), and vice-rector (1926-1927). He co-founded and first edited the Lviv Medical Journal, collaborated with the Polish Medical Journal, chaired the Lviv Medical Society, and was involved in various forensic medicine associations. He also participated in the Galician Medical Society. For his services, he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Knight’s Cross of the French Legion of Honor. In 1948, the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Medical University of Wrocław was named after him, and plaques commemorating Sieradzki and other victims were placed at the execution sites in Lviv during the German occupation.