Dr Joseph Melzak (1903-1972). A pupil of two Jewish-Polish giants: Prof. Edward Flatau (1868- 1932), and Sir Ludwig Guttmann (1899-1980)

Abstract

Dr Joseph Melzak, was born in Poland , September 1903 and died in September 1972 in Haifa, Israel. He joined the Polish army in the First World War. He studied medicine after the world war and became a neurologist. He was trained by the father of Polish neurology, Prof Edward Flatau (1868- 1932). During the second world war Joseph escaped from Poland . joined the Polish free army which became part of the British 8th army. He worked as a physician and surgeon in the British army in Italy and in Palestine. After the war he came to the UK and worked in the field of neuro-rehabilitation and eventually settled at Stoke Mandeville Hospital , and worked under the father of the comprehensive rehabilitation of the spinally injured: Sir Ludwig Guttmann (1899-1980). He retired from the National Health Service in the UK and immigrated to Israel, and worked for Community Health Organization, in Haifa. His academic publications are well known to those who work with spinal cord injuries.