Henryk Nusbaum

Henryk Nusbaum was born in Warsaw into a family deeply committed to the Polish national cause and to Jewish linguistic, cultural, and political integration into Polish society. His father, Hilary Nusbaum (Nussbaum), was a founder of Warsaw’s reformist Nalewki Synagogue and a pioneer of the Polish-language Jewish press, which advocated a radical assimilationist agenda. Henryk graduated from the Imperial University of Warsaw in 1872 with a degree in medicine. Going on to earn a doctorate in that subject, he traveled across Europe attending medical lectures, especially in neurology, over several years. Returning to his hometown, he was awarded an official title in the medical faculty at the University of Warsaw in 1882, although his title was countermanded by tsarist authorities, ostensibly for his insufficient command of Russian; more likely, his ouster from academia was based on his family’s commitment to Polish national liberation from Russian rule coupled with his Jewish heritage. Nusbaum maintained a private practice in neurology and published extensively in the field. In 1923, the University of Warsaw awarded Nusbaum an honorary title of professor. Toward the end of his life, he became a leading scholar in the philosophy of medicine. Nusbaum himself was a baptized Catholic, identified fully with the Polish liberal intelligentsia, played an active role in the struggle for Polish-language national culture under tsarist rule, and considered himself a Pole in all respects.