Ambassador of Polish dentistry

As Professor Majewski recalls: I met Professor Stefan Knapik in the 1970s, when I served as the Chair of the Kraków Branch of Polish Dental Society while he was the President of its Execu­tive Board. As a young university employee seeking the finest role models, I admired the commitment and energy with which the Professor championed dentistry, parti­cularly in such important areas as the standard of education, scientific advancement, access to dental care, and the standing of our profession. It should be remembered that dentistry was then relegated to the margins amid the immense needs of healthcare system, while the Polish Dental Society was the profession’s sole representative before decision-making bodies. There was no shortage of issues requiring attention, including prescribing rights, eligibility for specialist training and professional advancement, and the remuneration of dentists, which was systematically lower than that of physicians. In essence, the objective was to place dentistry and dental profession on an equal footing with other fields of medicine, an achievement for which we owe much to Professor Knapik.

I was impressed by his selfless organizational work on behalf of dentistry as well as by the fact that he was simultaneously an outstanding specialist and scientist and a kind-hearted man who respected both his teachers and predecessors as well as those of us who were only beginning our careers in clinical practice, research, teaching, and professional service.

Professor Stefan Knapik unquestionably stood out among his peers. Paradoxically, however, at the height of his career, during a wave of malicious accusations accompanying the political transformation, he suffered a grave injustice, all the more painful because it arose from within his own professional community. After so many years, the truth should therefore be acknowledged. This courageous son of Silesia deserves his rightful place in the history of Polish dentistry as one of those who contri­buted most profoundly to its comprehensive development.
I am therefore delighted by Dr Jan Rauch’s admirable initiative to commemorate the Professor among the pantheon of eminent figures in Polish medicine.

Professor STANISŁAW MAJEWSKI, MD, PhD, DSc, Founder of the Institute of Dentistry at the Jagiellonian University Medical College, author of the textbook, “History of Polish Academic Dentistry”,

Kraków, March 25, 2026

Silesian roots and early life

It is impossible to describe the life and work of Professor Stefan Knapik without presenting, at least briefly, his family and environment from which he came. The patriotic atmosphere of a traditional, modest Silesian household had an enormous influence on the young Stefan’s future. His parents instilled in him a respect for work and pride in his Silesian origins, values to which he remained faithful throughout his life. His life was not an easy one, as it was marked from the outset by the tragedy of the Second World War. Stefan’s grand­father, Andrzej, was a farmer and bore the surname Knappik, while his wife Marianna, Stefan’s grandmother, had the maiden name Kopel, and both were Silesians. They had eleven children, one of whom was Stefan’s father, also Stefan, born in Wyry on August 18, 1879.
After completing elementary school, he trained as a blacksmith at the age of 15. He worked in that profession at Königshütte (Królewska Huta, renamed Koś­ciuszko Steelworks in Chorzów after the Second World War) and later at Laurahütte (Laura Steelworks, renamed Jedność Steelworks in Siemianowice Śląskie after the war). In 1904, he married Józefa Katarzyna Madeja in Hohenlinde (now Łagiewniki, a district of Bytom).

In 1910, the Knapik family moved to Mikołów. The marriage produced nine children, one of whom was Stefan Knapik, the subject of this account, born on July 4, 1922, in Mikołów, Silesia. The future professor was proud of his Silesian heritage, which he fondly revealed through the subtle accent of his everyday speech.

In his home town, young Stefan completed elementary school and began secondary education, which he was unable to finish because of the outbreak of the Second World War. As his father had been an active member of Polish organizations in Upper Silesia during the interwar period, including the Union of Silesian Insurgents, the Association of War Invalids of the Republic of Poland, and the Polish Western Union, the Knapik family had to leave Mikołów to avoid the tragic fate that the Nazi occupiers had prepared for Silesian patriots. His father, mother, two sons, i.e., Artur and Stefan, and daughter
Erika hid under the assumed surname Dobrzański in Stary Sącz, at the home of Erika’s husband. In the Sącz region, Stefan Sr. became involved in the underground resistance, distributing clandestine publications and helping local residents draft correspondence to German authorities. Letters prepared by Stefan Knapik Sr. were written in language that was considered unusually polished, which attracted the attention of occupation authorities and led to his arrest on October 10, 1942. He was held successively in three prisons: Nowy Sącz, Tarnów, and Kraków. In January 1943, he was transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp as political prisoner No. 93190. From Auschwitz, he was transferred first to KL Flossenbürg and then to KL Dachau. In late April 1945, he was liberated by armored units of the United States Army. He returned to Mikołów, but like many Silesians disillusioned by the political system imposed on Poland, did not resume any public activity.
He died of a stroke on July 4, 1947. For his service during the Silesian Uprisings and plebiscite, he was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit and the Silesian Insurgent’s Cross. His father’s example, a courageous Silesian who fought to preserve the Polish identity of the region, remained a lifelong model and guiding principle for the young Stefan.

Continuation of education, employment, and university studies

After fleeing Silesia for the Sącz region, the future professor enrolled in the State School of Commerce in 1940 to complete secondary education interrupted in Mikołów. He graduated successfully despite having to work while studying to support himself and assist his family. From 1941 to 1943, he worked as a laborer in railway rolling-stock repair workshops. After moving to Krynica, he worked for the Spa Houses Administration until January 1, 1945.

In February 1945, he returned to his beloved Silesia and in May, he began studying at the State Humanities Secondary School in Mikołów. By October, after reviewing his records from the school in Nowy Sącz, the State Examination Board awarded Stefan Knapik his secondary school-leaving certificate. In October, due to no places available at the faculty of medicine, he enrolled at the Academy of Commerce in Kraków. However, after one year, he discontinued these studies and, having passed a competitive entrance examination in 1946, was admitted to the four-year medical and dental program at the Medical Academy in Poznań. He received his dental degree in 1950. On July 10, 1950, he married his fellow student Irena Mokrysz, who was also a dentist.

University career and successive stages of academic advancement: Doctorate, habilitation, and professorship

After completing the four-year dental program in Poznań, Stefan Knapik returned to his native Silesia. On November 1, 1950, he joined Professor Mieczysław Jankowski’s Department of Oral Surgery at the Silesian Medical Academy in Zabrze. It was there that he concluded that oral and maxillofacial surgery could become his life’s vocation. He was already considering a future academic career and therefore decided to broaden his education by completing a full medical degree.

Alongside his teaching duties, first as an assistant and later as a senior assistant, he worked from November 1950 to September 1952 at the Oral Surgery Outpatient Clinic affiliated with the State Clinical Hospital No. 1 in Zabrze. In March 1952, on the basis of his dissertation entitled, “Review of cases of jaw fractures treated at the Department of Oral Surgery between 1946 and 1951”, he was awarded a doctoral degree in dentistry. During the same period, he began specialist training in oral surgery, which he completed in 1953. In accordance with his earlier decision and after obtaining the consent of the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, he commenced studies at the Faculty of Medicine of the Silesian Medical Academy in Zabrze-Rokitnica. He graduated in December 1956 with a medical degree.

In October 1966, by resolution of the Council of the Faculty of Medicine of the Silesian Medical Academy and following the presentation of his scientific achievements and habilitation thesis entitled, “Intraoral bone suturing using stainless-steel wire or polyester fibers”, he was awarded the degree of doktor habilitowany (DSc) in dentistry. His habilitation thesis was innovative, and drew on many years of research and clinical expe­rience in treating injuries to the bones of facial skeleton.
After the habilitation was approved, Dr Stefan Knapik was appointed Associate Professor in the Chair and Department of Oral Surgery at the Silesian Medical Academy. When Professor Mieczysław Jankowski retired on September 30, 1966, Knapik became the Head of the unit. Before retiring, Professor Jankowski had secured the establishment of a second maxillofacial surgery clinical ward on Francuska Street in Katowice. Consequently, on October 1, 1966, Professor Knapik effectively assumed leadership of two clinical units, including Clinical Unit I on Buchenwaldczyków Street in Zabrze and Clinical Unit II on Francuska Street in Katowice. He held this position until July 30, 1972. Effective September 1, 1972, the Rector of the Silesian Medical Academy appointed Associate Professor Stefan Knapik as the ‘Director of the Institute of Dentistry under organization’, entrusting him with establishing the Institute. Intensive work enabled Stefan Knapik, one of the pro­ject’s principal advocates to inaugurate the Institute of Dentistry at the Silesian Medical Academy as early as October 1972. It was one of Poland’s first academic dental structures of its kind. Alongside his role as the Director of the Institute, from 1972, Associate Professor Knapik headed the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, which comprised two units of the Silesian Medical Academy in Katowice. He therefore supervised two clinical wards with a combined capacity of 80 beds.

The newly established Institute of Dentistry comprised the following university dental units: the Department of Prosthodontics, Department of Conservative Dentistry, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, and Department of Orthodontics. Their coordinated research program addressed, among other issues, hazards associated with the industrial environment. In coope­ration with the Polish Academy of Sciences and sectoral and ministerial research centers, the Institute also participated in projects examining the effects of a heavily industrialized environment on the developing human body. Further work concerned the implementation of prevention, multidisciplinary treatment, and rehabilitation of the masticatory system after severe craniofacial injuries, which occurred frequently in the industrial Silesian region. The Institute employed 75 dentists, including 59 in research and teaching positions; they completed 82 doctoral and 11 habilitation proceedings, while 80% of the dentists held second-degree specialist qualifications.

In 1975, the Council of State conferred on Stefan Knapik the title of Associate Professor. He remained the Director of the Institute until the end of 1980 and the Head of the Department until the end of July 1981. The difficulties created for him within the university and the professional community adversely affected his health. Consequently, in August 1981, he was granted a disability pension. From November 1981, he worked reduced hours as a consultant in maxillofacial surgery for the Mining Healthcare Complex in Tychy, while from April 1983, he also served as a consultant at the Ministry of Internal Affairs Hospital in Katowice. In June 1983, his disability pension was replaced by an occupational pension.

In time, he was cleared from the unjust accusations, but never returned to his home institution, the Silesian Medical Academy. As an experienced teacher, he was appointed to professorial duties at the Academy of Physical Education in Katowice in July 1983. This role, however, was not satisfactory for such an outstanding physician. In September, he returned to his chosen specialty of maxillofacial surgery at the Mining Hospital in Jastrzębie. The difficulties appeared to have passed and the Professor felt well. On September 1, 1984, he became the Head of the Department of Motor Rehabilitation at the Academy of Physical Education in Katowice. This new period of intense professional activity was unexpectedly cut short by his sudden death on August 15, 1985, when he was only 63 years old.

Organizational and scientific achievements

Professor Stefan Knapik’s organizational activities were remarkably wide-ranging. He worked to advance the Silesian Medical University established after the war, while also engaging nationally and internatio­nally, particularly through numerous scientific societies. He was especially active in the Polish Dental Society, the European Association for Maxillofacial Surgery, and the Fédération Dentaire Internationale (FDI). In 1956, Stefan Knapik succeeded Professor Jankowski as the Chair of the Executive Board of Silesian Branch of the Polish Dental Society in Katowice, a position he held until 1970. Following an election in 1971, he became the President of the Society’s Executive Board, based in Katowice. This was a clear expression of the national
dental community’s high regard for the achievements of the Silesian center of academic dentistry, to which Knapik had made a decisive contribution. His two terms as the President of the Polish Dental Society were a period of vigorous activity and advancement in Polish dentistry, inspired by his leadership of the organization, which represented all dentists in Poland. At the national level, his initiatives endorsed by the Society’s Executive Board, led to numerous important decisions concerning the organization of dental care for adults and children and the professional status of dentists, as discussed below. At the same time, the Professor supported the development of existing regional branches and the establishment of new ones, including Bielsko-Biała branch in 1978, where he frequently lectured as well as Opole and Częstochowa branches. In 1977, after ending of his two terms, the Executive Board was transferred to Wrocław, and Professor Stefan Knapik served as its Vice-President until 1981.

Professor Stefan Knapik’s most important achievements, which made a significant contribution to the advancement of dentistry in Silesia and throughout Poland, included:

1. Introducing modern methods for the clinical mana­gement of cranio-maxillofacial injuries, which were particularly common in the industrial mining and metallurgical region of Silesia, developing his own screws and plates for post-traumatic bone fixa­tion, and pioneering the use of dental implants in the treatment of edentulism.

2. In the field of organization and education, moderniz­ing facilities of dental centers and taking particular care to ensuring high standards of undergraduate and postgraduate training across all fields of Polish dentistry, with the aim of bringing them into line with leading Western institutions, with which he maintained close cooperation. The Professor advocated for equal professional rights for dentists and physicians, which ultimately contributed to the introduction of specialist training pathways and statu­tory forms of professional advancement for Polish dentists.

Internationally, Professor Knapik was the only ma­xil­lofacial surgery scholar from the countries of the so-called Eastern Bloc, to participate in establishing the Euro­pean Association for Maxillofacial Surgery as a founding member. In 1976, he was elected President-Elect and, two years later, President of the organization. In 1980, he organized the Congress of the International Association for Maxillofacial Surgery in Warsaw. From 1977, he served as the Fédération Dentaire Internationale’s consultant for dental science and education. In Katowice, he organized a scientific symposium attended by scholars from both Eastern and Western Europe. Within the International Association of Maxillofacial Surgeons, he also served on the editorial board of Acta Medica Maxillo-Faciale. All this took place during the era of the Iron Curtain and the Cold War, when contact with the Western world was not only restricted but, in a sense, dangerous. Professor Stefan Knapik therefore fully deserved to be called an ambassador of Polish dentistry during the period of the Polish People’s Republic.

Summary of the Professor’s scientific and teaching achievements

The Professor’s scientific output comprised 138 publications in Polish and international journals as well as three chapters in academic textbooks. Eight monographs were published under his editorship, addressing maxillofacial surgery as well as commemorative and historical topics related to the establishment and activities of the Ludwik Waryński Silesian Medical Academy and the Katowice Branch of the Polish Dental Society. The Professor supervised 20 doctoral dissertations, reviewed 10 doctoral dissertations, served as academic mentor in three habilitation proceedings, reviewed three candidates for the title of Associate Professor, and prepared a supervisor’s opinion for the award of an honorary doctorate by the Silesian Medical Academy. Under his supervision, 15 dentists obtained first-degree specialist qualifications, 10 obtained second-degree qualifications in oral surgery, and 9 second-degree quali­fications in maxillofacial surgery. During his leadership of the Chair and Department, 298 studies were completed and published in Polish and international journals. The Professor actively participated in congresses, conferences, and symposia in Paris, London, Chicago, Hamburg, Toronto, Ljubljana, Zurich, and many other cities, presenting scientific papers, which reported his own research findings and drew on experience gained over many years of clinical practice.

Owing to the journal’s space limitations, it is not possible to present all of the Professor’s scientific achievements. They will be described in a book, which will be publish next year.

Professor Stefan Knapik died suddenly in Zurich on August 15, 1985, during a scientific meeting with maxil­lofacial surgeons. He is buried in the family tomb at the cemetery in Mikołów.

The following are the honors and awards of the Professor: Gold Cross of Merit; Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta; Medal of the Commission of National Education; Śniadecki Medal of the Polish Society for the History of Medicine; commemorative medal marking the 25th anniversary of the Polish Dental Society; Badge of Merit for the Opole Voivodeship; Badge of Merit for the Częstochowa Voivodeship; Silver and Gold Badges of the Trade Union of Healthcare Workers; Third-Class Gold Badge of the Polish Red Cross; Gold Badge for Contributions to the Development of the Katowice Voivodeship; Gold Badge of the Polish Dental Society; Gold Badge for Contributions to the Development of the Silesian Medical Academy; Badge of the Millennium of the Polish State; Jubilee Medal marking the 25th anniversary of the Silesian Medical Academy; Jubilee Medal of the Poznań Medical Academy; Medal of the 30th Anniversary of the Polish People’s Republic; Medal for Exemplary Work in Healthcare; the First-Class Individual Award of the Minister of Health and Social Welfare for particularly important and creative achievements in teaching, science, and organization.

His memberships in scientific societies: Polish Dental Society; Polish Medical Society; European Association for Maxillofacial Surgery; International Association for Maxillofacial Surgery; Fédération Dentaire Internationale (from 1967).

His honorary memberships in scientific societies: Honorary Member of the Czechoslovak Scientific Society; Honorary Member of the Polish Dental Society; Honorary Member of the German Society for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; Honorary Member of the Hungarian Dental Association.