Academic and laboratory science of interwar Lviv: the ethics of solidarity in the activities of Polish and Ukrainian doctors

Abstract

the article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the interaction between Polish and Ukrainian medical elites in interwar Lviv (1918 – 1939) through the lens of professional ethics and scientific solidarity. The author analyzes how joint laboratory and clinical activities served as a tool for de-escalating interethnic tensions and as a form of social resistance during period of political crisis. The research is grounded in the principles of historicism and objectivity. The historical-genetic method was used to trace the evolution of scientific schools, prosopographical analysis to reconstruct the networks of personal contacts among scientists, and the comparative method to contrast the development strategies of Ukrainian and Polish medical environments. Particular attention was paid to the hermeneutic analysis of specialized periodicals of the time. It is proven that Lviv’s laboratory science functioned as an integrated ecosystem where world-class scientific achievements (the schools of Weigl, Parnas, and Hirszfeld) became a shared asset. The study established that the informal transfer of knowledge between university departments and Ukrainian institutions (T. Shevchenko Scientific Society, hospital “Narodna Lichnytsia”) enabled the implementation of advanced methods in serology, immunology, and biochemistry. It was found that the professional ethos of doctors ensured high institutional resilience for the region’s medical field. For the first time, the interethnic cooperation of Lviv’s medics is analyzed as a coherent shared heritage strategy. The study introduces new data regarding the participation of Ukrainian specialists in global laboratories and analyzes the role of the “Likarskyi Visnyk” journal as a platform for scientific diplomacy.