On January 4, 1969, in Łódź, a bold team of surgeons led by Professor Jan Moll attempted Poland’s first heart transplant—just one year after the world’s very first such procedure. The patient, a 32-year-old farmer from a village near Łódź, underwent an operation that had been meticulously rehearsed for months on animals and cadavers. Assisting Prof. Moll were doctors Antoni Dziatkowiak and Kazimierz Rybiński. Despite their groundbreaking efforts, the patient did not survive.
Reflecting on the unsuccessful procedure, Prof. Moll later explained that the main problem lay in selecting a patient whose condition was already too advanced—he suffered from both heart and lung disease, making a heart-only transplant unviable. Nonetheless, the attempt was a watershed moment in Polish cardiac surgery, proving that such an operation was within reach.
The concept of heart transplantation in the late 1960s stirred controversy and debate, with the heart historically viewed as a ‘mystical seat of human emotion.’ Yet Prof. Moll argued that successful transplants—and even temporary artificial hearts—showed a patient’s psyche remained intact.
Born on October 24, 1912, in Kowalewo Pomorskie, Prof. Moll chose medicine after his own appendectomy sparked an early fascination with surgery. He studied in Poznań and Paris, graduating in Warsaw in 1939. During World War II, he risked his life treating Home Army (AK) soldiers. After the war, he worked in Poznań, eventually pioneering new cardiac surgery techniques. Notably, in 1953, he collaborated with engineers to build Poland’s first heart-lung machine.
Until his death in 1990 at the age of 78, Prof. Moll remained an active surgeon, training several luminaries in the field—including his son, Jacek. His relentless drive and passion paved the way for future successes. Indeed, the first successful heart transplant in Poland was performed by Prof. Zbigniew Religa’s team in 1985, carrying on Prof. Moll’s remarkable legacy.