Janusz Korczak

Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (22 July 1878, or 1879 – 7 August 1942), was a Polish Jewish pediatrician, educator, children's author and pedagogue known as Pan Doktor ("Mr. Doctor") or Stary Doktor ("Old Doctor"). He was an early children's rights advocate, in 1919 drafting a children's constitution.

After spending many years working as a principal of an orphanage in Warsaw, he moved in with his orphans when the orphanage was forced to move to the ghetto, despite pleas from friends to flee the country. He was murdered when the entire population of the institution was sent to the Treblinka extermination camp during the Grossaktion Warschau of 1942.

Biography

Early life and education

Korczak was born in Warsaw. He was unsure of his birth date, which is attributed to his father's failure to promptly acquire a birth certificate for him; his birth date is 22 July of either 1878 or 1879. His parents were Józef Goldszmit, a respected lawyer from a family of proponents of the Haskalah, and Cecylia Gębicka, daughter of a prominent Kalisz family. His father fell ill around 1890 and was admitted to a mental hospital, where he died six years later on 25 April 1896. Spacious apartments were given up on Miodowa street, then Świętojerska street, Leszno street and others. As his family's financial situation worsened, Henryk, while still attending the gymnasium (the current 8th Lycée in Warsaw), began to work as a tutor for other pupils. In 1896 he debuted on the literary scene with a satirical text on raising children, Węzeł gordyjski (The Gordian Knot).