On the National Independence Day, President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda, during a ceremony held at the Belvedere, handed out state decorations to people of merit in service to the nation and the country.

Prof. Henryk Skarżyński awarded the Order of the White Eagle

Professor Henryk Skarżyński was awarded the Order of the White Eagle “in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the development of Polish medicine, especially for people with interpersonal communication disorders, for achievements in scientific, clinical, didactic, and organizational activities, and popularizing Polish scientific thought in the world”. Prof. Henryk Skarżyński is an internationally recognized expert, innovator, scientist, and physician with several medical specialties. His scientific achievements are evidenced by more than 5,000 domestic and foreign publications, including 66 monographs, 130 chapters in monographs, and more than 4,000 congress reports. He is the most often, or one of the five most often cited authors in the modern literature for several key index entries in his area of research.

– Thank you for removing barriers and equalizing the chances for many years. Thank you for serving, first and foremost, the other man – said President Andrzej Duda. He emphasized that service to the other man is a service to Poland. – Thank you for your extraordinary contributions to the development of world science, otolaryngology, audiology, and phoniatrics. I thank you cordially and on behalf of the people you have helped”.

Prof. Henryk Skarzynski is the author of over a thousand scientific reports, popular science publications, film scripts, and poems dedicated mainly to patients. He wrote two musical librettos. As a physician and clinician, he has performed over 240,000 surgical procedures with his team, including the largest number of hearing-improving surgeries globally in the last 21 years. Thanks to his work, Polish women and men have access to state-of-the-art technology as the first or among the first in the world. He has performed many groundbreaking, first-in-the-world surgeries and has introduced more than 150 new solutions into clinical practice.

The scale of his organizational achievements is seen in the planning and construction of the World Hearing Center and the organization and training of its team, which he has led for more than 30 years.

Numerous international chapters and scientific, economic, and cultural societies have recognized his and his team’s work. He has received 463 awards, including state decorations from the President of the Republic of Poland, the Presidents of Georgia and Ukraine, the King of Belgium, the European Union, the authorities of Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh, and medals awarded by Pope Francis and the Primate of Poland.

He is an honorary doctor at four Polish universities and an honorary professor at three Universities in the US, Europe, and Asia. He is a member of the most prestigious scientific societies with global reach. In 2014, on the 25th anniversary of Polish independence, he won the plebiscite “People of Freedom” category science and the plebiscite “Science is Freedom.” His achievements were listed among the 34 greatest scientific discoveries published in a monograph by the National Agency for Academic Exchange on the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence. He is the recipient of an individual and team Presidential Economic Award.

His artistic passions are related to the preparation of documentaries illustrating, among other things, the achievements of his patients and the realization of ten editions of the International Music Festival “Beats of Cochlea” with the participation of many vocally and musically talented hearing implant users from around the world.

Among the medical doctors who were awarded the Order of the White Eagle are Marek Edelman, Zbigniew Religa, Wanda Półtawska, Mieczysław Chorąży, Hilary Koprowski, Ryszard Gryglewski, Grażyna Świątecka, and Marian Zembala.