Manes Kartagener

Manes Kartagener was born in Przemysl, then a part of Austria, and in 1918 returned to Poland. His father was Lazar Kartagener, a factory owner and rabbi; his mother was Susanne Guth. Kartagener was educated at the classical gymnasium in Przemysl, and later continued at a gymnasium for the natural sciences in Lemberg, where he graduated in 1915.

Kartagener immigrated to Switzerland in 1916, and obtained his medical qualification in 1924. Kartagener had a difficult time as a student due to lack of funds, and supported himself by giving private lessons. He gained postgraduate experience in Zurich and Basel, eventually becoming a specialist physician in the University department of medicine in Zurich. He became a close friend of his chief, professor Löffler, with whom he shared many academic interests.

Kartagener obtained his doctorate in 1928 for a thesis on the thyroid gland and received further academic acknowledgement in 1935 for a dissertation on the aetiology of bronchiectasis. He received the title of professor in 1950.