Oswald Madecki

Oswald Madecki was born on February 28, 1920 in Cieszyn. His father was Franciszek Madecki, administrator of the anti-tuberculosis sanatorium. Mother Elisabeth (from Ulrich's house) was related to Jan Kubisz, the director of the Silesian Hospital in Cieszyn. Brother Oswald was a Jesuit, while his sister was a professor of biochemistry at the Medical Academy in Lublin.

In 1951 Oswald Madecki obtained a medical degree from the Medical Academy in Wroclaw. Until 1958 he worked in a hospital in Siemianowice on a surgical ward. At that time, he decided to take a doctor's job in one of the developing countries. This intention was achieved by establishing cooperation with German institutions that supported the medical activities in Nigeria - the Missionary Medical Institute of Würzburg and the Institute of Tropical Medicine of the University of Tübingen.

In October 1958 with a tourist passport he went to Austria from where he got to Italy and then to France. On November 21 he reached Germany where he made direct contact with the Missionary Medical Institute. In July 1959 he reached Abeokuta in the Nigerian state of Ogun, where he was to work in a hospital in the nineteenth century. The conditions that he found on the site prompted him to make the decision to build a modern facility. As a result, he started fundraising and visited several West African countries to gain knowledge of tropical hospital construction. During this period he was able to gather research material on the causes of malaria, which enabled him to obtain a doctorate in medicine at the University of Tübingen (1966).

In 1966 in the Lantoro district on the outskirts of Abeoukuta Oswald Madecki began construction of a hospital complex for 330 beds. This was accompanied by the expansion of the leprozorium. The doctor not only sought financial help, but also took direct part in the design and construction work. His artistic ability, some of the buildings, including the hospital chapel, owes its design. Aid to the whole undertaking was mainly obtained from the German and German institutions and individuals, but also from Nigerian church and charity organizations, and from Archbishop Lagos and European companies operating in Nigeria. For the construction of the hospital also allocated part of his salary. The entire complex was completed in 1970.

Due to the fact that many patients in the new hospital suffered from tuberculosis, Dr. Madecki began his efforts to build a healing and research center for pulmonary diseases. Works started in 1981. The building for 125 beds with laboratory facilities was opened in 1986, after the founder's death. It was the first of its kind in West Africa. In 1985 Oswald Madecki died of a lethal illness and died on November 11 of the same year. According to his will he was buried in Abeokta.

For work in the hospital he managed to attract many doctors, including a dozen Poles. In turn, some nurses were brought from Ireland thanks to the support of the Catholic mission. Sam Oswald Madecki joined the Order of the Third. He also took care of a group of Nigerian orphans, who paid for the costs of living and education.

Oswald Madecki's character appears among others. in Ewa Szumańska's book entitled " Ocher shade, where the hospital in Abeokta is also described.