From Pëllumb Cuni
Memorie.al / In the mosaic of Korça history of the last century, in addition to well-known figures in the fields of art, acting, and journalism, you will also find the names of doctors who served the community and stood guard over the lives of the residents who were filling the city. Korça experienced rapid industrial development in the years 1920-1938. Boys from this city graduated abroad and after receiving the diploma, they returned to work in their hometown, even though they were asked to stay abroad, when good offers and favorable working conditions approached, they chose Korça. A family of doctors that has made a name for itself in the city of Korça is the Polena family. The generation of doctors has produced over the years and this tradition continues even today.
The father of the family
Dr. Polena’s father, Kostandin, was born in 1885. He completed his medical studies in Athens and specialized in surgery, gynecology and pharmacology. He was the first obstetrician surgeon, in the first humanitarian hospital that was opened in Korça by the Americans, in 1916. He treated, operated and prepared the drugs for cure himself and distributed them to the patients, who in those years, were many in the hospital open, because it was the middle of the First World War.
Mean
At the end of the last century, when an epidemic of diphtheria engulfed Korça, death took the first two children of Dr. Kostandin Polena. It may seem paradoxical to someone, but this is how it happened. It is true that with the vaccines he brought from Athens, he saved dozens of other children, and for the two of them, he did not overdo a single dose of vaccine. His wife would never forgive him for this, while the doctor would simply say: “Even those who escaped were mine.” Of the nine children that the old doctor of Korça, Kostandin Polena, gave birth to, he would be left with only one son in the last years of his life. Sotiri, who was maturing at school as a doctor, would follow in the footsteps and tradition of his father and for 30 years, he would be the director of the hospital in Korça. The surgeon with lightning hands of this institution, who was donated in 1934, by the well-known philanthropist, Thoma Turtulli.
Sotir’s graduation
After these bitter events, in April 1930, doctor Sotir Polena returned to Korça. He came after specialization in the well-known clinics of Stuttgart, Kamustrast, Ludvigburg, Germany, where he was also appointed as an internal assistant. He was the only one of the nine children who had survived. He was born in Korça, on August 5, 1902. He continued the Greek high school in this city, while he completed his last year in Follorina, together with his friends; Kostaq Dhespoti, lawyer, Aristotel Fundo, lecturer and Petro Papanikolla. After the two semesters he attended in Athens, he finished his higher studies in Medicine in Munich, Germany, in the years 1922 to 1927.
In 1927 and 1928, he defended his doctorate at the famous Ludwig Maximilian University of Bavaria. Doctor Polena became known for his humanity. He served people without hesitation and was close to everyone. There was no one in those years who did not know his name. We were going through difficult years. Old Korça residents remember that only two doors in the city did not have queues. It was not raining at the door of the bakery and at Dr. Polena’s house. Patients from all over Albania have passed into his hands. Dr. Sotir Polena’s house was a zoo, where pigeons, rabbits and guinea pigs were raised for experiments. Home, laboratory and clinic at the same time.
Doctor Polena, humane and patriotic man
The traits of a great doctor, Dr. Polena reflected both as an excellent man and as a patriot with values. Honesty, patriotism, dedication to humanitarian duty, were the symbols that characterized him during his 65 years of life. He strictly respected the principles of the father of medicine, Hippocrates. Before God and the doctor, everyone is one. In every system and in every difficult situation, he remained the beloved Dr. Polena, in whom they trusted, from the sweeper to the men of the state. In the years of the War, he saved many young people from being shot, thanks to his courage and knowledge of the German language. Not everyone could do that. He treated many wounded, removed bullets from their bodies and did not hand them over to the Germans. Protected the city from the teeth of this beast. He loved Albania with his soul, like no one else in this world.
Working without hours in the city hospital
In April 1930, doctor Sotir Polena returned to Korça. He was returning to Korça, after the specialization he had done in the well-known clinics of the time, in Germany. He was the only one left alive, from the nine children of Dr. Kostandini. He was born in the city of Korça on August 5, 1902. For three years, from 1930 to 1933, he worked in his private clinic. From 1933 to 1962, he worked continuously at the Korça hospital. For 30 years, he was the director of the hospital and the number one surgeon of this hospital.
Doctor Polena, in a way, served as a professor for many other surgeons, which he did not spare, to give his knowledge and experience. The memories of Dr. Polena cannot be covered in the space of this article. Generations of doctors, he welcomed them to the hospital and became for them like a professor. From time to time, the elderly remember his willingness. He did not hesitate until he found out that an emergency had arrived at the hospital. There was no schedule for his work. You didn’t have a developed physique, but you had a big and very humane heart.
Legacy
In the 1930s, how it ended brilliantly, he was offered jobs in German hospitals and clinics, and even offered jobs in American hospitals, but with a painful patriotism, he replied: “I am Albanian. Where is my homeland, is my work”. Therefore, the doctor’s profession continues today for four generations. Three of Dr. Polena’s children became doctors. Rea, the eldest daughter of a gynecologist in Elbasan. The youngest daughter, Ida, a tireless radiologist, as an unfinished continuation of her uncle, who ran away at a young age. Son, Adhoni, in the maternity hospital of Korça, as an obstetrician-gynecologist.
Similarly, the nephew, the young Sotiri, after finishing Medicine went to America for specialization. Viola, Adhoni’s daughter, is a doctor. Elda, doctor in Korça. We can say that Adhom’s little girl, the singer Shirli Polena, has “deviated” from this tradition. But, this is also a tradition of artistic enrichment of the Polena family. Grandfather Sotir Polena loved classical music.
Experience
A group of Chinese specialists, who had close contact with Dr. Polena, were amazed by his work. Before they left, they said: “We came to bring our experience, but we also took with us the experience of the wonderful doctor Sotir Polena”! This assessment of the Chinese was conveyed by the Chinese language translator and pharmacist, Leonidha Gërnjoti. While the other grandson of Dr. Polena, Petrika Stefanllari, who was not given the opportunity to pursue higher studies, for several years, served as the deputy mayor of Korça Municipality and today lives in America.
Tradition of doctors in a family
Sotir Polena, was as noble as a person, as well as a skilled and versatile doctor who for four decades put his life at the service of people’s health. “The doctor with lightning hands”, this was the epithet that accompanied him throughout his years of work. Director and surgeon. Generations of surgeons learned and kept by his side.
The misfortunes of the well-known Korcar family
The Polena family book is written with pictures of doctors. Dr. Polena’s father, Kostandi, was born in 1885 and completed his higher studies in Medicine in Athens. He specialized in surgery, gynecology and pharmacology. He was the first obstetrician surgeon, in the humanitarian hospital that was opened in Korça, by the Americans, in 1916. In addition to the operation, he also prepared the medicines to cure the sick. Doctor Kostandin was blessed with nine children from his marriage who would bring him joy and pain at the same time.
The boy, Themistoklius, who was attending university in the USA, returned to Korça for justice. In addition to science, he liked music and was involved in sports. He died poisoned by the tools of the Turkish invaders, on November 10, 1909, at the age of 21. Then other deaths followed; 17-year-old son, Vasili, and 20-year-old daughter, Helena. As in the ballad of Kostanini and Doruntina, death took away the children of doctor Kostanini. Now he was left with two sons, Niko and Sotir.
Nikua, in 1924, graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Athens and worked as a doctor for six years in Korça. In 1926, he was the first to bring the X-ray machine to the city of Korça, after which he specialized as a radiologist. He became engaged to Juli, a charming girl from the Fundo tribe. But the couple could not enjoy their wedding day, because they drowned in the lake of Pogradec, near Saint Naum. This black chronicle is dated March 30, 1930. Doctor Kostandini was deeply shocked by this event and after a few months, he died worried about the loss of his children, but he also had a son, Sotirin.
“The doctor with golden hands”
The writer Sotir Andoni has written a novel entitled “The Doctor with Golden Hands”, which was inspired by the figure of Dr. Polena. Doctor Polena was also a good friend of literature. In his library, 149 volumes of Goethe’s works, in German, are carefully preserved. The works of Schiller, Heine, Freud, Nietzsche, and Dante are preserved. He carefully kept a quote from Tagore, which he had as his life’s motto. Tagore’s verses were found in his jacket pocket, even when he was brought home dead.
“I slept and dreamed
that life is joy,
I woke up and looked
that life is a duty
I acted on it
and I drew a conclusion
Duty is joy…”!
The end of a myth
Doctor Polena did not break away from work and books, until the beginning of the summer of 1966, when after a scalpel wound during the operation, death began to count his days. He went to Vienna for treatment. On July 3, 1966, Dr. Polena closed her eyes in the Austrian capital. He who had saved thousands of people’s lives, could not postpone and save his own life. But he remains immortal for the citizens. They have appreciated him, giving him the title of “Honorary Citizen”. Memorie.al
