Jordan Henryk was a doctor, social activist, professor at the Jagiellonian University and a pioneer of physical education in Poland. He was born in 1842 in Przemyśl, and died in 1907 in Kraków. He studied medicine in Vienna and Krakow. Later he went to New York for two years, where he quickly gained recognition as an obstetrician and gynecologist. After returning to Krakow, he obtained a doctor’s degree in medicine. From 1895, professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Faculty of Medicine of the Jagiellonian University. In 1887, he founded a public garden in Krakow, known today as Jordana Park. There are various devices in the park that enable fun activities and physical exercises.
Achievements of Henryk Jordan
- organized military training units
- he organized sightseeing trips
- he gave historical talks for children and youth
- promoted the establishment of craft workshops and arable plots
- he was the initiator of the Society for the Construction of Cheap Apartments for Catholic Workers
- he was the president of the Music Society
- founder of the Association for Nutrition with Warm Straw for Poor Children
- organized a two-year physical education course at the Jagiellonian University
- initiated the introduction of gymnastics lessons to schools and the institution of school doctors
- author of publications in the field of hygiene and obstetrics
