Józef Polikarp Brudziński was born in the village of Bolewo on 26 January 1874 and died in Warsaw on 18 December 1917. On graduation from the 4th grammar school in Warsaw in 1891, Brudziński embarked on medical studies in Tartu and Moscow, where he received his medical diploma in 1897. He began his medical practice as a paediatrician under Prof. Jakubowski in the Cracow university hospital.