Background: The ceremonial inauguration of the Medical Faculty at Lviv University on September 9, 1894, by Emperor Franz Joseph, signified the culmination of a decades-long endeavor to reestablish medical education in Lviv. The institution was initially established in 1784 under the auspices of Emperor Joseph II. However, it was subsequently dissolved in 1805 and subsequently reinstated in 1817, albeit without a medical faculty. This study provides an analysis of the faculty’s complete restoration as a result of international and interdisciplinary collaboration within the political, academic, and architectural spheres in the 19th century within the Habsburg Empire.
Materials and methods: Utilizing archival collections from Ukraine, Austria, and Poland, along with university repositories and current publications, this study performs a contextual and actor-focused analysis. Stakeholders are categorized into three sectors: governmental, academic, and technical. These categories are used to examine their respective roles and interactions.
Results: The reestablishment of the university was driven by the sustained advocacy of Lviv’s academic community, with support from the Galician Governorship, and it was officially authorized by the Viennese Ministry of Education through an Imperial Decree in 1891. Academic contributions from prominent scholars in Lviv, including Henryk Kadyi, and in Cracow, such as Ludwik Teichmann and Napoleon Cybulski, exerted a significant influence on the curriculum and spatial organization of the faculty. The supervision of the construction process was overseen by architect Josef Braunseis and builder Ivan Levynsky, who engaged in close consultation with academic experts. International suppliers furnished essential materials and equipment. The medical faculty was officially established in 1894, with the inaugural academic year commencing in 1894/95.
Conclusions: The restoration of the Medical Faculty in Lviv serves as a prime example of a trans-regional, interdisciplinary Habsburg endeavor, integrating political vision, scientific leadership, and architectural innovation.(Folia Morphol 2026; 85: e01726027)
Keywords: Lviv; university; Ukraine; Habsburg Empire; 19th century; interdisciplinary; Franz Joseph; Henryk Kadyi; architecture; Austria–Hungary

A B S T R A C T
Background: This article addresses the formation of academic networks among anatomists in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the late 19th century during the earliest part of their careers, their student years, at thecapital’s university (University of Vienna), based on the example of the Galician anatomist Henryk Kadyi.
Material and methods: This comparative inquiry is based on archive material from the Lviv Regional StateArchive, the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in Lviv (both Ukraine), the Archive of the University ofVienna, the Austrian State Archive (both Austria) and the Archives of the Jagiellonian University (Poland).
Results: Archival sources show the variety of contacts a medical student could form within the anatomicalcommunity (both with teachers and student colleagues), which constituted the foundation for connections that lasted for an academic lifetime. The study demonstrates which knowledge, techniques, and methods were circulated within these newly formed anatomical networks. Kadyi was not a unique case but rather just one example of a broader dynamic among Galician students who came to Vienna.
Conclusion: Research on early-career networks is a promising approach for studying academic networks, especially their starting point, as the example of Henryk Kadyi proves. The importance of long-lasting contacts formed during an early academic career and their continued impact over the following years and decades cannot be overstated.

Попередні результати спільного міжнародного дослідження свідчать, що історія кафедри анатомії у Львові була частиною загальноєвропейської, а точніше – загальногабсбурзької історії наукових мереж і обміну знаннями. Зокрема, проведені нами дослідження свідчать, що, по-перше, академічна мобільність в Габсбурзькій імперії справді вплинула на відновлення медичного факультету Львівського університету.

По-друге, наші архівні дослідження, проведені у Львівському обласному державному архіві (ДАЛО), Центральному державному історичному архіві України у Львові (ЦДІАЛ), Австрійському державному архіві (ÖStA) та Національному архіві в Кракові (ANK) підтверджують гіпотезу довготривалих і тісних міжнародних контактів між Львовом та іншими європейськими містами, зокрема, Лейпцигом, Краковом, Віднем та Прагою.

А по-третє, європейські академічні мережі того часу формували університетське життя, враховуючи одночасно аспекти навчання, досліджень, публікацій, соціальних зв’язків, організації інституцій і навіть архітектурного дизайну. Історичний аналіз будівельних планів, архівних джерел, музейних об’єктів, сучасних гравюр, фотографій та інших візуальних джерел з Відня, Кракова та Львова потверджує схожість або ідентичність багатьох архітектурних та організаційних складових, зокрема щодо викладання анатомії. Цьогорічні ювілеї вкотре підкреслюють важливість міжнародного співробітництва у сфері медичної

The article investigates the historical significance of Lviv, a longstanding intellectual center in Eastern Europe, particularly as the former capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Despite its academic prominence, especially in anatomical sciences, there is a notable gap in international research concerning the University of Lviv and figures like Henryk Karol Klemens Kadyi (1851–1912), a key anatomist and university rector (1898–1899). The study provides an overview of Lviv University’s history and explores Kadyi’s academic impact, emphasizing his crucial role in re-establishing the Medical Faculty in 1894. Kadyi’s contributions to anatomical sciences and his role in shaping Lviv’s medical education are highlighted. Despite his significance, Kadyi remains understudied in international historical research, prompting the authors to initiate a collaborative international project to delve into various aspects of his professional life and his influence on the medical field in the Habsburg Monarchy between the late 19th and early 20th century.

Lviv as the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (which after the First Partition of Poland fell under Habsburg government in 1772) and its academic life were deeply connected with academic, legal, and political dynamics within the Habsburg Monarchy. For example, this can be shown by the introduction of a dissection course. It was first implemented in Vienna in 1786/87, and somewhat later in more peripheral academic institutions like Lviv, in 1810, after it had proofed itself in the capital. This showcases that Vienna held a special position among all („Austrian“) Habsburg universities as a testing ground for innovations, which later on could be implemented throughout the entire Habsburg Monarchy. The same mechanism has already been researched concerning other “smaller” Habsburg universities, for example in modern day Croatia