The Genesis of the Bowl of Hygeia Scholarship
Originally published in The Mortar & Pestle Summer 2018 issue.
The meaning of the Bowl of Hygeia is rooted in Greek mythology; Hygeia was the daughter of the god of health, and she tended to the temples and people of her time. Her cup has come to represent medicine and her snake to represent healing. Now a worldwide symbol of pharmacy, the Bowl of Hygeia was first used to represent the profession in 1796 on a coin minted for the Parisian Society of Pharmacy. Soon after, it was adopted by many other pharmacy groups throughout Europe and the world, as it, and pharmacy, stand for healing through the use of medicine.
The Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences’ Bowl of Hygeia Scholarship is provided for by Carl Sobolewski, a 1955 University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences graduate.
In 1950, Carl Sobolewski began an internship with Corner Drug while completing his pharmacy degree at the University of Alberta. Owned and operated by Len Sanders and Fred Beddome, Corner Drug was a place of both excellency in pharmacy and mentorship which greatly influenced Carl’s future in the industry.
After completing his first year of pharmacy at the University of Alberta, Carl suffered the loss of his father. As the oldest child of nine young siblings, this tragedy not only brought grief, but huge financial and family responsibility to the young pharmacy student.
It was with the help of Corner Drug and a University of Alberta grant that Carl was able to complete his pharmacy degree in 1955 and establish his first drugstore in the boomtown of Hinton, Alberta in 1957. These gestures of financial assistance were never forgotten as he progressed in his success as a pharmacist.
In 1961, Carl returned to Edmonton and became a partner in the development of Glengarry Shopping Centre and established his first store, Glengarry Rexall Drugs. By 1965, his brother Frank had also graduated from the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences as well as received another degree in Pharmacy with a major in Pharmaceutical Science.
As a team, the Sobolewski brothers formed a partnership and opened Western Canada’s first 24-hour drugstore, All-Niter Super Drug Mart (1973-1985), on Edmonton’s Jasper Avenue. Their store was a tremendous success, and it propelled them into the world of property development where they were able to provide sites for their future stores.
The brothers went on to open two more Mid-Nighter Super Drug Marts in Edmonton, one in Yellowbird Shopping Centre in 1983 and the other on Jasper Avenue in 1988. By this time, the Sobolewski’s format for retail drugstore operations was successfully spreading to many stores owned by other pharmacists. The Sobolewski’s drug stores were sold in 1995.
In 2002, Frank Sobolewski passed away, and it is in his memory that Carl has dedicated the Bowl of Hygeia statue — that once sat in one of the brother’s stores — to the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences as well as the Bowl of Hygeia Scholarship and Bursary to assist future generations of pharmacy students.