MD Prague 1933; FRCP 1970; DCH 1947.
Holzel was a major figure in European and world paediatrics. He was born in Ruthenia on 21 January 1909 and was educated in Vienna and Prague. After qualifying, Holzel spent a year in house appointments at the First University Clinic of Internal Medicine. In 1934 Holzel specialized in paediatrics and held hospital appointments in Prague until 1939 when he came to England. Holzel joined the EMS at Warwick Hospital as senior house officer and was later promoted to assistant physician and in 1947, acting consulting paediatrician. In 1948 Holzel came to Manchester. of Postgraduate Medical Studies at the University of Manchester.
He was appointed lecturer in Child Health at the University of Manchester and was also honorary consultant paediatrician at St Mary's Hospitals and the Duchess of York Hospital for Babies (in 1954 he relinquished this appointment for a post at Booth Hall Children's Hospital). In these positions, Holzel quickly gained his reputation as an important paediatrician. In 1953 Holzel became physician in charge of the Allergy Clinic at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and in 1955 was promoted to senior lecturer at the University, becoming reader in 1962 and professor in 1971. He was a member of a number of paediatric societies, including the British Paediatric Association and the European Society for Paediatric Research, and carried out a number of lecture tours. He gained an international reputation in paediatric gastro-enterology, particularly with regard to his research into the digestion of cows milk by children. Holzel was a member of Manchester Medical Society, and in 1973 was the first paediatrician to be elected president of the Society. Holzell retired from his professorship in 1974.