His parental ancestors of the Mikulicz family were of Polish szlachta origin and had been granted the Gozdawa coat of arms by King John III Sobieski after the 1683 Battle of Vienna.

His mother Emilie Freiin von Damnitz was of Austrian descent.

Mikulicz-Radecki spoke his native German and also Polish, Russian and English fluently.

[3] Mikulicz-Radecki's innovations in operative technique for a wide variety of diseases helped develop modern surgery.

He contributed prodigiously to cancer surgery, especially on organs of the digestive system.