Seventy years of the section for the history of medicine of the Serbian medical society

This paper covers the forming of the Serbian Medical Society sections in the period until 1950, as well as the amendments made to the Rules of the Serbian Medical Society in 1919 and 1928. Prior to World War I, the Section for Tuberculosis was formed (1907). In the interwar period, seven specialist sections and one class section (Section of District Doctors for Belgrade, Zemun and Pančevo, 1931) were formed. After World War II, led by the all-pervasive enthusiasm in society of that time and the need for renewing and rebuilding all life segments in socialist Yugoslavia, new sections and regional branches of the Serbian Medical Society were established. The Section for the History of Medicine and Pharmacy was founded as the 16th section of the Serbian Medical Society, in 1950, and, in 1980, its name was changed to - Section for the History of Medicine. The first meeting of the Section was held on March 29, 1950. Professor Vladimir Stanojević, PhD, Medical Corps General, was elected the first President of the Section. The first lecture, delivered by Professor Aleksandar Đ. Kostić (Jedan stogodišnji srpski leksikon) ¹ , is also described briefly in this paper. During its 70 years of work, the Section has experienced periods of rise and fall in its activity; while there has been formal continuity in its work, activity has been irregular (the regularity of the meetings, the number of communications, etc.), which is why its history can be divided into four periods. The Section achieved its best results in the first (1950–1978) and in its fourth (2009–2020) period. The second period (1978–1993) was characterized by a decrease in activity, while the third (1993–2009) was a period of complete inactivity. The Section had a fruitful publishing activity during the first and the fourth period. It was voted the best section of the Serbian Medical society twice – in 2016 and 2017.

INTRODUCTION

Since its founding, in 1872, until the end of World War I, in 1919, the Serbian Medical Society (SMS) held its professional and scientific meetings as plenary sessions. With the exception of a “special Section for Tuberculosis of the Serbian Medical Society” formed ad hoc, whose members were doctors M. P. Jevremović, Lj. Stojanović, and M. Ivković [1], there were no specialist sections within the SMS until 1922. That year, the doctors from Vrnjačka Banja founded the Section for Balneology of the SMS [2].

Why were no specialist sections established within the SMS before the Great War? The first reason was the fact that there were few specialists of individual medical fields at the time. The members of the SMS were doctors of overall medicine, who were mainly in general practice, but they also practiced other specific branches of medicine, even though they were not specialists in those particular fields. Doctors working at the General State Hospital or the Mental Hospital would direct their focus at a certain specialist branch of medicine, but the number of those who, after graduation from medical school, actually specialized at any of the European medical schools, was small. The second reason was the fear that the founding of sections would “fragment” the structure of the SMS. Even in the interwar period, discussions at regular annual assemblies continued to be pervaded by the fear that the forming of a larger number of sections would remove the scientific work away from the SMS itself, and that it would cease to exist. At the 50th Annual General Assembly, held in 1928, Dr. Zdravković spoke of the need for “adopting a rulebook for the existing sections”. Sections for pediatrics, venerology have been formed, and if sections are formed for each branch of medicine, what remains then for the SMS, what will its purpose and scope of work be?”. Dr. Svetislav Stefanović supported the view expressed by Dr. Zdravković and added that the rulebook should “prescribe the affiliation and bond of the sections to the SMS and prevent their secession, to the detriment of the Society” [3].

The legal framework for establishing the sections was founded in the amendments to the Rules of the SMS² , which were adopted at the 41st Annual General Assembly, held on November 22, 1919. Dr. Vojislav J. Subotić, together with 23 other members of the je SMS (amongst them Jovan Danić, Lazar Genčić, Roman Sondermajer, Leon Kojen, Vojislav M. Subotić, Dušan Stojimirović) proposed that the Rules of the SMS be amended so as to allow the approval of proposals for founding specialist sections, with the proviso that at least 10 members of the SMS should second such a proposal. The establishing of new sections was justified by the need to “differentiate professional papers and deepen the discussions and provide greater depth of the papers” [4].

Why were proposals for a radical change in the Rules of the SMS made at the first Annual General Assembly held after World War I?

On October 29, 1919, the representative of the Minister of National Health, the Minister of Social Affairs Vitomir Korać signed the Ordinance on Medical Specialists [5]. This Ordinance, which would, in practically the same form, become the Law on Medical Specialists [6], prescribed the conditions for receiving the title of specialist, as well as the 16 specialty branches of medicine.³ Thanks to this Ordinance, a significant number of SMS members could obtain the title of specialist, which made the establishing of SMS sections possible. One of the reasons for forming sections was a more thorough approach in the presentation of the diagnostics and therapy for individual diseases, which made it possible for members of the specialist sections to broaden their knowledge and to directly, or indirectly, learn about the achievements in European medicine. The report of the Governing Board on the work of the SMS, submitted at the 43rd Annual General Assembly, states: ”On the basis of the position of the Governing Board that the Serbian Medical Society, regardless of the newly founded Faculty of Medicine, and especially until the full activity of the Faculty is established, remains called upon to cultivate and develop medicine as a science, the Serbian Medical Society has invested all its effort to achieve steps forward in the domain of science”. The report also states that the building of the House of the Serbian Medical Society would enable the “formation of a library… the founding of specialist sections” [7]. The ideas of the Founding Fathers of the Serbian Medical Society were very much alive within the Society; these being that the SMS “should follow with its work the modern development of medicine and all the branches of natural science associated with it; should develop with the gradual development of medical practice and advance through its everyday experience; should disseminate this experience through written and oral communications regarding its own and the experience of others …”⁴ [8].

In the period between World War I and World War II (1918–1941), after the Section for Balneology, the Section for Tuberculosis (1923) [9], the Section for Children’s Medicine (1925) [10], the Section for Dermatovenerology (1928) [11], the Section for Radiology (1929) [12], the Section for Phthisiology (1931)⁵ [13] and the Section for Stomatology (1933) [14] were also formed.

At the 50th Annual General Assembly of the SMS (1928), the establishing of “class” sections was made possible by amendments to the Statue, with the aim of improving the financial status of doctors [15]. The Section of District Doctors of Belgrade, Zemun and Pančevo was established in 1931 [16].

After World War II, numerous sections of the Serbian Medical Society were either formed or restored to activity. First, in 1946, the Section for Physical Education (Sports) Medicine started with its activity, as well as the Section for Radiology and the Section for Cardiology. The following year, the Section for Hygiene, the Section for Neuropsychiatry, the Section of the Doctors of Social Insurance were also formed, and, by 1950, the following sections were either established or renewed their activity: the Section for Gynecology and Obstetrics, the Section for Dermatovenerology, the Section for Otorhinolaryngology, the Section for Ophthalmology, the Section for Medical Hydrology and Climatology, the Section for Pediatrics, the Section for Rheumatology, the Section for Stomatology, and the Section for Physiology [17] .

FOUNDING OF THE SECTION FOR THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY

 The history of medicine is an area of science which has been studied in Serbia for more than 150 years. Research in this area, before the founding of the Section for the History of Medicine and Pharmacy of the SMS⁶ , was sporadic. The founding of the Section marked the beginning of institutionalized study of the history of Serbian medicine, which would lead to the establishing of other organizations with the same goals: the Section for the History of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy of the Institute for Medical Research at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (1955), and the Yugoslav Society for the History of Medicine, Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine (1955) [18].

Reporting on the work on the Yugoslav Medical Bibliography, at the meeting of the Serbian Medical Society held on December 9, 1949, Dr. Zdenko Levental proposed that the SMS should form a Section for the History of Medicine which would “contribute the most” to the faster completion of the work on the medical bibliography. This suggestion was seconded with great enthusiasm by Dr. Kosta Todorović, and after that by other members at the meeting [19].

The Section for the History of Medicine and Pharmacy was formed on February 12, 1950, as the 16th section of the SMS. Medical Corps General, Professor Vladimir Stanojević was elected President, Dr. Aleksandar Šević from Čačak was elected Vice-President, and Dr. Zdenko Levental was appointed Secretary of the Section. The members of the Governing Body were Dr. Milorad Dragić and Vojislav Marjanović, MPharm. “Dr. Risto Jeremić, the sage of our medical historians” was appointed Honorary President. The first meeting of the Section was held on March 29, 1950. Communications were delivered by Professor Aleksandar Kostić (Jedan stogodišnji srpski leksikon) and Dr. Milorad Dragić (Mađiski elementi kao faktor u genezi higijene)⁷ [20].

The founders defined the objectives of the Section: (1) collecting all data from our medical literature to date, and writing a bibliography of Serbian medical literature, past and present; (2) processing known sources and literature and discovering new sources and literature relevant to the history of medicine and pharmacy; (3) cultivating a younger generation of medical historians by raising interest in this area within the wider medical public; (4) cultivating cooperation with scientists from all areas relevant to the history of medicine and pharmacy; (5) founding the Department of the History of Medicine at the faculty of Medicine in Belgrade; and (6) founding the Museum of the Serbian Medical Society [21].

PROF. DR ALEKSANDAR Đ. KOSTIĆ’S COMMUNICATION

 The invitation of the Governing Body of the Section for the History of Medicine and Pharmacy extended to Professor Aleksandar Đ. Kostić to open the series of professional meetings with a lecture on the work of the first doctor to promote social medicine in our country, Dr. Konstantin Peičić, was motivated by the objective of the Section to collect and analyze data and information “from our medical literature”. Also, at a time when there was a strong emphasis on the socialization of medicine, this lecture showed that the ideas of socialized medicine were present amongst Serbian doctors for over a century. Professor Kostić’s choice to present the book Rukovoditelj k’ povraćanju izgubljenog zdravlja⁸ , on the other hand, was an expression of the professor’s personal interests – bibliophilia and work on medical terminology. The very title of the paper O jednom stogodišnjem srpskom medicinskom leksikonu⁹ [22] is a clear testimony of the professor’s research in lexicography and terminology.

Konstantin Peičić (Borovo, 1802 – Budapest, 1882) completed his medical studies in Pest. He was promoted to Doctor of Medicine in 1830, with his dissertation Dissertatio inauguralis medicopolitica de pauperum aegrorum cura (The Health Policy of Treating the Poor). That same year, in Buda, Peičić published his dissertation, in the Serbian language; this was the first Serbian paper in social medicine. Inspired by the Enlightenment ideas of his teacher, Peičić, “the last of the scholars of Dositej”¹⁰ [23], would go on to publish, in addition to his dissertation, the books - Rukovoditelj k sveopštem zdravlju¹¹ (Buda, 1830), Rukovoditelj k’ izgubljenom zdravlju¹² (Buda, 1934) and Rukovoditelj k’ povraćanju izgubljenog zdravlja (Novi Sad, 1840) [24]. Together with Dr. Ljubomir Nenadović, he edited the first popular medical journal published in the Serbian language, Domaći lekar¹³ (1871–1873).

Peičić begins the book Rukovoditelj k’ povraćanju izgubljenog zdravlja with rules for preserving bodily health, with special emphasis on the psychophysical unity of man. When speaking of preserving health, he advocates many rules of hygiene and diet that are still valid to this day. He especially points out that poor diet (lack of vegetables in the diet or improper preparation of food) is the cause of many illnesses. He then goes on to provide general descriptions of diseases. In the next section, on treatment and drugs, Peičić advocates the use of herbs (“many a medicine in our country grows on meadows or in forests, etc.”) and describes the methods of their preparation (tea, decoctions, powders). He gives special attention, in keeping with the ideas of medicine at the time, to bloodletting as a therapeutic method, with detailed instructions on the use of leeches. Peičić also writes on the use of cold and warm therapeutic water in treating certain diseases. In keeping with the then generally accepted classification, he divides diseases into “external” and “internal” illnesses. He classifies convulsions, headache, insomnia, fainting, paralysis, epilepsy and rabies as nervous diseases. His beliefs are based on the humoral theory of the origin of diseases; for instance, he calls melancholy церножучіе¹⁴- black bile illness. He finishes the book with instructions on first aid in case of accidents.

In his analysis of this book, Professor Kostić provides detailed comments from the aspect of modern medicine. Thus, for instance, he comments that it is peculiar how, in the section on diseases of the throat and chest, Peičić “does not give more attention to tuberculosis, which he calls ’эктика кашальна’¹⁵. He does not make a connection between coughing up blood and tuberculosis.” Kostić also points out that Peičić describes “spots” on the face together with infectious diseases characterized by rash (cowpox, St. Anthony’s fire, etc.) although he is aware that pox is contagious.

With this paper, Aleksandar Đ. Kostić contributed to the history of medicine in a twofold manner. Firstly, he presents the book itself, a bibliophilic rarity¹⁶, in great detail and in depth, analyzing all aspects of Peičić’s work, thereby introducing this important title of Serbian medical literature to the broader public. Secondly, he translates many archaic terms into modern botanical and medical terminology, at the same time providing layman’s terms for them, as well.

The lecture delivered by Professor Kostić was an indicator tht the Section was on a good path.

THE WORK OF THE SECTION FOR THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE (1950–2020)

 During its 70 years of work, the Section has experienced periods of rise and fall in activity; while there has been formal continuity in its work, activity has been irregular (the regularity of the meetings, the number of communications, etc.), which is why its history can be divided into four periods.

The first period of very fruitful work lasted from 1950 to 1978, i.e., until the death of the Section’s first President, Professor Vladimir Stanojević. In this period, there were 257 meetings of the Section where 124 authors presented 522 papers. The Museum of Serbian Medicine of the SMS was founded in 1955. The members of the Section took part at medical congresses and science gatherings organized by the Yugoslav Society for the History of Medicine, Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine, i.e., the Scientific Society for the History of the Health Culture in Yugoslavia¹⁷ and other associations from other republics of the former Yugoslavia. Great attention was given to jubilees of important medical institutions, the SMS, and prominent doctors (Dr. Laza K. Lazarević, Dr. Petar Miljanić, Dr. Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, and others) as well as jubilees related to prominent individuals of the nation’s scientific and cultural history, such as the poet Branko Radičević, the poet, philosopher and Prince-Bishop of Montenegro Petar Petrović Njegoš, or scientist Jovan Cvijić, PhD. Amongst the founders and members of the Section there were many veterans of the Great War, thus, authentic testimonies of the army’s Great Retreat across Albania; the work of the Medical Corps on Corfu and the Salonika Front; the role of the Medical Corps in the Salonika Front breakthrough; and the work of British and other foreign medical missions, could be heard at the meetings of the Section. Eight Books of Proceedings, i.e., collections of papers presented at the Section meetings were published in this period (Photo 1).

Photo 1. Meeting of the Section for the History of Medicine and Pharmacy of the SMS, held in the 1960s. (Source: Museum of Science and Technology – Collection of the Museum of Serbian Medicine)

 In the second period (1978 - 1993), the work of the Section lost momentum. After the death of Professor Stanojević, Dr. Vojislav Marjanović, MPharm, was elected President of the Section. During the period of his leadership of the Section a “certain stagnation in the work occurred”, which lasted until March 1980, when Primarius Milorad Dragić was elected President, which he remained until 1983.

In 1980, the Section changed its name to the Section for the History of Medicine. 22 meetings were held, and 34 papers were presented at these meetings. Between 1983 and 1993, the President was Dr. Krsta Živković. In this period the meetings were held irregularly, usually for the purpose of marking an anniversary or jubilee. A “written agreement” was signed with the Scientific Society for the History of Health Culture in Serbia, which stipulated the organization of joint meetings. As written in the report dated December 17, 1986, signed by Dr. Krsta Živković, Section President and Dr. Budimir Pavlović, Secretary, “therein previously initiated good relations and cooperation between the two societies are realized in written form, for the benefit of joint work on the study and public dissemination of the history of Serbian medicine and health culture.” [25]. With the breakout of civil war in the territory of the former SFRY, the Scientific Society for the History of Health Culture in Yugoslavia ceased to exist, and soon after, the same happened with the Scientific Society for the History of Health Culture in Serbia.

The third period, from 1993 to 2009, was a time of complete cessation of the activity of the Section, whose President, at the time, was Dr. Budimir Pavlović. Since the Section had not submitted any reports on its work nor did it have active members for years, the Governing Board of the SMS decided, on September 24, 2004, to close down the Section if it did not start with activities. Although it still did not operate, the Section was not terminated.

The fourth period of the Section’s history began in 2009 and is still ongoing. As the newly elected President of the SMS (January 31, 2009), Professor Radoje Čolović made the decision to renew the work of “inactive sections and branches”. On the initiative to restore the Section for the History of Medicine, Professor Brana Dimitrijević wrote the following in his book Moja gerila¹⁸:“At the end of January or the beginning of February 2009, I received a telephone call from Professor Radoje Čolović, PhD, associate member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He told me that he had become the President of the Serbian Medical Society and that he was willing to renew the work of the inactive sections, including the Section for the History of Medicine. He requested from the writer of these lines to take upon himself the duty of President of that section and to gather people as members.” [26]. The meeting organized with the aim to renew the activity of the Section was held on March 19, 2009, and all the doctors who were known to be involved or interested in the history of medicine were invited to attend. The turnout was beyond all expectations. The Governing Body was elected at this meeting by acclamation - Professor Brana Dimitrijević for President - and the decision was made to hold meetings eight times a year with a minimum of two communications per meeting. Professor Čolović then went on to deliver a lecture titled Dr Aćim Medović – prvi predsednik Srpskog lekarskog društva (1872)¹⁹.

Professor Dimitrijević was at the head of the Section until the Third Election Assembly, held on June 6, 2015, when Dr. Zoran Vacić, who was until then a member of the Governing Body, was elected President of the Section. On June 7, 2019, at the Fourth Election Assembly, in Novopazarska Banja, he was reelected for another four-year term (Photo 2).

Photo 2. Participants of the 10th Congress of the Historians of Medicine (Novi Pazar, June 7, 2019). (Source: Archives of the Section for the History of Medicine of the SMS)

 As of 2010, the Section has been organizing regular annual congresses of historians of medicine. There were 11 congresses held until the year 2020. Historians of medicine from Slovakia, Russia, Poland, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina were participants of the four congresses, which is why they were accredited as “national congresses with international participation” Between 2009 and the end of 2020, the Section held 193 scientific or professional gatherings (11 congresses, 5 symposiums, one course and 176 meetings) where 229 authors presented 698 papers, 16 books and 19 documentary films in the field of the history of medicine.

In cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, on June 8, 2017, in the courtyard of the Serbian Medical Society, a ceremony was held to uncover the bust of Professor Ludwig Hirszfeld (1884 – 1954), by the sculptor Gorana Čpajk. At the proposal of the Section for the History of Medicine, the Public Enterprise Pošta Srbije²⁰ issued a series of six postage stamps with portraits of three Serbian doctors from World War I (Dr. Vojislava J. Subotić, Dr. Mihajlo Petrović, and Dr. Miloš Đ. Popović) as well as portraits of three foreign doctors, from that period (Dr. Edward Ryan, Dr. William Hunter, and Dr. Ludwik Hirszfeld), as well as three first day covers, to commemorate the ending of the Great War [27] (Photo 3).

Photo 3. One hundred years since the ending of the Great War – Great doctors of the Great War postage stamp commemorative series (Source: Public Enterprise Pošta Srbije)

Between 2009 and 2020, the Section for the History of Medicine of the SMS had a fruitful publishing period. In that period the following were published: books of proceedings with papers from 10 congresses of historians of medicine, organized under the umbrella title 800 Years of Serbian Medicine; books of proceedings with papers presented at symposiums and Section meetings dedicated to prominent doctors and significant events of the Serbian past (Dr. Laza K. Lazarević, Dr. Emmerich P. Lindenmayer, Dr. Svetislav Stefanović, Dr. Aćim Medović, Professor Leon Kojen, PhD, 80th anniversary of the Section for Stomatology of the Serbian Medical Society); the report Izveštaj o radu Sekcije za istoriju medicine SLD (6. jun 2015 – 7. jun 2019)²¹; and the book Dr. Milan Pecić – autobiografija najstarijeg pukovnika srpskog saniteta²² (2020).

Two years in a row, 2016 and 2017, the Section received the Award for Best Section of the Serbian Medical Society.

At present, the Section for the History of Medicine of the Serbian Medical Society is the only organization in Serbia which is systematically involved in: research in the area of the history of Serbian medicine; organizing congresses, symposiums and scientific and/or professional meetings related to the history of medicine; publishing papers presented at the gatherings organized by the Section. In addition to doctors, dentists and pharmacists, veterinarians, historians, art historians, librarians, philologists, and other profiles are involved in the work of the Section. Thanks to their participation, a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the history of Serbian medicine from the Middle Ages to the end of the 20th century is being applied.

CONCLUSION

 Since its founding, in 1872, until 1922, the Serbian Medical Society did not have any specialist sections within its organizational structure. The legal framework for establishing the sections was founded in the amendments to the Rules of the SMS which were adopted at the XLI General Assembly, held in 1919. In the interwar period (1918 – 1941), seven sections were formed within the Serbian Medical Society.

After World War II numerous sections were formed. The Section for the History of Medicine and Pharmacy of the SMS was formed on February 12, 1950. Medical Corps General, Professor Vladimir Stanojević was elected President, while “Dr. Risto Jeremić, the sage of our medical historians” was appointed Honorary President.

During the past 70 years of its work, the Section has had periods of rise and fall in its activity. The first period of very fruitful work lasted from the forming of the Section, in 1950, until the death of its first President, Professor Vladimir Stanojević, in 1978. In the second period (1978 - 1993), the work of the Section lost momentum. In 1980, the Section changed its name to the Section for the History of Medicine. 22 meetings were held, and 34 papers were presented at these meetings. The third period (1993–2009) was a period of complete inactivity of the Section.

The fourth period of the Section’s history began in 2009 and is still ongoing. At the initiative of the President of the SMS, Professor Radoje Čolović, the work of the Section was renewed at the Election Assembly held on March 19, 2009. Professor Brana Dimitrijević was elected President. He remained President until the Third Election Assembly, held on June 6, 2015, when Dr. Zoran Vacić, who, until then had been a member of the Governing Body, succeeded him. On June 7, 2019, at the Fourth Election Assembly in Novopazarska Banja, he was reelected for another four-year term. Between 2009 and 2020, the Section held 193 scientific or professional gatherings where 229 authors presented 698 papers, 16 books and 19 documentary films in the field of the history of medicine. Also, 18 books of proceedings, monographs and/or reports were published.

The success of the activity of the Section for the History of Medicine in the past seven decades is reflected in its achievement of the objectives set forth by the founders in 1950. Two of the objectives defined at the time have not completely been met. The first is writing the bibliography of Serbian medical literature. While members of the Section, when writing biographies of our doctors, did provide lists of their published work, this remains only a partial achievement. It transpires that the Section did not have the capacity to write a complete bibliography of Serbian medical literature. The second task has not been completely achieved, this being the establishing of the Department for the History of Medicine (Stomatology) at the faculties of medicine and stomatology in Serbia. However, although separate departments have not been established, the history of medicine and stomatology are offered within the curriculum of these faculties, as elective courses.

The members of the Section have achieved the remaining objectives (founding of the Museum of the Serbian Medical Society) or are continuously working on their realization (processing of archive material; raising awareness and interest in the history of medicine amongst the public; applying a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the history of medicine, stomatology and pharmacy).

Based on the results achieved, one can conclude that the work of the Section for the History of Medicine has been successful and that most of the objectives set by the founders have been met. The fact that the Section received awards for the best section of the Serbian Medical Society in 2016 and 2017 speak to this effect.