[Anniversaries of the Serbian Medical Society].

The Serbian Medical Society was founded in Belgrade 125 years ago. At that time, Serbia was liberated from the Ottoman domination, and was one of some thirty existing independent states gaining international recognition in 1878. A group of physicians met in Belgrade on April 22, 1872, wishing to establish a medical association. Vladan Djordjevitsh, the most prominent among them, asked Dr. Valenta to explain the purpose of the meeting. Dr. Valenta explained the advantages of a medical association and proposed that they vote for the establishment of such an association in Serbia. There were barely a hundred physicians in Serbia at the time. They were of different nationalities: Serbs (44), Germans (16), Czechs (9), Poles (6), Croats (4), Greeks (3), Slovenes (3) and Hungarian (1). Members of the Serbian Medical Society used to stress "the great love of Belgrade and Serbian doctors for this country and its people". The physicians of the Serbian Medical Society have shared the fate of their people over the past 125 years. This is best illustrated by the fact that Serbia lost 1,247,000 people in World War I and that every third doctor in Serbia lost his life serving his people during the war. On the occasion of the 125 anniversary of foundation of the Serbian Medical Society the celebration of the first jubilee we described. It was a great celebration for the whole country in the presence of the King and Patriarch of the Serbian Church and most physicians from the country. This was a hard time for the country-people lived in poverity and infectious diseases dominated in pathology. The Serbian Medical Society initiated actions for preventing epidemies of infectious diseases and for improvement of health of the people through vaccination and better hygienic conditions. All the same time efforts were made by educated country health personel (midwives and medical assistants) in founding a medical school in Belgrade.