Andrija Štampar (1888−1958) and Antun Vrgoč (1881−1949): parallels and controversy

Abstract

Many similarities, but also differences, are observable in the biographies of Andrija Štampar, one of the greats of Croatian and world medicine, an academic and president of JAZU (HAZU), dean of the Faculty of Medicine, rector of the University of Zagreb, and AntunVrgoč, scientist in pharmacognosy, dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, cultural and public worker. Born in the same decade of the 19th century, in an almost identical country setting along the river Sava, Štampar in Drenovac, Vrgoč in Gunja, they attended the same high school in Vinkovci and had common youthful ideals and preferences. Circumstances, in particular the two world wars that they lived through, experiences and goals they were devoted to, have led to growing differences including their worldviews, and in the end to the controversy about the relationship of pharmacy and public health. Therefore, this paper contributes to the knowledge of professional and social circumstances that have profiled these two personalities and influenced their worldview and attitudes.