Vuk Vrhovac: a pioneer of endocrinology and diabetology in Croatia

Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive biographical and professional account of the life and work of Vuk Vrhovac (1903–1952), the founder of Croatian endocrinology and diabetology and one of the most prominent physicians of the first half of the 20th century. Vrhovac graduated in medicine in Zagreb in 1927, where he early developed an interest in social medicine under the influence of Andrija Štampar. With the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, he pursued advanced training in the United States, Canada, and across Europe. His stay in Toronto with Nobel laureate Frederick Banting, co-discoverer of insulin, proved crucial for Vrhovac’s greatest achievement—the establishment of domestic insulin production in Zagreb in 1935. At that time, this made Yugoslavia one of the few countries in the world with its own insulin production. Vrhovac also founded the first diabetes counselling centre in this part of Europe in 1940, thereby implementing Štampar’s principles of preventive medicine and laying the foundations for organised care for patients. He was appointed associate professor and elected a corresponding member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1950. Throughout his career, he was devoted to public health education, particularly within the temperance movement and the fight against alcoholism. He also served as editor of the journal Novi život, authored numerous professional and popular medical articles, and published three books. His son, Professor Emeritus Božidar Vrhovac, and later his grandson, continued the family’s medical tradition spanning more than seven decades. Although he died suddenly at the age of 49, Vuk Vrhovac left a profound mark on Croatian medicine as a visionary of preventive healthcare and one of the key contributors to improving diabetes treatment and the quality of life of chronically ill patients in Croatia. The leading national diabetes institution has borne his name since 1970.