Gecse Annabella et al. (szerk.): Tisicum - A Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Megyei Múzeumok Évkönyve 18. (Szolnok, 2009)

Történelem - Pusztai Gabriella: Arusha magyar orvosa, dr. Sáska László

Tisicum XVIII.

Gabriella Pusztai

A Hungarian doctor of Arusha: Dr László Sáska

Among all the Hungarian doctors working in tropical areas, it was Dr László Sáska who spent the longest time in Africa: 45 years. Among others, it was geographer Dr János Ku- bassek who commemorated his role in natural philosophy, in literature and his hunting and gathering expeditions. Gábor Xantus’s film was the last to document his life in Arusha before the death of his wife, Mária Mojzis. This paper attempts to complete Dr Sáska’s assessment emphasizing his medical activities.

He was in love with Africa, and a great admirer of the animal kingdom and the flora of the continent. His papers published in Hungarian journals are exciting to read, his scientific achievements are treasures of medical history and botany. We do not have much information about his publications abroad. Balázs Szélinger drew attention to his reports on the historical events in Ethiopia, which he survived as a close eyewitness. After his death the vast majority of his documentaries, film slides and correspondence (among others with Hemingway) were destroyed.

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