Palla Ákos szerk.: Az Országos Orvostörténeti Könyvtár közleményei 6-7. (Budapest, 1957)

Dr. TARDY LAJOS: Az első magyar „sub auspiciis” orvosdoktor

SUMMARY Doctor Jacob Reineggs (born in 1744), one of the first describers of the Caucasian countries is an outstanding personality even among the colourful individuals of the medical profession in the second half of the 18th century because of his universal interest, Polyhistor personality and adventurous life. Jacob Reineggs is not unknown to Soviet historians, as in 1915 the Istoritseski Vestnik (Vol. 20) gave a detailed account of his Caucasian travelogue. Some Soviet (and first of all Gruzian) authors deal in considerable detail with the important role played by Reineggs in the court of Heraclius II., King of Gruzia, in suggesting and realising great reforme. History has much to thank Reineggs for the treaty of Georgievsk, signed by Russia and Gruzia in 1783. Less is known about the later activities of Reineggs in Russia in the field of medical (and first of all surgical) education and training. Although originally a Saxon, Jacob Reineggs studied in Hungary and started on his Caucasian journey with Hungarian support and with a Hungarian companion. While in Vienna he was in close friendship with the Hungarian count John Koháry, director of the Vienna State Theatre. The friendship was based on two passions common to the two men. One was the desire to produce gold artificially (and they carried out many alchimist experiments together) and the other was the jearning for the mistic East. They had been planning the great journey for almost 7 years until in 1776 the plans could be realized. During those 7 years Reineggs lived in Hungary. Supported by count Koháry, he enrolled to the medical faculty of the University of Szombathely, which was not second to the famous Vienna medical faculty. Contemporary documents in the State Archives of Budapest prove that he passed all his examinations with such excellent results that he graduated under the auspices of Queen Maria Theresia, whose gift, a gold necklace, was handed over to Reineggs by the Queens personal envoy. Reineggs was the first „sub auspiciis" graduate of the medical faculty of the Hungarian university. According to recently published documents the leading authorities of the Hungarian court chancellery almost succeeded