Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 89-91. (Budapest, 1980)

KISEBB KÖZLEMÉNYEK - ELŐADÁSOK - Benedek Jaszmann, László: Hendrik van Deventer (1651—1724) a németalföldi szülészet alapvetője (angol nyelven)

and later in the neighbourhood of Voorburg. We know very little about this man. Young Hendrik became a silversmith and a member of the quild when he was 17 years old. His parents were wealthy, his father was a member of the wine-sellers-guild, so Hendrik could be well educated. He was well trained to write and read Dutch, but he did not have a classical Latin school education needed for a study at university. Probably in 1670 he started his, in that time customary "migratory time", leaving Voorburg and to see the world, learning more to became a skilled silversmith. In the year of 1672, then 21 years old, he lived in North Germany in Altona near Hamburg. He lived in a turbulent time of religious reformers and he became a member of the very orthodox protestant Labadies' sect. This sect formed one special community, the members were living without any personal property. Lammers (1946) wrote a study about the world in which Hendrik van Deventer lived and he characterised his manner of life as "the communism of today embodied in practicing the daily life as cornerstone of Christ's spirit". This community needed a doctor. The intelligent young Hendrik was chosen by his idealists to follow a medical training by a practicing doctor, named Dr. H. Walter, living also in Altona. He could not follow university training because he had no classical education. Very soon Hendrik turned out to be an excellent apprentice of his famous master. He was enthousiastic knowlegable in general medicine, surgery and in botanies. He became a self made man in the medical practice and after few years he started himself practicing only in his religious community under the supervision of his master. So, the demand of the community was now fulfilled, they had their own doctor. According to Lammers' study, the members of Labadies' sect were expelled from Germany by the Lutheran church, because of their "strange habits in religious and family affairs". The Labadies' sect had to move and they found a new home in Wieuwerd in Friesland. At this time Fiesland was an independent small country and it did not belong as yet to the Federal Republic of the Netherlands. The medical activity was not bound to rules. This well come occasion suited for his purpose: practicing medicine without any limiting rule. Hendrik was for this way free to practice medicine, surgery and preparing medicaments. In this unie position without any hinder in his unlimited medical activity, this self made man became a famous doctor. His name was known very soon even outside of Friesland. It was an honour to him to be a consultant for the Danish king's family where different members were suffering from a bony disease, malformation of the vertebral column, probably due to rachitis. His former trade as a handy silversmith became now important. He constructed special corsets and his interest in orthopedic problems was also growing. This special knowledge of the bones and his interest in its malformations, drew him later to obstetrics, i. e. to the bony pelvis and its importance. In the mean time, he was about 30 years old, happily married and enjoying family life in Friesland, his interest became more focused on obstetrics. He became familiar with the translated textbooks of obstetrics of Mauriceau and Portal, he studied them with criticism. At the same time he observed the poor results of the practicing midwives in Friesland who had no medical education. This fact inspired him to write a book to teach the midwives as well as the doctors engaged in obstetrics. Friesland was bound in the South by the province Groningen, belonging to the Federal Republic, where his name was already well known. At the age of 53, he decided to follow an academic study and he went to the University of Groningen. Without a classical