J. Antall szerk.: Medical history in Hungary 1972. Presented to the XXIII. International Congress of the History of Medicine / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 6. (Budapest, 1972)
V. R. Harkó and T. Vida : British Contacts of the Hungarian István Weszprémi, M. D. (1723—1799)
ioo Medical History in Hungary 1972 (Comm. Hist. Artis Med. Suppl. 6.) at Sopron and Besztercebánya, and in 1741 went to Debrecen to enroll in the famous college there. "Ego Stephanųs Weszprémi subscribo legibus Coll. Debrecziniensis" —that was the statement he recorded and signed in the register of students. With his admission, he changed his last name to that of the city of Veszprém instead of his original family name. From then on he referred to himself as "Csanádi" only in his correspondence. After his stay abroad, he came to spell his name always with a w; until then he frequently signed Weszprémi with a simple v. The spirit and outstanding professors of the Presbyterian College in Debrecen left a lasting mark on Weszprémi's personality and influenced the development of his talent and later his choice of an occupation. His professors included a number of clear-thinking and broadminded savants who had travelled widely outside of Hungary and taught at the best European standard. Such were, for instance, György Marótĥÿ, Sámuel Szilágyi, István Szatĥmári, János Tabajdi; and, above all, István Hatvani whom he particularly admired and liked and who was, by the way, a naturalist, philosopher, theologian and physician all in one, a man of European fame. His professors, most of them adherents of the Cartesian philosophy, were ready to espouse the ideas of the Enlightenment, among them religious equality. During the ten years that he spent at the Debrecen College, Weszprémi received a number of admonitions because of insufficiently explained absences, unbecoming conduct, and his apparel. Nonetheless, as a gifted student, he had been appointed to several student offices; he was praeceptor oratoriae, contrascriba, bibliothecarius and then senior. Hatvani was his faculty advisor in the library and in the care of students reported ill, which later was one of his duties as a senior. Day after day he grew to admire the eminent professor more, both as a physician and a human being. In his diary (of this more will be said later) he mentions that this was the time when the first serious medical book, namely William Harvey's Exercitatio anatómiça, came into his hands. He showed interest in medicine already as a librarian. According to the college records 2, he purchased several medical works at the auction of the Diószegĥÿ library; these included, apart from the works of several well-known medical authors, the above-mentioned work by Harvey. As to the medical literature then available in the college library, there is ample evidence of British influence there. According to the data of a catalogue from 1706, volumes in English —86 in number —predominated among the foreign-language books. These books went into the possession of the College not only by way of purchases or bequests but also through the itinerant students many of whom visited Dutch and English universities and medical schools. It was a fine tradition that these students considered it an obligation to bring some valuable and 2 Debrecen College Archives, C.4.1. reported by György Elekes: Adatok Weszprémi István dr. életéhez és munkásságához. (Data on Dr. István Weszprémi's Life and Oeuvre.) Orvosok és Gyógyszerészek Lapja (Medical and Pharmaceutical Journal), 1937. Vol. VIII, pp. 287-288.
