Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 57-59. (Budapest, 1971)
TANULMÁNYOK - Antall József: A pesti orvosi iskola kialakulása és a centralisták egészségügyi politikája (angol nyelven)
its most important strata, medical society—which, too, strongly demanded modernization—got enlisted in the service of these goals. In trying to narrow the gap with Europe they had to clear up the unsolved questions of centuries, to catch up with immense distances of backwardness. Vienna was then the Mecca of Hungarian physicians, where they could imbibe the teachings of the masters of the first Viennese school —to pass it on at Nagyszombat, and after the transference of the university (1777), in Buda and Pest. But in the wake of the Protestant medical students of the 17 th and 18 th centuries, travelling to distant cities, now many—with new intentions, new ambitions — endeavoured to get acquainted with the world beyond Vienna. The first generation of physicians in Hungary had learned the scientific results of the great period of Vienna, and accepted—though here we must not carry matters too far —the ideas of the enlightenment. Their medical knowledge was equal to the standards of the age, and they reacted to new medical discoveries rather quickly. For instance one or two years after Jenner's discovery there were several works in Hungarian discussing the treatment advocated by him, and vaccination was used in practice, too. But as a reaction to the French Revolution the progressive overtures in the political order gave way to conservative tendencies. The only opportunity left for the intelligentia was spiritual and linguistical revival, the modernization of the Hungarian language. 4 Consequently the generation of the turn of the 18 th19 th centuries is noted in medical and in general cultural history for their merits in starting something. The next generation, playing such an important role in the Hungarian "Risorgimento", followed their lead. Though under different circumstances, the same historical factors worked here as in the movements for the Italian and the German unity, only here the main obstacle of the creation of the nation-state was not disunity but dependence. 5 Perhaps it is hardly surprising then that even among the physicians of that period, not the "researching type", but the "public figure" became dominant. The teeming spiritual and political atmosphere, the passing of the reforms was more favourable for people moving on the forum than for the specialist researchers. The true merit of this second generation is the creation of a special Hungarian medical language, the foundation of scientific societies and reviews. The Orvosi Tár (Medical Collection), was founded by Pál Bugát and Ferenc Toldy. Between 1831 and 1848 it reviewed foreign literature and home developments in Hungarian, and it was not inferior to its foreign rivals. Its prime aim was the establishment of a common Hungarian medical terminology, as it is marked by the opening announcement of the editors. Later this neologis4 Bárczi G, .* A magyar nyelv életrajza. Budapest, 1963. 5 Horváth M. : Huszonöt év Magyarország történelméből 1823 — 1848, Vol. 1 — 3. 3. kiad. Budapest, 1886. — Mályusz E. : A reformkor nemzedéke. = Századok, 1923, 1, 16 — 75. — Antall /•—Tóth A. : A magyarországi felsőoktatás a reformkorban és 1848-49-ben. = Felsőoktatási Szemle, 1968. 7—8. 415 — 423.
