Varga Benedek szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 141-144. (Budapest, 1993)
Búcsúzunk Antall Józseftől
and death, and the house where Semmelweis was born, and where the Museum has been placed. The enigma of Semmelweis's death was solved eventually. The house, where Semmelweis was born become the last resting place of the "Saviour of Mothers" as well. Antall was awarded for his medico-historical studies, and foundations of museums —among others—by the István Weszprémi Medal (1971), the József Ernycy Medal (1981), and the Ferenc Móra Award (1972). He was elected vicepresident of the International Medical Historical Society, and corresponding member of numerous foreign medical historical societies. It is owing to him that during the years of Kádár's dictatorship, in the first half of the 1960s the national basis institutes of medical and pharmaceutical history —that is to say museums, libraries and archives —were re-established from the very beinnings, though pre-war initiatives were always taken into considerations. Due to his unexpected and tragical death we regard his words at his 60th birthday party as a farewell speech and a last guide: "TJie years of my life belong to those periods of history which were full of events. I always tried to serve my country no matter how small place I was posted at and I always tried to change it better, for making it a better island. My objective was to create oases each time. In this institute I wish this development to be continued. .. This [institute] is one of the few foundations which had had a fairly respectable intention, which wanted to produce something good. True, it was not planed to develop into such a big size ... In an age of transmission when something has finished, collapsed, including even many of the everyday human norms and when individual associations have certainly been shaken too, [I ask you] to keep an eye on basic values and avoid everything contrary to fairness and to the norms of human behaviour. Preserve humanism, preserve the feeling of solidarity based on national foundations and the fairness toward each other; these are indispensable to allow to work any smaller community, or any community at all." The Prime Minister of the Hungarian Republic while preparing himself for the confidential feast of Christianity died on the third Sunday of Advent, about 5.15 p.m. in a hospital. Fate did not give him chance to continue his three and a half year long political career forthe next electoral period, and to help, at least with his advices, his would-be successors. Nevertheless, he, the medical historian, who spent 26 years, the longest part of his adult life on this field, was able to produce an ever lasting work not only for medical and pharmacist society, but for our national culture as well. MÁRIA VIDA editor-in-chief 1. Emléklap Antall József ravatalánál telt látogatás emlékére. Commemorative card for those who paid their last respects at the catafalque of József Antall. 2. A 60. születésnapra rendezett ünnepség a Semmelweis Múzeumben. 1992. április 8. Party given for the 60th birthday of József Antall in the Semmelweis Museum at April 8th. 1992. 3. Az Arany Sas Palikamúzeum megnyitásán tartott beszéd. (1974. július 1.) Balról jobbra: Antall József. Végh Anial. a Gyógyszerészeti Kar dékánja. Schultheisz Emil egészségügyi államtitkár. Vida Mária, a kiállítás rendezője. Speech delivered at the opening of the Golden Ragle Pharmacymuseum (July 1st. 1974). From left: József Antall; Antal Végh, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmaceutics, SOTE; Emil Schultheisz Secretary of State at the Ministry of Health; Mária Vida. 4. Beszéd Semmelweis Ignác születésének 175. évfordulóján tartott ünnepségen. (1993. július 1.) Speech delivered at the celebration of the 175. anniversary of Semmelweis in July 1st. 1993. 5. Szent István Király nemzeti ünnepén tartott beszéd a budavári Szent István szobornál. (1993. augusztus 20.) Speech delivered at the National Day of King Saint Stephen, in Buda Castle. August 20th, 1993.
