From the “personal dossier” of dr. Adolf Hempt: From school time to the retirement

Abstract

The paper analyzes the professional movements, the scientific and professional work of Dr. Adolf Hempt, one of the leading rabiologists in Yugoslavia and in the world. The research is based on the well-preserved and unexplored personal dossier of Dr. Adolf Hempt, which is kept in the Archive of Vojvodina (Novi Sad). From the rich source of material, the authors selected the documents that partircularly highlight his life in Lukavac, then certificates of his scientific and professional engagement in Vienna, Paris and Budapest (1910-1912), testimony about the preparations for his participation in the First International Conference on Rabies, and many letters written by Hempt himself. His Curriculum Vitae of 26 August, 1921, and two copies of Official gazette (from 1926 and 1932) should be particularly mentioned. The original material is in Serbian, German and Latin. Dr. Hempt lived or spent longer or shorter periods of his life, researching and improving himself, in Novi Sad, Sarajevo, Graz, Munich, Vienna, Gross-Enzersdorf, Lukavac, Paris, and Budapest. His professional career can be tracked through several stages. He was a military doctor in peace (1898-1905) and at war (1914-1918). His arrival in Lukavac coincides with the socio-economic development and the rise of this small town. He worked here as a factory, municipal, and railway doctor (1905-1921). Working on the eradication of infectious diseases and epidemics, he left an indelible mark on the history of health care and culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1908 until the beginning of the First World War, he was engaged in the launch of the Pasteur Institute in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After he moved to Novi Sad, as a founder and administrator of the Pasteur Institute, he wrote scientific papers, travelled and explored. This paper deals with a series of lesser known and unknown facts which complements and illuminates the biography of Dr. Adolf Hempt.