Medicinska fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani 1919–1945 - Univerza v ...

the gymnasium professor Josip Reisner, also as a part-time teacher,
at the First State Gymnasium� In the second semester, all lectures
in medical subjects were held in a small provisional lecture hall
of the anatomical institute where dissection practicals also took
place in the afternoon in two groups lead by Professor Plečnik�
Physics, chemistry and biology lectures were organised as in the
first semester� The faculty’s teaching staff was joined in the summer
semester by Dr Marij Rebek, who conducted chemistry practicals
as a part-time assistant until the winter semester of 1921� In view
of the unfavourable spatial situation, the faculty posted only 50
student places for the first academic year, but later raised the
number due to the difficult social situation of students forced to
study abroad and enrolled 69 students in the first semester, six
of them female� For the same reasons the faculty only accepted
such students to the second semester who had previously enrolled
in the first semester� Dean Šerko wrote in his first report at the
end of the first academic year that the lectures were held regularly,
the students arrived on time and almost always in full number,
showing a great enthusiasm for the lectures and a good understanding
of the subject matter taught�
Development of the Faculty of Medicine in
the First Decade
It was still necessary to also organise institutes for physiology
and histology with embriology for the second academic year�
In August 1920, the faculty employed Dr Evgen Kansky, who
started lectures in human physiology that same autumn� He
was appointed assistant for biochemistry and assistant professor
of physiology in June 1921, elected as associate professor in
January 1923 and full professor in March 1930� His arrival meant
the beginning of the founding of a physiological institute� In
September 1923, Dr Albin Seliškar took up his post as assistant at
the physiological institute and in 1927 he was elected as assistant
professor of physiology� His work initially consisted of organising
and conducting practical lessons in experimental physiology and
physiological chemistry, and later also introductory lectures to
the practical lessons, a seminar and then special lectures in sensory
and nervous system physiology and occupational physiology�
In December 1920, the Faculty Council selected Dr Zdenko
Frankenberger, assistant professor at the Czech medical faculty,
as full professor of histology and embriology, who after a year
of teaching left the faculty, which could not offer him normal
conditions for instruction and scientific work, and returned to
Prague� With the winter semester 1923, his histology class and
direction of the histological institute was taken over by Dr Alija
Košir, who took up the duties of demonstrator at the Faculty of
Medicine in 1920, was appointed assistant in June the same year
and assistant professor of anatomy in 1923�
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Professor Reisner taught until the summer semester 1921, after
which his lectures in physics were taken over by Julij Nardin
as a part-time teacher, otherwise a professor at the Technical
Secondary School in Ljubljana, who kept this position until 1949�
His lectures were first held at the First State Gymnasium and later
in the physical institute’s lecture hall at the University� Analytical
chemistry practicals for medical students were conducted by the
Russian part-time lecturer Vasilij Isajevič until 1928� Biology was
taught by Dr Pavel Grošelj from 1920, when he was appointed
as lecturer, until his death in 1940� In 1923, he was appointed
assistant professor of general biology and head of the biological
institute�
Facilities of the Faculty of Medicine in
Ljubljana
The physiological and histological institutes were located on
the floor added to the Pathological Department building� The
Physical Institute was given two rooms where practicals took
place and, in the basement, a chemical laboratory, experimental
physiology laboratory, library room and dark room for optical
apparatus� Animals were housed in the basement and a small shed
on the hospital grounds� On the roof, a hut for work with foul
gases was built� When founded in 1920, the Histological Institute
operated on the first floor of the Pathological Department, in one
room which was both a laboratory and the room of the head of
the institute� Practical lessons were carried out in the corridor of
the building�
In the spring of 1920, the ambition was to build new anatomical
institute premises according to the architect Vurnik’s plans -
behind the Pathological Department building on Zaloška Road�
The work did not take place as planned due to a lack of funding�
The funds for university buildings had been crossed off the budget
for the second academic year by the ministry� With subsequently
approved earmarked budgetary resources and funds which the
Deans’ Office managed to get from provincial resources with the
help of the provincial deputy at the time, Dr Leonid Pitamec,
the new building was more or less put under the roof by spring
1921� In the third academic year, work on the building came
to a complete standstill due to a lack of funding� In June 1922,
the Jutro newspaper published a request from the Faculty of
Medicine addressed to the general Slovenian public for financial
help to complete the new building� With the help of donations,
the building was completed to the point of allowing occupation
in 1925�
Until the 1922/23 academic year, five rooms and a corridor were
available to the faculty at the General State Hospital’s Pathological
Department, which they shared� During that year, the Ministry