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

of National Health situated the newly founded hygiene institute
and bacteriological station in the building� The Pathological
Department and the anatomical and histological institute were
left only with the basement, corridor and two rooms, one of which
was reserved for the Pathological Department only� The corridor
served as the office and workroom of the professor of anatomy
and the assistant professor of histology, a workshop for their
attendants and as a room for student microscope practicals� In
the one room left there were lectures in general anatomy, nervous
system anatomy and physiology, histology and physiology in the
mornings, and in forensic medicine for lawyers on Saturdays�
In the afternoon, dissection practicals were held in the same
room� The Histological Institute was given two still unfinished
rooms for practicals on the ground floor of the new Anatomical
Institute� When the building was provisionally completed, the
institute occupied the new premises� It was allotted two large
rooms on the first floor and two smaller rooms with a separate
entrance underneath the lecture hall, a storeroom and part of the
corridor where an area for the laboratory assistant was arranged�
The Physiological Institute got the ground floor, basement and
halls on the second floor of the side wing� While the rooms were
adapted to the institute, they did not fully meet its requirements�
Most of all, the institute lacked large, light and dry rooms in the
basement in which to keep its sensitive measuring instruments
The animals were placed in the shed, an extension to the Pathological
Department building, which, however, was also too small�
The Anatomical Institute was allotted two level halls in the side
wing, serving for dissection practicals, and a cellar for cadavers,
with six rooms still available in the old building above the Pathological
Department�
When occupied, the Anatomical Institute building was only
provisionally completed, poorly equipped due to the lack of
funds and its large lecture hall remained unfinished until the
end of the 30s� Conditions in the newly built facility were
vividly described by Professor Seliškar� The final works on the
Anatomical Institute drag on. Apparently three businesses have
been ruined in the process. Still, they have certainly made great
mistakes. An expert critic wrote that the building is the youthful
sin of the architect who designed it. It really must be the oddest
house of all the University’s buildings if not in all of Ljubljana.
Along with anatomy and physiology, the Physiological Institute
also moved in, just temporarily, of course - plans for a separate
building were already in preparation. When moving in, the plans
and agreements were not followed and changed all the time. For
example, a large basement room was destined for physiological
chemistry practicals with special installations, when anatomy
suddenly claimed it for the storage of cadavers. After years of
inadequate sewers it decayed and became useless. Eventually it was
passed on to physiology. The large lecture hall was left unfinished
for many years in crude condition... The institute has five storeys.
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In none of these can the respective areas be fully allocated. The
paths of institute staff cross all over the house, as do the paths
of students... The specific activities of institutes are sometimes
unpleasant to others. This causes much inconvenience. Our staff
is disturbed by the smell of formalin spreading through the house
from the anatomical rooms... we adjusted to the inadequacy of the
building as well as the scattered rooms...
The crisis was partly eased by a donation from Doctor Ivan
Oražen, who bequeathed his houses in Wolfova Street and
Dolenjska Road to the faculty and its students in 1921; they were
converted into the Oražen Hall of Residence�
A provisional extension to the surgical pavilion was built from
1936 to 1940, consisting of two storeys� Its ground floor housed
a surgical clinic with an operating room and X-ray room and
the first floor an internal clinic� The next year, construction of a
clinical lecture hall for both clinics began�
Efforts to Preserve and Complete the Faculty
of Medicine
The joy at the establishment of the first Slovenian university was
no smaller for the fact that its Faculty of Medicine comprised only
the first two years, given the expectations of its gradual completion�
The universities in Belgrade and Zagreb were managed according
to their respective legislations, but the Ljubljana University was
governed by the Belgrade University’s acts until a special act
was passed, as specified by its establishment act� The promised
special act for the Ljubljana University was never passed; a
university act for the whole country began to be prepared in
the early twenties, reflecting the Belgrade authorities’ aspiration
for closer ties between all three Yugoslav universities, whereby
respective sciences would be developed and expanded only at the
universities best equipped for the purpose� The existence of the
incomplete Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine was thus threatened
every time the university or financial act was debated� In the face
of constant threats it was firmly defended by professors, students,
the professional and broader community and current faculty
leadership� Prof� Alfred Šerko held the one-year dean’s office
fourteen times until his death in 1938 and thus bore the brunt of
responsibility for the fate of the incomplete Faculty of Medicine�
Until 1940, this function was also performed four times by Prof�
Evgen Kansky and three times by Prof� Janez Plečnik�
The question of the justification and feasibility of developing
all the Ljubljana University faculties first arose in the second
academic year when the university act was being drawn up� At the
beginning of the next academic year, Ljubljana received news of
the medical and technical faculties being abolished� This intention